To be a bit stunned by Lily Allen’s new album

[AngeloMysterioso]

Oooofff. I mean it might as well be called Fuck You David Harbour, You Cheating Bastard. Safe to say she’s set a new bar for diaristic songwriting. I feel so sad for her, I know she’s not everyone’s favourite person but it’s always been clear that all she wanted was to love and be loved and she seemed so happy with him- he popped up on her podcast with Miquita Oliver a few times and seemed so genuine in the way he spoke about her… for it to all collapse in such spectacularly public and hideous fashion must have been awful to endure, so I don’t blame her for working through it by going back to what she does best but still… blimey. I feel like I’ve been spying in their bedroom or something after listening to it!

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This comment really resonated with me. Thank you for it.

I never thought she was a feminist. She was always attacking other women on her social media, never for any good reason (I remember Cheryl Cole and Courtney Love). Women don't all have to be besties but she really seemed to have it in for other women and only women. I can't remember if the phrase "not like other girls" had been coined at that point but that was definitely the impression I got.

@ThatCyanCat I remember watching her being interviewed on a red carpet on her way into an awards ceremony. When asked who she’d like to see win, she replied something like ‘I really hope it’s not Corinne Bailey Rae’.

It was so out of place with what she’d been asked.

Rude, unnecessary and mean.

She said in one of the interviews that she believed porn influences a lot of what happens now and I think this is true.

the expectation that not only can we have it all and be all things to all people but also that we become performers in the bedroom ( or wherever) otherwise we might lose our partner to someone more liberal / ‘sexually adventurous’.

i remember when the wonderbra was a thing and people being encouraged to wear them under open blazers and now the underwear as outerwear thing is here to stay, seeing people wear on a night out or to festivals things id only wear for sex on a special occasion 🤣🙈

and it became a thing to have a pole installed at home or to have pole classes, and now there’s so many sexy dance classes where you learn stripper moves in high heels, nothing wrong with it but it really feels like the sex industry has become mainstream.

swinging and non monogamy are things lots of people don’t keep secret anymore, as well as bdsm practices.

lily talked in the podcast with miquita about her not being up for certain things that her husband wanted her to do…

It’s not just porn but I think porn has definitely influenced our popular culture in multiple ways and the acceptance of porn now as just something people / men enjoy and it’s prudish to suggest otherwise has had a huge impact on how we show up as women, the expectations placed on us and our young people.

She’s certainly done revenge with a bang ! but I’m sure the hurt and disappointment will take longer to heal

I know of many council estate kids who got funding to go to boarding school

They’d get sponsorship

I don't think she's a good singer (her entire schtick seemed to be that she isn't trained/skilled in technique; if you like it then I guess you see it as raw or authentic, to me it's just mediocrity and a lack of talent, and I don't think she has a particularly pleasant or nicely toned voice either; it's just a normal, unremarkable voice). I think she knew she's nothing to write home about vocally, and while she's nice enough looking, she's not a raving beauty either (again like 99% of us, including me). So while she made a thing of how relatable and authentic she is, I think she felt insecure against women who were more musically talented or more beautiful. And there were plenty of them.

My sense is LA felt she had security with DH, that he was punching & as he is 10 years older, she had the upper hand & more power. The white picket fence dream. Sadly, it seems he wasn’t perhaps as stable as she thought & she was wrong all round.

Re David Harbour, she was big time punching.

I think she thought he was.

If the relationship was based on the people in it thinking they were punching, it's hardly surprising that it failed.

Oh yeah private schools are overrun with council estate kids. Said no one ever!

I am not saying it’s over run, just highlighting that it does happen… 🙄 an ex of mine was a boarder from this background.

Why?

But I kind of like this about her. She’s authentic. You don’t have to be a raving beauty. You can be yourself. Unapologetically. For me, I like that. We don’t all need to be Celine Dion or Christina Aguilera.

It neither here nor there in this scenario. LA may have lived very briefly on a council estate in early childhood but even she has never claimed to be working class.

Of course you don't have to be a raving beauty, although sadly it helps for women in the music and entertainment industry. I just think that she's shown her insecurity by having it in for women who are more beautiful and more talented, and as she's neither very beautiful nor very talented, that's a lot of insecurity and targets.

I'm aware a lot of people find her authentic. I find her mediocre, not very talented and not actually very authentic... all the stuff about acting more working class and "street" than she is and all the attacks on other women that suggest she isn't actually that self accepting. I could probably handle it if I liked the music or her droney boring voice but I don't. However, I realise a lot of people feel differently.

She’s not, that’s bollocks. Objectively speaking, LA is far better looking than DH.

She did what now?

All I can say is: I’m glad I grew up in a stable family unit with decent parents. Lily Allen is so messed up and disclosing the private, intimate details she has in this album will likely contribute to her messing up her own children. Spectacularly poor judgment: it’s impossible, in the Internet age, to shield them from this stuff.

However, turning to the entirely separate question of artistic merit: I think the album’s good.

True.

I fear she thought that gave her a bit of security & power/agency.

Unless she actually comes out and says that, we won’t know.