In an interview with SoundtrackNet, the band said "we wanted the chance to blow an ungodly sum of cash working with a big orchestra".

[4] Other musicians performing on this CD include Pedro Eustache, Michael Landau, Matt Laug, Lance Morrison, Davy Spillane and Efrain Toro.

In keeping with the theme of "all things past", each of the thirteen tracks on the album is named after an ancient city, most of which have been abandoned or destroyed, though Cuzco, Nara, Isfahan, and Estremoz still survive to this day.

A vocal rise performed by a female solo singer (Elise Morris) leads into the opening title, where one of the verses of "Nara" is then played for the remainder of the sequence, concluding with a short melody from a woodwind instrument.

At the time Executive Producer Jerry Bruckheimer chose the song to be used in the show, he had never actually met the Vonlichten brothers in person.