The Trouble With Me

Album: Intensive Care (2005)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is about an unnamed woman Robbie Williams feels he can't commit to despite having strong feelings for her. Williams is apologetic in tone, admitting in the opening verse: "I don't think I can love, love, love."

    He explained in the documentary Making of Intensive Care: "There's a certain somebody in my life that probably nobody really knows about. She's been around for a long, long time and I still hold a torch for her. For whatever reason, it hasn't worked and it's never been anything to do with her. There's something blocking my rite of passage to fulfillment in a relationship. It's me trying to explain to this person that I do love, but not that all-encompassing love. I hope that message is received and taken on board."
  • While he's never revealed who this song is about, Williams has been in a number of high-profile relationships throughout his career. In the late '90s, he was briefly engaged to All Saints singer Nicole Appleton. The former Take That member has also been linked to the likes of Australian actress Nicole Kidman and New Zealand supermodel Rachel Hunter. Williams settled down with the Los Angeles-born actress Ayda Field. They have four children together: Theodora, Charlton, Colette, and Beau.
  • "The Trouble With Me" was written by Williams and Stephen Duffy, who was a founding member of British band Duran Duran before going on to form the critically acclaimed folk outfit The Lilac Time. In Making of Intensive Care, Duffy cites "The Trouble With Me" as one of his favorite songs due to its "startling, confessional" nature, quoting the first line: "You see the trouble with me, I've got a head full of f--k, I'm a basket case."
  • This song is part of Williams' sixth album, Intensive Care, which came out in October 2005. While it wasn't released as a single, it was later included on Songbook, a compilation album made up of a variety of hit singles, deep cuts, and live performances. The album was given away for free through The Mail on Sunday in October 2009, with the British newspaper describing it at the time as "the biggest nod to the power of the consumer since Prince gave away his CD in The Mail on Sunday two years ago."

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