"Not Fair" is a song by British recording artist
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings publi ...
from her second studio album, ''
It's Not Me, It's You
''It's Not Me, It's You'' is the second studio album by English singer Lily Allen, released on 4 February 2009 by Regal Recordings and Parlophone. It was produced and co-written by Greg Kurstin, with whom Allen had previously worked on her deb ...
'' (2009). Written by Allen and
Greg Kurstin
Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs t ...
, the song was released as the second single from the album on 20 March 2009 by
Regal Recordings
Regal Recordings is a British record label functioning as an imprint of Parlophone Records.
Background
Regal Records was a British record label founded in 1913 as a subsidiary of the UK branch of Columbia Records, known as the Columbia Grapho ...
. The song incorporates
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
as the lyrics depict sexual frustration. Contemporary critics did not positively receive the song and its theme, some calling it a "pseudo-country track" and considering it a strange musical composition. The single peaked in the top 20 of the charts of some European countries and Australia, while scoring Allen's second consecutive top-five hit on both the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and the
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...
(since in the latter "
Fuck You" was a commercial success before "Not Fair").
The accompanying music video portrayed a western country theme, with Allen dancing next to a microphone while backing singers are dressed as cowgirls, accompanied by cattle and poultry. The video was shot the same day of the release of the single. It was performed live on different occasions, including Allen's
2009 concert tour.
It was named at number 8 in the
Triple J Hottest 100, 2009
The 2009 Triple J's Hottest 100 Volume 17, was announced on Australia Day 26 January 2010. It is the seventeenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station Triple J.
Voting commenced ...
.
Background
In the song, Allen describes her relationship with a boyfriend to which she describes him as "the perfect guy" yet is frustrated at his sexual laziness. She furthermore describes the situation as "Not Fair" because while he plays the perfect boyfriend in every other way, he's selfish when it comes to their sex life ("all you do is take") – thus the song gives the impression that all his niceness and concern may have been just a face to get what he wants from his girlfriend without any genuine concern with her satisfaction and happiness.
The single was officially released on January and climbed the charts, still being in the top 10 in June. The single was released as a digital download on 21 March 2009 (iTunes) and on 11 May 2009 as a CD. Allen performed it live for the first time on ''
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
''Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' (referred to simply as ''Saturday Night Takeaway'' or ''SNT'') is a British television variety show, created and presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), and b ...
'' on 21 March 2009.
The censored version of the song, which is often used on the radio, blanks out the words "wet patch" and "I spent ages
giving head" on the second verse, replacing them with a burst of the background instruments. An alternative version only removes the word "head", replacing it with a short chord played on a
mouth organ
A mouth organ is any free reed aerophone with one or more air chambers fitted with a free reed.
Though it spans many traditions, it is played universally the same way by the musician placing their lips over a chamber or holes in the instrument, an ...
. While performing the song in the BBC Radio Live Lounge and on ''
The Graham Norton Show
''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton s ...
'', she replaced the latter with "I spent ages kneading bread".
Composition
"Not Fair" is a "
bluegrass-infused"
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
song.
Commercial performance
"Not Fair" charted two months before the release date at number 200 in the UK. By 2 May, "Not Fair" reached the #10 spot on the official chart before reaching a final peak of #5. In
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, the song debuted at number 32 on 18 May 2009, giving Allen her fifth top 40 hit there. It has so far peaked at number 20. The song has also been a big hit in Australia, where it peaked at number three and has so far spent eight consecutive weeks in the top 10, equalling the success of her previous single "
The Fear".
Music video
The music video for "Not Fair" was directed by
Melina Matsoukas
Melina Matsoukas (born January 14, 1981) is an American music video, film, commercial and television director. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner and four-time MTV Video Music Awards winner for her "We Found Love" and "Formation" music video ...
and filmed in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
on 19 February 2009. Allen released pictures from the video on her official
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account. A 17-second teaser of the video was released on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
on 17 March, before
T4 premiered the entire video on Saturday, 21 March. As of October 2022, it has gained over 100 million views on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
.
The music video shows Allen performing the song on the Porter Wagoner Show, starting off with a snippet from the
Porter Wagoner
Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour.
In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The Po ...
show from the 1970s to present Allen (
dubbed) by saying, "Now it's time for the purty little lady to come forth with a real purty song. And it's called "Not Fair". Let's make her welcome, Miss Lily Allen!"
Allen is revealed to be singing alongside a
country and western band, including a very bored-looking drummer,
mullet-wearing
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
s, and backing singers/dancers. Allen performs the song into a
microphone
A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
and can be seen dancing around the stage, dressed in a white
jumpsuit
A jumpsuit is a one-piece garment with sleeves and legs and typically without integral coverings for feet, hands or head. The original jump suit is the functional one-piece garment used by parachuting, parachuters.
The original skydivers' j ...
and sporting a blunt fringe with long hair. The video was recorded on
videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...
and with a real vacuum tube TV camera (as can be seen by the "comet trails" at 1:56 when the camera pans away from the studio lights) to keep with the theme of the video, as opposed to being filmed like most other music videos made in the 21st century.
Track listing
UK CD1 (Cardsleeve)
# "Not Fair" (explicit) – 3:20
# "The Fear" (The Count (Hervé) & Lily Face The Fear Remix) – 4:21
UK CD2 (Slim Case)
# "Not Fair" (radio edit) – 3:03
# "The Fear" (The Count (Hervé) & Lily Face The Fear Remix) – 4:21
# "Not Fair" (Di Angelis & Dobie 'Circus' Remix) – 5:36
# "Not Fair" (Style of Eye Remix) – 6:14
UK Promo (Standard Case)
# "Not Fair" (explicit) – 3:20
# "The Fear" (The Count (Hervé) & Lily Face The Fear Remix) – 4:21
7" limited edition picture disc
# "Not Fair" (Radio Edit) – 3:03
# "Why" – 3:16
Digital download
# "Not Fair" – 3:23
# "Why" – 3:38
# "Not Fair" (Style of Eye Remix) – 6:19
# "The Count (Hervé) and Lily Allen Face the Fear" – 4:22
# "Not Fair" (Clean Radio Edit) – 3:24
# "Mr. Blue Sky" – 3:41
Charts
Certifications
Year-end charts
Release history
References
External links
*
Making of the music videoon YouTube
{{Authority control
2009 singles
Lily Allen songs
Number-one singles in Israel
Music videos directed by Melina Matsoukas
Songs written by Lily Allen
Song recordings produced by Greg Kurstin