Listen to the excellent Robbie Williams song from 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea'

26 December 2019, 23:49

One of the 2019 Christmas TV highlights was undoubtedly the very first adaptation of The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

The new animated version of the beloved Judith Kerr children's book first aired on the BBC on Christmas Eve, and featured the voices of David Walliams and Benedict Cumberbatch among others.

The 1968 story follows a girl named Sophie, her mother, and kind tiger who interrupts their afternoon tea, and quickly eats all their cake and drinks all their tap water.

As part of the film, Robbie Williams recorded a brand new song for the soundtrack. Listen to 'Hey Tiger' below:

Hey Tiger!

The music for the film was written by James Bond composer David Arnold, while 'Hey Tiger''s lyrics were written by Don Black.

Black is one of the UK's most prolific songwriters, and is known particularly for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, and for the James Bond theme songs he co-wrote with John Barry: 'Thunderball', 'Diamonds Are Forever' and 'The Man with the Golden Gun'.

Speaking about writing the new song, Black told Channel 4: "It catches a mood of innocence and youth and a delightful tale and brings a smile and, it makes you feel young again, if you’re not young already."

Black was particularly happy with Robbie taking on the song, saying: "Well, for me personally, I’ve always been a huge Robbie Williams fan, particularly after I met him, because when I first met him, he was talking about Sammy Davis and Dean Martin, and basically, there’s a lot of the old school about Robbie Williams.

"He’s an old performer really. And he would get this song, he would hear it and say: ‘Oh I know what you mean'.’ And he’s ideal for it. It’s a show song, it tells a story, and he’s great with the lyric. He kind of lives a song and we got him!"

On the new song, Robbie said: "This book has played a big part in me bonding with my kids. I’ve read it possibly 150 times to Teddy, and she is the reason I’m singing the song – I’m honouring those moments with her.

"She loved the book and I got a real heart-warming kick reading a line and her finishing it, so it will be forever in my heart. Plus I’m a massive fan of Don Black and it’s an honour to be singing the words he’s written.

"The song reflects the tiger’s wonderful, magical and mischievous character – it’s whimsical and just what a song should be in this film."

Robbie Williams recently scored a UK number one album with his first festive collection The Christmas Present.