Songfacts®:

• "Old Before I Die" can be seen as a response to The Who's "My Generation," which contains the line "I hope I die before I get old." Instead, Robbie Williams sings, "I hope I'm old before I die."
  
  Williams explained: "What is scary is that a lot of people do these songs that can be self-fulfilling prophecies about how they're going to die, or how they're going to end up when it happens to them. I genuinely want to be old when I die."
• Robbie Williams wrote "Old Before I Die" in Miami alongside Desmond Child and Eric Bazilian (of The Hooters). It was the only successful song to emerge from the short-lived partnership, with Williams eventually flying back to London to work with The Lemon Trees' Guy Chambers.
• Shot in February 1997, the David Mould-directed video sees Williams performing with a band of aging rock stars.
• The Mexican artist Alejandra Guzmán recorded a cover of this song called "Quiero Vivir (I Want to Live)." Featured on her Grammy Award-winning album Soy, "Quiero Vivir" was produced by the aforementioned Desmond Child.
• "Old Before I Die" was the first single released from Williams' debut solo album, Life Thru a Lens. The song, which peaked at #2 in the UK, heard Williams leaving behind the pop roots of Take That in order to embrace a rockier sound inspired by the likes of Oasis and Blur.