Deceiving Is Believing

About

Deceiving Is Believing was written by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers and issued as a B-side to No Regrets in late 1998. The track captures Williams’s darker, introspective side, exploring deceit, guilt and emotional fatigue within a failing relationship. Its understated arrangement and slower tempo mark a contrast to the more anthemic tone of his singles from the same period.

The lyrics, including “I always have an alibi but tonight I have no conscience, I’ve learned to lie to you,” present a narrator caught between regret and resignation. Williams’s performance is restrained but emotive, revealing a vulnerability rarely foregrounded in his earlier recordings. Chambers’s production, built around muted guitars and atmospheric keyboards, mirrors the subdued tone of the lyrics.

While never performed live, the song contributes to the reflective thread running through Williams’s late-1990s work, where themes of fame, relationships and self-deception intertwined. Deceiving Is Believing shows Williams experimenting with a more confessional approach that would later resurface in songs such as Come Undone and Sexed Up.

I was learning that not every song had to be a statement. Sometimes it could just be honesty, even if it’s ugly.Robbie Williams