"Sexual Healing" has been described as a post-disco, soul and funk song. It begins with a deep bass drum followed by "tinny" handclaps, "ticky" snare, and "tishy" hi-hats generated by a Roland TR-808 drum machine. The first vocal sounds are of whispers, recorded by singer Harvey Fuqua, an early mentor of Gaye who assisted him in production of the song and its parent album, "Midnight Love". Fuqua whispers, "get up, wake up", four times before the sounds of a rhythmic keyboard. Afterwards, Gaye sings an ad-lib before the first verse.