Come Undone (Robbie Williams song)

"Come Undone" is a song recorded by British singer Robbie Williams for his fifth studio album Escapology (2002). It was written by Williams, Ashley Hamilton, Boots Ottestad and Daniel Pierre. It was released as the second single from Escapology on 31 March 2003, by Chrysalis Records.

"Come Undone"
Single by Robbie Williams
from the album Escapology
Released31 March 2003
FormatCD single, DVD single
Recorded2002
GenreSoft rock
Length4:34 (album/single version)
3:54 (radio edit)
LabelChrysalis
Songwriter(s)Robbie Williams, Ashley Hamilton, Per Kristian Ottestad, Daniel Pierre
Producer(s)Guy Chambers, Steve Power
Robbie Williams singles chronology
"Feel"
(2002)		 "Come Undone"
(2003)		 "Something Beautiful"
(2003)
Music video
"Come Undone" on YouTube

Composition

"Come Undone" lyrically tells the story of a life of fame unravelling in excess, featuring some "wry" observations from 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]

Music video

The 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

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

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]

Chart performance

The song managed to reach number-four in the United Kingdom, but it fell out of the top ten in its second week; however, controversy surrounding the music video kept the album on the charts. Worldwide, the single did not equal the success of Williams' previous single, "Feel". To date, "Come Undone" has sold 85,000 copies in the UK.[5]

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Come Undone".

UK CD
(Released 31 March 2003)

  1. "Come Undone" (single version) – 4:34
  2. "One Fine Day" – 3:36
  3. "Happy Easter (War Is Coming)" – 4:03
  4. "Photo gallery and video clips

UK DVD
(Released 31 March 2003)

  1. "Come Undone" (video) – 4:34
  2. "One Fine Day" (audio) – 3:36
  3. "Happy Easter (War Is Coming)" (audio) – 4:03

Charts

References
  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20030425174003/http://www.dotmusic.com/artists/RobbieWilliams/news/April2003/news28912.asp
  2. "Escapology". Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
  3. Discography>Singles>Come Undone
  4. "Are you ready for Robbie? Seven great Robbie Williams live videos". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 17 June 2018
  5. “Robbie Williams: Official Top 20 – Come Undone”. MTV.
  6. "Australian-charts.com – Robbie Williams – Come Undone". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  7. "Austriancharts.at – Robbie Williams – Come Undone" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  8. "Ultratop.be – Robbie Williams – Come Undone" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  9. "Ultratop.be – Robbie Williams – Come Undone" (in French). Ultratip.
  10. "Danishcharts.com – Robbie Williams – Come Undone". Tracklisten.
  11. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 21 no. 19. 3 May 2003. p. 9. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  12. "Lescharts.com – Robbie Williams – Come Undone" (in French). Les classement single.
  13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Robbie Williams – Come Undone". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  14. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  15. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Come Undone". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  16. "Italiancharts.com – Robbie Williams – Come Undone". Top Digital Download.
  17. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 16, 2003" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Robbie Williams – Come Undone" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  19. "Charts.nz – Robbie Williams – Come Undone". Top 40 Singles.
  20. "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.
  21. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  22. "Swedishcharts.com – Robbie Williams – Come Undone". Singles Top 100.
  23. "Swisscharts.com – Robbie Williams – Come Undone". Swiss Singles Chart.
  24. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  25. "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 2003". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  26. "Topul anului 2003" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on 22 January 2005. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  27. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2003" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
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