The track was written two years prior to its release during the band's 1993
Elemental tour.
Roland Orzabal explained that "Raoul is a name that has been in my family for many generations, [...] I was actually born Raoul, and my mother [...] decided that after two weeks she would change it to Roland to make it easier for English people to pronounce. So it became my nickname, and then when I had my first son [...] we decided to hand it on to him." Orzabal further explained that "the Kings of Spain" is a reference to his family history and lineage from his father's side (his father was of
Spanish-Basque descent, and his grandfather was
Argentinian). Orzabal stated that, in particular, his father told him "that my great great grandmother was the cousin of
the president of Argentina, so really the album should have been called
Raoul and the Presidents of Argentina, but not a lot of things rhyme with Argentina." During a playlist meeting hosted by
Metro Radio Group, one of the music organizers reported that attendees "were quite impressed with the single". They also expressed their belief that the song "marks a return to the band's rather aggressive old style". ==Music video==