Eternity (XXV)

About

Eternity was newly recorded for XXV with an orchestral arrangement by Jules Buckley. Originally released as a double A-side with The Road to Mandalay in 2001, the song has long stood as one of Robbie Williams’s most elegant and heartfelt compositions, written with Guy Chambers. The new version deepens its emotional resonance, drawing on the full range of the orchestra to expand the song’s lush romanticism.

The XXV arrangement opens with sweeping strings and gentle piano, transforming the original’s pop ballad form into a symphonic piece. Williams’s vocal, re-recorded in a lower and richer tone, conveys maturity and grace, its phrasing softened but no less expressive. Subtle horn flourishes and a grander middle section enhance the cinematic quality hinted at in the 2001 production.

Williams has said he wrote the song in a graveyard at Jane Seymour’s Tudor house, capturing themes of love, devotion and mortality. On XXV, that intimacy is amplified: the orchestral texture surrounds his voice like a halo, evoking both serenity and nostalgia. Performed live with full orchestra during the anniversary tour, it became a highlight for its warmth and emotional power.

“What Guy and the orchestra have done have made me so proud of Eternity.”Robbie Williams

The reimagined Eternity epitomises the spirit of XXV, revisiting familiar material not to update it, but to illuminate it. The song’s orchestral reinvention feels both timeless and newly intimate, reaffirming its place among Williams’s most beloved works.