Shine My Shoes Explained

Shine My Shoes
Cover:Shine My Shoes cover.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Robbie Williams
Album:Swings Both Ways
Released:24 March 2014
Length:3:23
Producer:Guy Chambers
Prev Title:Dream a Little Dream
Prev Year:2013
Next Title:The Days
Next Year:2014

"Shine My Shoes" is a song by British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams and the third and final single from his tenth studio album Swings Both Ways (2013). The single was released on 24 March 2014.[1] The song was written by Robbie Williams, Guy Chambers and Chris Heath. A vinyl version of the single was released two months prior to the official single release, through robbiewilliams.com.

Background

According to Robbie;

"Guy Chambers and I started writing together again after a break of about ten years, and 'Shine My Shoes' came out of the first batch. It's in the spirit of a Sammy Davis Jr. song. In the biopic The Rat Pack there's a dream sequence where Sammy Davis Jr. is dancing against the racists. I'm singing against the haters and the naysayers, giving them my time in the form of a swing song detailing exactly why they should hate me. The smugness will infuriate the haters, and the people who kind of like me will just think that it's sweet."

The song also contains "lyrical flourishes from Williams's biographer Chris Heath" and Williams dismissing his critics ("The way you don't love me/Kinda makes you look ugly").[2]

Music video

An official lyric video of "Shine My Shoes" was uploaded to YouTube on 26 September 2013.[3]

Critical reception

Helen Brown of The Telegraph, in a review for Swings Both Ways, called it "an original, though instantly recognisable and fairly forgettable Williams/Chambers collaboration".[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Robbie Williams. www.robbiewilliams.com.
  2. Web site: Robbie Williams, Swings Both Ways, album review. The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Brown, Helen. 14 November 2013. 30 December 2014.
  3. live . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/JcvhePsHrfQ . 2021-12-11. Robbie Williams Shine My Shoes (Official Lyric Video) . YouTube.
  4. Web site: Official Singles Chart UK Top 100 – 23rd November 2013. Official Charts Company. 30 December 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20131121063001/http://www.officialcharts.com/singles-chart/. live. 21 November 2013.