| "Not Fair" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | ||||
| Single byLily Allen | ||||
| from the albumIt's Not Me, It's You | ||||
| B-side | "Why" | |||
| Released | 20 March 2009 (2009-3-20) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:23 | |||
| Label | Regal | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Greg Kurstin | |||
| Lily Allen singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Not Fair" onYouTube | ||||
"Not Fair" is a song by Britishsinger-songwriterLily Allen from her secondstudio album,It's Not Me, It's You (2009). Written by Allen andGreg Kurstin, the song was released as the second single from the album on 20 March 2009 byRegal Recordings. The song incorporatescountry music 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.[1] 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 theUK Singles Chart and theDutch Top 40 (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's2009 concert tour. In Australia, the song was ranked at number eight on theTriple J Hottest 100 of2009.[2]
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 is 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 onAnt & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway 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 agesgiving 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 amouth organ. While performing the song in the BBC Radio Live Lounge and onThe Graham Norton Show, she replaced the latter with "I spent ages kneading bread".
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"Not Fair" is a "bluegrass-infused"country song.[3][4]
"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. InNew Zealand, 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".
The music video for "Not Fair" was directed byMelina Matsoukas and filmed inLos Angeles on 19 February 2009.[5][6] Allen released pictures from the video on her officialTwitter account.[7] A 17-second teaser of the video was released onYouTube on 17 March, beforeT4 premiered the entire video on Saturday, 21 March. As of October 2022, it has gained over 100 million views onYouTube.[8]
The music video shows Allen performing the song on the Porter Wagoner Show, starting off with a snippet from thePorter Wagoner 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 acountry and western band, including a very bored-looking drummer,mullet-wearingguitarists, and backing singers/dancers. Allen performs the song into amicrophone and can be seen dancing around the stage, dressed in a whitejumpsuit and sporting a blunt fringe with long hair. The video was recorded onvideotape 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.[citation needed]
UK CD1 (Cardsleeve)[9]
UK CD2 (Slim Case)[10]
UK Promo (Standard Case)[9]
| 7" limited edition picture disc[9]
Digital download[11]
|
| Certifications[edit]
Year-end charts[edit]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom[35] Australia | 20 March 2009 | Digital download |
| Germany | ||
| 8 May 2009 | CD single | |
| Australia[36] | ||
| 9 May 2009 | ||
| United Kingdom | 11 May 2009 | CD single |
| United States | June 2009 | Digital |
...a key component to the inventively bluegrass-infused 'Not Fair',...
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