Robbie’s dirge doesn’t fill me with angels delight
The chilling consequences of Joseph Fritzl’s evil are only now emerging. An insight into the long-term psychological and mental damage of 19 years in an Austrian basement suffered by his daughter Kerstin was offered by her doctor, Albert Reiter. He said when she woke from her coma: “She wants very much to go to a Robbie Williams concert.”
Dr Reiter immediately called for a full syringe of Kerstin’s ears. Docs played Angels on repeat for the two weeks Kerstin lay unconscious in hospital. And you thought her dad was cruel. They say death and taxes are the only two things you can’t avoid but Angels by Robbie Williams must come a close third. In terms of preference for things you’d want to skip, it might push death and taxes into third and second place. That song is on more than John Barrowman on BBC1’s Saturday evening schedule. It used to be Europe’s favourite wedding song before it was replaced by Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight, a song about nicking someone else’s wife.
In 2005, Angels was voted the best British song of the past 25 years at the Brit awards and Britain’s favourite song at funerals – close to the same thing.
It may be about angels, or even Robbie’s mum Jan but it means less to me than Vienna meant to Midge Ure. It’s a song that pretends to grapple with life’s big issues but means nothing. Nada. Zilch. The lyrics are rubbish. “I’m loving Angels instead.” Of what? Most Haunted on Living TV? “Do they know the places where we go where we’re grey and old?” Millport? “Down the waterfall wherever it may take me…” The bottom of the waterfall? Utter drivel. It’s the most overrated song of the past 30 years. Even worse than Imagine by John Lennon, another record about nothing, pretending to be about something. The success of Angels reflects Britain’s growing over-sentimentality.
The country is now full of wild displays of emotion that make a load of noise but mean very little. Like Angels. Robbie’s single Rudebox has more meaningful lyrics. Robbie has sung Angels a thousand times with that smirk to camera that suggests he’s phoning in his performance. How come so many believe in this song when he clearly doesn’t? Now we know even being stuck in a basement or hospital bed won’t do it, there is only one way to avoid Robbie. Move to America. Over there, mention Robbie Williams and they think of Mork and Mindy. They’re loving Charlie’s Angels instead.
6 comments
it’s a shame – angels, as it was originally conceived by the author [which is neither williams nor chambers], is in fact a deeply personal and meaningful song. i would urge anyone interested to do a bit of googling on the subject – it’s pretty easy to uncover the truth.
Yeah your right its pretty easy to uncover the truth. Its also pretty easy to make a rumour and if you know anythink about Robbie you would know he did write Angels. And of course he wouldnt have a huge smile on his face its a sad song and at a normal robbie concert its the last song and he gets emotional over it.
I am not young and have no idea how to do this, but if somebody could contact Robbie Williams and tell him of Kerstin Fritzl’s dreams, maybe he would at least send her something. I can only hope with his sucesses he could give of himself a little to a fan that has suffered so much. If nothing else it would bring him some good publicity. If anybody who reads this has any way to reach this artist, please forward her request to him.
John Z – are you referring to Ray Heffernan – yeah I wondered about that. Apparently he’d been written right out of the picture. But according to Youtube, even he didn’t think it was that great a song … and he’s right.
Y pick on Rob? How can the song mean nothing, if it went to number one? dumb, dumb, very dumb.
MMMMMMMMMMM it got to number 4, not number 1
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