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Come Undone (Robbie Williams song)

"Come Undone" is a song by British singer Robbie Williams for his fifth studio album Escapology (2002). Written by Williams, Boots Ottestad, Ashley Hamilton, and Daniel Pierre, it was released as the second single from Escapology on 31 March 2003 by Chrysalis Records. "Come Undone" peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 20 in seven other European countries.

"Come Undone"
Single by Robbie Williams
from the album Escapology
B-side
  • "One Fine Day"
  • "Happy Easter (War Is Coming)"
Released31 March 2003 (2003-03-31)
StudioLos Angeles, London
Length
  • 4:34 (album version)
  • 3:34 (radio edit)
LabelChrysalis
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Robbie Williams singles chronology
"Feel"
(2002) 		"Come Undone"
(2003) 		"Something Beautiful"
(2003)
Music video
"Come Undone" on YouTube

Composition

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"Come Undone" lyrically tells the story of a life of fame unravelling in excess, featuring some "wry" observations from Robbie Williams, including the telling lines of the song's bridge: "Do another interview/Sing a bunch of lies/Tell about celebrities that I despise/And sing love songs/We sing love songs/So sincere".[1]

Chart performance

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The song reached number four in the United Kingdom, falling out of the top 10 in its second week. Worldwide, the single did not equal the success of Williams' previous single, "Feel", reaching the top 20 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Music video

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The Jonas Åkerlund directed music video features a hungover Robbie waking up in the morning after a large house party the previous evening. He then proceeds to walk around the house, wearing pink socks, as flashbacks of the events of the night before are shown. As the song reaches its climax, Williams is seen participating in three-way sex with two women (who are in fact porn stars). These shots are interspersed with graphic and unsettling images of snakes, rats and bugs, mostly crawling on beautiful women. In the final shots, the two women have become men in drag, perhaps a subtle reference to the media's infatuation with Williams' sexuality. The song also contains numerous explicit words.

Controversy

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The video was heavily censored by MTV Networks Europe for depicting a fully clothed Williams having three-way sex with both women and men in drag. The uncensored version of the video was released as a DVD single in Europe and was also included on the enhanced CD single.[2] BBC Radio 2 also banned the song for its explicit content.[3] During this time, it was confirmed that Williams and Guy Chambers were to officially part ways.[2]

Knebworth performances

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A memorable performance of the song took place at one of Williams' concerts at Knebworth in August 2003. Singing to 125,000 people, he interjected with "Britain, I'm your son", and further interacted with the audience when he brought a girl up on stage.[4]

Track listings

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Credits and personnel

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Credits are taken from the Escapology album booklet.[9]

Recording

  • Recorded in Los Angeles and London
  • Mixed at The Record Plant (Los Angeles)
  • Mastered at Marcussen Mastering (Los Angeles)

Personnel

  • Robbie Williams – writing, lead vocals, backing vocals
  • Boots Ottestad – writing, keyboards
  • Ashley Hamilton – writing
  • Daniel Pierre – writing, piano, keyboards
  • Phil Spalding – electric guitars, bass
  • Neil Taylor – electric guitars
  • Jeremy Stacey – drums
  • The London Session Orchestra – orchestra
  • Gavyn Wright – concertmaster
  • Sally Herbert – orchestral arrangement
  • Steve Price – orchestral engineering
  • Tom Jenkins – assistant orchestral engineering
  • Isobel Griffiths – orchestral contracting
  • Jim Brumby – programming, additional engineering
  • Guy Chambers – production
  • Steve Power – production, mixing
  • J.D. Andrew – assistant mixing
  • Richard Flack – engineering, programming
  • Steve Marcussen – mastering

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[33] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
Europe 31 March 2003 CD Chrysalis [18]
United Kingdom 14 April 2003
  • CD
  • DVD
  • cassette
 [34]
Australia 21 April 2003 CD [35]

References

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  1. ^ "Dotmusic - Robbie Williams - news - Robbie comes undone". www.dotmusic.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Escapology". Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
  3. ^ "Robbie Williams". www.robbiewilliams.com.
  4. ^ "Are you ready for Robbie? Seven great Robbie Williams live videos". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 17 June 2018
  5. ^ Come Undone (UK CD single liner notes). Robbie Williams. Chrysalis Records. 2003. CDCHS 5151, 7243552210 0 1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ Come Undone (UK cassette single sleeve). Robbie Williams. Chrysalis Records. 2003. TCCHS 5151, 724355 22104 9.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ Come Undone (European CD single liner notes). Robbie Williams. Chrysalis Records. 2003. 07243 552210 2 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ Come Undone (European DVD single liner notes). Robbie Williams. Chrysalis Records. 2003. DVDCHS 5151, 7243 490476 9 3.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ^ Escapology (UK CD album booklet). Robbie Williams. Chrysalis Records. 2002. 5439942.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ "Robbie Williams – Come Undone". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  11. ^ "Robbie Williams – Come Undone" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  12. ^ "Robbie Williams – Come Undone" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  13. ^ "Robbie Williams – Come Undone" (in French). Ultratip.
  14. ^ "Top Lista Hrvatskog Radija". Croatian Radiotelevision. Archived from the original on 5 June 2003. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  15. ^ "Robbie Williams – Come Undone". Tracklisten.
  16. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 21, no. 19. 3 May 2003. p. 9. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  17. ^ "Robbie Williams – Come Undone" (in French). Les classement single.
  18. ^ a b "Robbie Williams – Come Undone" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  19. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  20. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Come Undone". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  21. ^ "Robbie Williams – Come Undone". Top Digital Download.
  22. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 16, 2003" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  23. ^ "Robbie Williams – Come Undone" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  24. ^ "Robbie Williams – Come Undone". Top 40 Singles.
  25. ^ "Arhiva romanian top 100 – Editia 24, saptamina 23.06-29.06, 2003" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on 18 February 2005. Retrieved 4 May 2020. See LW position.
  26. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  27. ^ "Robbie Williams – Come Undone". Singles Top 100.
  28. ^ "Robbie Williams – Come Undone". Swiss Singles Chart.
  29. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  30. ^ "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 2003". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  31. ^ "Topul anului 2003" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on 22 January 2005. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  32. ^ "The Official UK Singles Chart 2003" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  33. ^ "British single certifications – Robbie Williams – Come Undone". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  34. ^ "New Release Countdown: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 12 April 2003. p. 17. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  35. ^ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 21st April 2003" (PDF). ARIA. 21 April 2003. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 May 2003. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
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