Songfacts®:

• "The Road To Mandalay" finds Robbie Williams looking back with a mixture of happiness, sadness, and regret. Some have claimed the song is about Williams breaking off his engagement to All Saints band member Nicole Appleton, although it can be read as a more general reflection on the mistakes he's made over the years: "Everything I touched was golden, everything I loved got broken, on the road to Mandalay."
• This song is named after the 1890 poem "Mandalay" by the Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling. The poem is written from the perspective of a British working-class colonial soldier who longs to return to Mandalay, a city in Myanmar, to reunite with his Burmese lover.
• Williams explained on his website that he came up with the idea for this song while he was in France. "Because we were in France, I don't know, I just picked up on French vibes and started singing a French sort of melody," he said.
  
  In the same interview, Williams describes "The Road To Mandalay" as "the most touching song" he's ever written.
• The music video depicts a gang of criminals, one of which is Williams, celebrating after robbing an armored vehicle carrying large quantities of cash. It was filmed on location in France and directed by Vaughan Arnell.
  
  The video for "Eternity" serves as a sequel to "The Road to Mandalay" and sees Williams getting arrested for his involvement in the crime.
• A secret message plays after approximately 24 minutes of silence following "The Road to Mandalay," the closing song on Williams' third album, Sing When You're Winning. Williams can be heard saying, "No, I'm not doing one on this album," which is a reference to the fact there isn't a hidden song on the album, unlike his previous records, Life Thru a Lens and I've Been Expecting You.
• This was the fifth single released from Sing When You're Winning. It was issued as a double A-side single alongside non-album cut "Eternity." The song was Williams' fourth #1 in the UK, following "Millennium," "She's the One"/"It's Only Us," and "Rock DJ."