About
Written by Robbie Williams, Stephen Duffy and biographer Chris Heath, Make Me Pure appeared on Intensive Care and was also released as the B-side to Tripping. The song quickly became one of Williams’ most loved ballads and, through heavy radio airplay, charted in the Netherlands on its own. Its acoustic simplicity and confessional lyrics marked a return to emotional honesty, pairing spiritual yearning with sly self-awareness.
Written shortly after Williams turned 30, the song captures his desire for redemption and self-understanding. “Tell a joke, tell it twice, if no one else is laughing, then why am I?” he sings, mixing humour with melancholy. The chorus plea — “Lord make me pure, but not yet” — paraphrases Saint Augustine and encapsulates Williams’ tension between faith and temptation.
I’d just hit 30 and felt like I had a spiritual void. This song was me asking for help, but with a wink. It’s a prayer, kind of — just not a holy one.Robbie Williams
The song was recorded almost live, featuring acoustic and pedal steel guitars, choir harmonies and Williams’ understated vocal. The Russell Thomas–directed video, set in a small rehearsal room, shows him performing with his band, stripped of glamour and pretence. Its warmth and intimacy made it one of his most human moments. Gentle, witty and deeply sincere, Make Me Pure stands among the highlights of Intensive Care — a simple song with a complex soul.
Lyrics
To reel 'em in
It's a song I sung before
And a song I'm gonna sing again
I mean every word
I don't mean a single one of them
Oh Lord make me pure
But not yet
Tell a joke
Tell it twice
If no-one else is laughing then why am I
I split my sides both times and laugh till I cry
Oh Lord please make me pure
But not yet
Don't have to try
I just dial it in
I never found a job that for me was worth bothering
I got a ton of selfish genes and lazy bones
Beneath this skin
Oh Lord make me pure
But not yet
Smoking kills
Sex sells
I've got one hand in my pocket but the other one looks cool as hell
I know I'm gonna die so my revenge is living well
Oh Lord make me pure
But not yet
I stopped praying
So I hope this song will do
I wrote it all for you
I'm not perfect but you don't mind that do you
I know you're there to pull me through aren't you
So I look for love
I like the search
And I'll be standing for election all across the known universe
Every president gets the country she deserves
Oh Lord make me pure
Not yet
And I've been seeing
Somebody's wife
She said she'd leave him for me and I said that wasn't wise
You can't lie to a liar because of all the lies
Oh Lord please make me pure
Not yet
Credits
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Vocalist
Robbie Williams -
Songwriter
Robbie Williams, Stephen Duffy, Chris Heath