“Lost (XXV)” by Robbie Williams

In Robbie Williams own words, this song ‘is about times in his life when he’s abandoned himself to reckless behaviour’. But the way that idea is presented in the track appears to be in a romantic context. In other words, logically based on certain lyrical clues, the presumption is that the addressee – this individual that the vocalist has ‘lost his faith in’ – is akin to his significant other. 

The aforenoted reckless behavior, at least as far as the first verse goes, can perhaps be interpreted as Robbie cheating on her. The second verse seems to allude to him, after maybe getting caught out there, then relying on her “sympathy” to keep their relationship ongoing.

But truthfully, the lyrics of this piece are so ambiguous that the above explanation is just a theoretically way of making more precise sense out of them. And in line with the above explanation provided by Robbie, what is more generally transpiring here is the vocalist lamenting, more colloquially put, that he’s f–king up in the game of life. Or at least that’s how he feels after engaging in certain less-than-ideal practices. 

As implied in the bridge, the situation is such that ‘all his friends’ also realize he’s doing something wrong. However, it is possible such a sentiment on their behalf is the result of the vocalist’s own complaints.

So conclusively, going back to the concept of the narrator feeling “lost”, the thesis sentiment of this piece does in fact revolve around such a sense of hopelessness on his part. Williams is struggling with a lack of personal belief that he can overcome the type of behavior which has him worried to begin with.

When was “Lost (XXV)” released?

This track is from Robbie Williams album 2022 album titled “XXV”. The title of the album spells out “25” in Roman numerals. That said, it should be noted that it is actually his 13^th studio LP. What that title is meant to recognize, according to NME, is “25 years of Williams as a solo artist”. Said project is backed by Columbia Records.

More specifically “Lost (XXV)” was released as one of its singles on 5 August 2022. It officially serves as the second single from “XXV”. The album’s first single “Angels (XXV)” came out in June of 2022.

Williams announced the forthcoming of “Lost (XXV)” a few days before its official release.

Metropole Orkest

The instrumentals on this track (and throughout the album) are held by Metropole Orkest. Metropole Orkest is an orchestra from the Netherlands. They are one of the most renowned orchestras in the world.