"Burn the Ships" was initially availed on 28 September 2018 as the fifth promotional single from "Burn the Ships" (2018). In an interview with "Billboard", the duo shared the inspiration of the song, saying that it came from Luke Smallbone's wife, Courtney, battling with an addiction to prescribed medication, combined with an historical incident during the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1519 AD, where a Spanish commander named Hernán Cortés, landed his ships on enemy shores unaware of what awaited his arrival. To ensure that the men were committed to their mission, he proclaimed, "Burn the ships!" Luke Smallbone shared in an interview with NewReleaseToday that the song became the album's title track after realising that the theme of "no retreat" was recurring on the album especially in songs like "Never Give Up" and "Fight On, Fighter" and he opined that "it makes the album and the title feel potent."