Ego A Go Go

Album: Life Thru a Lens (1997)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is said to be a bitter personal attack on Robbie Williams' rival and former Take That bandmate Gary Barlow. At a concert in Norwich, England in October 1997, Williams told the crowd: "Everyone thinks that I wrote this about Gary. It's not about him, it's about whoever you hate."
  • Robbie Williams explained on his website: "This is about people who get you down. You know the sort, if they're having a bad time themselves they make you suffer to make themselves feel better. This song says 'get lost' to them."
  • Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow's feud lasted for several years after Williams left Take That. This was intensified in part by the British press pitting Williams' wild-child antics against Barlow's more family-friendly image. After a decade of trading barbs, Williams and Barlow declared a truce in July 2010, with the duo reuniting alongside the rest of Take That to record their first album together in 15 years.
  • Life Thru a Lens was Robbie Williams' debut solo album after quitting Take That in July 1995. The album, originally titled The Show-Off Must Go On, peaked at #1 in the UK seven months after its release.

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