When the post production crew of Paul W. S. Anderson’s new adventure flick The Three Musketeers went to choose an ending title track for their film, they undoubtedly could have gone in quite a few directions. They were in need of a sort of wistful pop ballad, and quite frankly, there are few artists out there better suited for this than British Pop icons Take That. Now they could have forced the band back in the studio and had them write some hook about being “The Last Musketeer!” or some rubbish, but instead they chose to settle on the 2nd single from the groups recent EP Progressed, entitled “When We Were Young”.
In order to increase hype over the forthcoming film (which may need all the hype it can get), the group has recorded a new video with shots from the film spliced in intermittently. The song itself could very well have just been a Robbie Williams solo single as he is pretty much the only performer on the track (save a few small lines by Gary Barlow). In all honesty, it lacks much of the flair and climatic payoff that most of the songs on Progress had. It sounds like something the group would have put out in the 90s and honestly seems like a step back more than anything else.
The video draws quite a few parallels between Robbie Williams and the young D’Artagnan (Logan Lerman). Both of these men seem to be the primary focus of the video, and much like the rest of Take That was cut from the song, most of the other Musketeers are also noticeably absent in the video as well. The lyrics to the song bemoan the bitter inevitability of aging. D’Artagnan’s character symbolizes everything it is to be young and agile. This in turn contrasts with the black & white images of Robbie Williams, a man still trying desperately to come to terms with the fact that he is now a grown man. It’s kind of touching really, and it at least makes up for the fact that the song isn’t quite as good as it could have been.
On a side note, I personally have had my share of doubts about the viability of another Musketeers film, so it was kind of nice to get an even closer look at some of the footage. To be honest, this video has made me optimistic and has at swayed me into at least wanting to give it a fair shot at the box office. Paul W.S. Anderson has an interesting track record when it comes to Directing, so of course its going to be a gamble, but that’s kind of what makes it so enticing in the first place!
You can check out the music video for “When We Were Young” below.
