Feel

The Robbie Williams song you probably know

So yeah, the January blues have set in and have made it hard to write. However, I did go and see Better Man and thought it was utterly brilliant. (It’s struggling at the box office and really shouldn’t be - go see it if you can.) The way this song was used broke my heart.

I don’t remember when I first heard it but I did know it by the time I went to Amsterdam for the Heart IQ summit in December 2013. This song was the unofficial theme and after the last session there was a big dance party where a couple hundred participants all belted out this song. It was magical.

The repeating “not sure I understand” at the end of the song gives a hint as to Williams’ mental state at the time of recording. The vocal is the original demo. He tried to re-record it later but it never matched up to the rawness of this first pass. His writing partner, Guy Chambers, thought the lyric might be too honest. "It's a deep lyric. I think it's one of his best lyrics."

There's a hole in my soul
You can see it in my face
It's a real big place

It’s that rawness that makes it resonate, I believe. The lyrics talk about finding a place of belonging where we’re loved and that’s pretty universal. The strong piano opening grabs your attention and the slide guitars add a really interesting sound in transitioning to and from the chorus.

The album it comes from, 2002’s Escapology, was recorded mostly in LA with the exception of Williams vocals and featured some impressive musicians on the track. This was the first album of his record-breaking deal with EMI, which included more creative control for Williams and a commitment by EMI to break into the US market.¹ It was during this tour that he played his record-breaking concert at Knebworth.²

This was his highest charting international hit. It made it to #10 here in Canada and spent over a year on the chart.³ It hit #1 in the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Romania. It was the most played song in Europe in 2003. It managed a decent impact in the US - while missing the Top 100, it did hit #28 on the Billboard Adult Pop chart. Yet it didn’t top the charts in the UK, topping out at #4.

The first thing that’s really interesting about the video is that it stars Daryl Hannah opposite Williams. The second thing is that there were two versions, one in B&W (that’s the version on Williams’ official YT) and the other in colour. The third thing was that it was shot in a small town about 100km outside of Calgary.⁴ Like Let Me Entertain You, it was directed by British music video director Vaughan Arnell. You definitely get a feel for Alberta’s cow culture and mountain vistas throughout it. It seems odd to think of Williams as a bad boy cowboy but he manages to pull it off.

ETA: I discovered that Williams posted a series of behind the scenes videos from this shoot. Search for Robbie Williams | Escapology | 'A Very British Cowboy'.

Enjoy your song of the day!

1. Don’t cry for EMI when the album didn’t perform as expected in the US. Part of the deal included a cut of Williams’ merchandising, touring, and publishing revenues. And if the idiots had released Love Somebody as a single off the album, it probably would have hit. (Yes, I’ll be writing about that song too.)

2. Yes, a lot of record-breaking going on.

3. No wonder it sounded so familiar to me later on.

4. The town of Sundre, on the Cowboy Trail in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.