Songfacts®:

• This was issued as a double A-sided single along with "Better In Time" in the United Kingdom. It was released in aid of BBC's Sport Relief 2008.
• This is an adaptation of the allegorical poem Footprints In The Sand. Lewis said: "I recorded Footprints In The Sand in the UK with (producer) Steve Mac and it's a very special song to me. Originally it was a poem; it's very inspirational so we put it into a song. I think it is very moving, with a very emotional lyric and I really love to sing this song."
• Lewis told the BBC: "Footprints was actually a poem and it's about standing by someone and being there for people who need your help."
• X-Factor and American Idol judge Simon Cowell had a co-writing credit on this. Lewis explained to The Times March 8, 2008: "He came up with the original idea to make it into a song. He told me [about it] and I was, like, 'That could be really quite interesting.'"
• In March 2008 this became officially only the second recording in the entire history of the UK singles chart to occupy two simultaneous chart positions. It peaked at #2 thanks to sales on CD and #25 through online stores. The only other song in history to manage such a feat was Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg's erotic chart-topper "'Je T'aime, Moi Non Plus," which in 1969 was deleted by its original issuer Fontana records and in the same week re-issued by the independent Major Minor label. The two singles were deemed separate products, resulting in the last available copies of the Fontana release charting at #16 and the Major Minor issue debuting at #3.
• Lewis' "Better In Time" director Sophie Muller returned for the video. Filmed in Johannesburg, South Africa, it focuses on the country's hardships, like poverty and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.