Charity Song

About

Charity Song was recorded by Robbie Williams with broadcaster Chris Moyles for a comedic segment on Moyles’s BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show in 2009. Created as a light-hearted pastiche of pop charity singles, the track was written and performed live on air, with Williams contributing melodies and vocals while Moyles provided the spoken and sung comedic elements.

The piece was developed spontaneously in the studio, built around the melodic and structural tropes of large-scale fundraising singles. Williams improvised the musical framework at the piano, shaping a deliberately anthemic chorus to contrast with Moyles’s humorous observations and exaggerated commentary on charity-record conventions. The final version retained its improvised character, with ad-libs and studio laughter forming part of the broadcast.

Lyrically, Charity Song plays on familiar motifs associated with benefit records, including earnest appeals, swelling choruses and collective sentiment. The humour stems from the contrast between Williams’ sincere musical delivery and the deliberately overstated narrative provided by Moyles, resulting in a parody that highlights the formulaic nature of charity singles while remaining affectionate in tone.

Although conceived entirely for radio and never released commercially, Charity Song became a memorable moment in Williams’s promotional appearances of the period. It demonstrated his willingness to collaborate informally and to engage in self-parody, making use of his pop vocabulary in a context designed for comedic effect rather than formal release.