| "Shame" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Shame_single_cover.png) | ||||
| Single by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow | ||||
| from the album In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010 | ||||
| B-side | "The Queen" | |||
| Released | 27 August 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2010 | |||
| Studio | Metropolis Studios, London
| |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:59 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Gary Barlow
| |||
| Producer(s) | Trevor Horn | |||
| Robbie Williams singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Gary Barlow singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Shame" on YouTube | ||||
"Shame" is a song written and recorded by English singers Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow for Williams's second greatest hits compilation album, In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest Hits 1990–2010 (2010). Produced by Trevor Horn, it was released as the lead single from the album on 27 August 2010 in most countries worldwide and on 1 October in the United Kingdom. "Shame" marks the first time Williams and Barlow collaborated on a song together solely and the first time they worked together since Williams left Take That in 1995. It is a pop song with country and folk music influences; two reviewers noted that it contains an acoustic guitar part similar to the one of the Beatles' 1968 song, "Blackbird". The lyrical content revolves around the singers repairing their broken relationship.
"Shame" received generally favourable reviews from music critics who praised the song's sound, melody, and lyrical skills of the performers. It reached the top-ten in seven countries worldwide including Hungary, Netherlands, Italy and Denmark. In the singers' native United Kingdom, it peaked at number two on the singles chart and was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments of over 200,000 copies in the country. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Vaughan Arnell in Los Angeles and premiered on 26 August 2010. It features Williams and Barlow dancing and singing the song in a bar and fishing on a pond. Multiple critics linked the storyline and the pair's chemistry in the video to the 2005 film, Brokeback Mountain. To further promote "Shame", the pair performed it on multiple occasions including on the Help for Heroes concert and Strictly Come Dancing.