Which love?
Sing When You're Winning
Robbie Williams
CD, Chrysalis, 2000
Robbie Williams' massive popularity shows no sign of slackening. There is little musically innovative on this album and much that is lyrically sarcastic, hence Robbie is unlikely to get very far with serious fans of popular music. But when you know that there 'ain't no chance of the record company dropping me'(Kids) this is unlikely to be too much of a problem.
For all that, Williams does not seem to be a happy man. He can't seem to break out of the cycle of errors: 'Every mistake I've ever made/has been rehashed and then replayed', The Road to Mandalay. The pressure of fame is too much: 'I'm so sick of people's expectations/Leaves me tired all the time/If your home's full of useless aggravation/Then don't bring it to mine', Singing for the lonely. On top of all this he feels life is just too difficult to be faced and his attempts at self-improvement don't reach the required standard: 'I need to rest in arms/Keep me safe from harm. Lord I'm doing all I can/To be a better man', Better Man. On the Rock DJ video Robbie appeared to rip his heart out and throw it at a wall - surely the action of someone who doesn't like himself. So what is the answer?
This is pop music, so 'love' is the answer to everything. Love even opens the possibility of global transformation: 'If you're willing to change the world/Let love be your energy', Let Love be Your Energy. But love is tragically short-lived: 'You'll meet another man/Who will break your heart/If I see you with them/It's gonna tear me apart', If It's Hurting You. But is this real love? Or is it a second-best fake version based on random sexual encounters? The evidence is overwhelming that Robbie's conception of love is the second one. 'I've been looking for serial monogamy', Kids; Oh what are you really looking for/Another partner in life to abuse and to adore?' Supreme.
But where is God in all this? He appears on Better Man as the judge whose standards Robbie cannot reach but he never appears on this album as the perfect giver of real, unconditional love. Staggering from one love affair (deliriously happy while it lasts, but heartbreaking when it inevitably expires) to another will never provide the stability and security we all desire. Only the love of Jesus can do that.
