After seeing Better Man, I’ve been re-listening to a lot of Robbie’s discography (for the first time in years). No Regrets is definitely a highlight. I had totally forgotten about #1 hit ‘Radio’ as well, it’s a lot worse than I remembered :lol:

 

Love No Regrets! B-)

 

and I really like Millennium.

 

it always gets such a good reaction too.

 

It's a shame he dislikes it so much

ETERNITY ( Swing When Your'e Winning Album ) 2000

 

 

 

Meaning of Eternity by Robbie Williams

 

 

Chrysalis Records released Eternity as part of a double A-side on 9 July 2001, alongside another Robbie Williams’ track titled The Road to Mandalay. The latter was featured Robbie’s third-studio album, Sing When You’re Winning (2000). And as for Eternity, it eventually made an appearance on the singer’s Greatest Hits album which came out in 2004.

The two tracks are further connected in that the music video to Eternity, as assembled by director Vaughan Arnell, is a follow-up to that of The Road to Mandalay. And in unison, these two songs topped the UK Singles Chart, besides charting in over a dozen other European countries (and also reaching number one in New Zealand).

 

Eternity was inspired by Robbie’s relationship with another popular British singer, Geri Halliwell, who some readers will also recognize as “Ginger Spice”, a member of the ultra-successful Spice Girls. (we now know that the song is about Geri Haliwell , he confirmed it during the Telekom Street Gig with Robbie Williams at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg on NOV 2022 }

 

To note, Williams and Halliwell do have a terse dating history. But more to the point is the pair sharing a genuine friendship which transcends romance or the music industry.

 

And it appears that this relationship was at its peak circa the turn of the century, around the time Robbie left Take That, and Geri parted ways with the Spice Girls.

 

One of the greatest accomplishments of this union is Williams having helped Halliwell, who for a time only weighed 98 pounds, overcome bulimia. Or viewed from a different angle, Geri was once in a visibly troubled state.

So presuming that she is the addressee, the purpose of the lyrics is twofold. First, the singer goes about sympathizing with the person he’s singing to, who’s presented as someone not only dealing with childhood trauma but also, as can be interpreted via the first verse, the less-than-ideal social and psychological effects of being famous.

 

The pre-chorus also implies that the addressee has “been betrayed”. And in that regard, Robbie seems to be encouraging her to remain patient, as eventually “the truth will [come] out”, and she’ll be vindicated.

 

So ultimately, Eternity is a song of encouragement. And it is not only that Williams sympathizes with the addressee but also, as relayed in the chorus, values how this person has likewise contributed to his wellbeing. Therefore, he is hoping that she ‘finds her freedom for eternity’, i.e. a lasting sense of peace as opposed to a fleeting one.

 

Robbie Williams wrote Eternity himself, and its producers are Guy Chambers and Steve Power.

https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/meanin...obbie-williams/

 

Lyrics

 

Close your eyes so you don't fear them

They don't need to see you cry

I can't promise I will heal you

But if you want to I will try

 

I'll sing this summer serenade

The past is done

We've been betrayed

It's true

Someone said the truth will out

I believe without a doubt, in you

 

You were there for summer dreaming

And you gave me what I need

And I hope you find your freedom

For eternity

For eternity

 

Yesterday when you were walking

We talked about your mum and dad

What they did that made you happy

What they did that made you sad

We sat and watched the sun go down

Picked a star before we lost the moon

Youth is wasted on the young

Before you know it's come and gone too soon

 

You were there for summer dreaming

And you gave me what I need

And I hope you find your freedom

For eternity

For eternity

 

For eternity

I'll sing this summer serenade

The past is done

We've been betrayed

It's true

Youth is wasted on the young

Before you know it's come and gone too soon

 

You were there for summer dreaming

And you are a friend indeed

And I hope you find your freedom

For eternity

 

You were there for summer dreaming

And you are a friend indeed

And I know you'll find your freedom

Eventually

For eternity

For eternity

 

 

 

 

 

@1878924755329531947

 

 

 

The idea for Robbie to sing his first theme song to a movie came out of a casual meeting with Working Title Music Supervisor, Nick Angel and Robbie's co-manager, Tim Clark. Hans Zimmer was already on board to compose the song and Nick suggested that Robbie would be perfect to sing it and write the lyrics. Robbie loved the idea and got to work immediately.

The film tells the story of secret agent Johnny English. After a string of unfortunate events, one man remains in the British Secret Service to protect Britain, avenge the elimination of all of the Secret Service’s spies and uncover the fiend behind the fiendish plot to make off with the lasting symbols of the once supreme British empire, the Crown Jewels.

Release date: 18 July 2003

Directors: Peter Howitt, John Malkovich

 

https://robbiewilliams.com/pages/timeline/e...-johnny-english

 

 

TRIPPING

 

 

 

 

 

Robbie Williams described this song as a "mini gangster opera," citing the Guy Ritchie-directed mob movies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and snatch as the two main inspirations behind the lyrics. It appears to be written from the perspective of a novice gang member who feels out of his depth in such a brutal underworld, with Williams singing in the chorus: "I know it's coming, there's gonna be violence. I've taken as much as I'm willing to take."

 

This song opens with the line: "First they ignore you, then laugh at you and hate you, then they fight you, then you win." This quote is frequently misattributed to Mahatma Gandhi. According to The Associated Press, it can actually be traced back to Nicholas Klein, a trade union activist, who said something similar during a speech in 1918: "First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you."

 

"Tripping" was one of the first songs Williams wrote with Stephen Duffy after parting ways with his original collaborator, Guy Chambers. Chambers had helped pen some of Williams' most successful singles, including "Angels," "Rock DJ," and "Feel," but the pair fell out during the making of Williams' fifth album, Escapology. Consequently, Williams formed a new songwriting partnership with Duffy, who was previously a member of the British synth-pop band Duran Duran but left before Simon Le Bon and company made their breakthrough in the early '80s.

The press frequently referred to "Tripping" as a "reggae song," although Williams disagreed with this categorization. The rolling rhythm, for example, owes a lot to the work of The Clash's Topper Headon. Williams also reaches for an extremely high falsetto in the chorus, as is often heard in disco music.

 

Directed by Johan Renck, the music video for "Tripping" is based on the nightmares Williams was having at the time. Filmed over two days in Los Angeles, the video places Williams in a number of surreal scenarios. At one point, for example, he is seen running on the spot in what looks like an old hotel corridor. Later, a baby starts singing to him in the passenger seat of a Saab 95. For the recurring scene of Williams in bed, Renck shifted the room 90 degrees so the British singer was standing up as opposed to lying down. This makes it appear as though Williams is floating above the mattress.

 

This was the first single released from Williams' sixth album, Intensive Care. It was issued as a double A-side along with "Make Me Pure," also from Intensive Care. "Tripping" peaked at #2 in the UK, where it was also the 19th best-selling single of 2005.

 

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/robbie-williams/tripping

@1879414278886990160

 

 

:bounce:

:music:

 

 

Edited January 15Jan 15 by Sydney11

No Tess, better this ;)

 

No Tess, better this ;)

 

 

 

 

I totally agree but the owner :unsure: has restricted view on any site other than YT :lol:

 

 

:cool:

So kind of premiere :lol:

 

Anyway, that's GREAT song

 

and a funny film to boot. :D

JEALOUSY - Robbie Williams & Pet Shop Boys

 

 

 

"Jealousy" is a song originally written in 1982 by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, recorded for their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990). It was released on 28 May 1991 as the album's fourth and final single in a slightly remixed form, which appears on the Pet Shop Boys' greatest hits albums. It reached number 12 on the UK singles chart. The song was performed by Robbie Williams at the Pet Shop Boys' 2006 BBC Radio 2 concert at the Mermaid Theatre, a recording of which was released on the Pet Shop Boys' live album Concrete.

 

 

 

I remember tuning into the radio to listen to this live. I could never find a video online of the performance from the gig.. I just love Rob's voice on this song :wub:

 

Edited January 19Jan 19 by Sydney11

JEALOUSY - Robbie Williams & Pet Shop Boys

"Jealousy" is a song originally written in 1982 by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, recorded for their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990). It was released on 28 May 1991 as the album's fourth and final single in a slightly remixed form, which appears on the Pet Shop Boys' greatest hits albums. It reached number 12 on the UK singles chart. The song was performed by Robbie Williams at the Pet Shop Boys' 2006 BBC Radio 2 concert at the Mermaid Theatre, a recording of which was released on the Pet Shop Boys' live album Concrete.

I remember tuning into the radio to listen to this live. I could never find a video online of the performance from the gig.. I just love Rob's voice on this song :wub:

 

 

I'd forgotten about this Tess

 

I LOVE this song :wub:

MY CULTURE - One Giant Leap (feat. Robbie Williams, Maxi Jazz)

 

Video thanks to https://www.youtube.com/@pashkaomsk

 

"My Culture" is a song by British trip hop duo 1 Giant Leap released as the first single from their debut album, 1 Giant Leap (2002), on 8 April 2002. The track features vocals from Maxi Jazz and Robbie Williams. The song peaked at No. 9 in the United Kingdom and charted within the top 40 in Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. The first few lines of Williams' lyrics are the same as a part of the hidden track "Hello Sir" from his debut album, Life thru a Lens (1997).

 

The music video starts with a comet crashing into a planet creating a universe and human civilisation as the Earth continues to rapidly evolve further in time. At the end of the video many children from different cultures walk into a building shaped rocket which launches up into space.

Source Wikipediai

Edited January 20Jan 20 by Sydney11

SEXED UP

 

https://www.discogs.com/release/10704262-Ro...iams-Escapology

 

 

Robbie Williams | Sexed Up | Behind the Lyrics

 

 

SONGFACTS

 

"Sexed Up" is a deeply bitter breakup song Robbie Williams originally wrote alongside his longtime collaborator Guy Chambers in 1998. Williams claims he's indifferent to the fact his lover has left him, with the British singer snarling in the bridge: "Screw you, I didn't like your taste anyway." Williams later admitted "Sexed Up" came out harsher than he intended, adding: "I just found myself tripping over each lyric until it became that song, which is pretty vitriolic for a subject that's so heartbreaking."

After performing this song on The Robbie Williams Show in 2002, Williams denied it was about "a certain person who goes out with a guy in a rock band," before actually admitting "it might be." This is a reference to Nicole Appleton of All Saints, whom Williams was briefly engaged to in the late '90s. Appleton went on to date and marry Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher. This resulted in a nasty rivalry between the two men, culminating in Williams challenging Gallagher to a boxing match at the BRIT Awards in March 2000.

Williams initially offered this song to "Torn" singer Natalie Imbruglia. After she turned it down, he decided to keep it for himself.

"Sexed Up" was first released in demo form as a B-side to the I've Been Expecting You single "No Regrets." The demo version features slightly different lyrics, with Williams singing "I'll lay a bet, that I'm okay" instead of "I can't awaken the dead, day after day" in the opening verse.

The music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund, who'd previously worked with Williams on the clip for "Come Undone."

 

American actress Jaime King plays Williams' love interest in the visual. King has since credited the video for boosting her career, with the former model going on to star alongside Bruce Willis in 2005's Sin City.

"Sexed Up" was released as the fourth and final single from Williams' fifth album, Escapology. The song peaked at #10 in the UK. "Sexed Up" also gained a huge amount of airplay in Brazil after appearing in the telenovela Mulheres Apaixonadas as the theme music for the characters Diogo and Marina.

 

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/robbie-williams/sexed-up

Edited January 21Jan 21 by Sydney11

NO REGRETS

 

The eagerly-anticipated follow up to Robbie’s debut solo album, I’ve been expecting you took hit the charts at #1 upon its release in August ’98. It also gave Robbie his first UK number one single in the form of Millennium.

 

 

Robbie Williams | 'No Regrets' | "We were the biggest thing since sliced bread"

 

No Regrets - Jools Holland 2004

 

Robbie Williams - No Regrets (XXV) - Live @ Elbphilharmonie Hamburg 2022

 

https://robbiewilliams.com/pages/timeline/e...n-expecting-you

 

Songfacts

"No Regrets" finds Robbie Williams reflecting on his dramatic departure from Take That in July 1995. There was a lot of bad blood between Williams and his former bandmates, with the feud frequently playing out in the British press. Speaking on his website, Williams said he wanted the song to capture the overarching sadness of the situation: "It's not bitter, having a go at them like I have done in the past, it was 'I'm sorry for all of us in this situation.'"

 

Williams still managed to fit in several digs at Take That in the song, though, including the line, "You're far too short to carry weight." This was thought to be a reference to Gary Barlow, who'd put on a considerable amount of weight at the time.

Following his reconciliation with Take That in July 2010, Williams replaced the final line, "I guess the love we once had is officially dead," with "I guess the love we once had is officially alive" when performing this song live.

 

"No Regrets" features backing vocals from Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant and The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon. Hannon is barely audible in the song, however, which he put down to not being present in the studio when "No Regrets" was being mixed. He told NME: "I should have gone to the studio to the mix because Neil Tennant did and got himself turned up and you can barely hear me!"

 

The video begins with Williams performing at a Las Vegas-style cabaret show. Clearly unhappy in his situation, Williams leaves the stage and walks to a gas station to collect petrol in a jerrican. He then continues walking, dripping petrol every step of the way. As the song reaches its conclusion, a spark is lit at the gas station, sending the trail behind Williams into flames. The clip, which was directed by Pedro Romhanyi, can be seen as a metaphor for Williams cutting ties with his past and his time spent with Take That.

 

"No Regrets" was the second single released from Williams' I've Been Expecting You, after "Millennium." It peaked at #4 in the UK.

 

 

One of the B-sides, a cover of Adam & The Ants' "Antmusic," appeared in a trailer for the animated film A Bug's Life. Another B-side, a demo version of "Sexed Up," was later rerecorded and released as a single from 2002's Escapology.

 

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/robbie-williams/no-regrets

Edited January 22Jan 22 by Sydney11

Robbie Williams admits he didn't record his high notes in Take That's 'I Found Heaven'

 

Robbie Williams joined Nicki Chapman on Magic to chat about his new film Better Man, released in December 2024, along with the soundtrack. The film is a biopic about Robbie, and features many songs by Take That and Robbie, as it follows him throughout his life. The soundtrack to the film features re-sung versions of the songs, and Robbie said many are better than the original and he breathed new life into them.

 

However, when talking about a Take That favourite from back in the day, 'I Found Heaven', he revealed that he didn't actually sing all of the notes he appeared to. Back in 1992 when the song was released, despite Gary Barlow and Robbie being the lead singers on that release, another vocalist was brought in to sing the higher notes.

 

Robbie told Nicki: "Let me let you into a secret about 'I Found Heaven', you remember 'I Found Heaven'? In those verses of the original the high notes aren't me! That is a singer who was drafted in to do the bits that I couldn't do in the vocal booth at the time!"

 

 

Robbie went on to sing some of the higher notes, saying: "Not me!"

 

"And, so there's a bit of an inside story," Robbie finished, before going on to say it was "admin" having to re-record the songs.

 

Robbie re-sung all of the songs for the soundtrack, including the higher notes, he couldn't previously reach, admitting: "What is created, and the end product is actually mind-blowing to me. Like, 'Rock DJ' is better than the original 'Rock DJ', there's loads of things in the Better Man soundtrack that have just bettered the original and breathed new life into them."

 

Just some reminding how perfect they both were on this track.

This is my mother Rob's fave track :)

 

This record is 10/10.

Still think it's my favourite Robbie's album - and what even more irony it had been my his 1st ever album I heard. Still remember this evening very very well.

 

Kelly Clarkson has a rather big own show on US TV and what? :)

 

Good cover anyway.