This morning while scrolling through my Twitter feed I saw several bloggers' tweets about the new Lily Allen song/music video, and after I got back from class I decided to check it out. Verdict: Lily is the Queen. The video is an explicit mockery of music culture (much of what we saw in the documentary we watched earlier in the semester.) She recently had children and has been away from the music scene for a little while and this video is a sort of preemptive attack of her critics.
Unfortunately, it was so recently released I couldn't find a site that had the correct lyrics. But listen closely! Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0CazRHB0so
She criticizes product placement and objectification of women, and particularly acknowledges how any woman who doesn't agree with society's standards is a "bitch." Although the video is provocative, Lily Allen's message is to showcase how absolutely ridiculous our society can be, exemplified through the music industry. For me her opinion is credible because most of her older songs aren't just about being sexy or rolling in riches. She also touches on a lot of the subjects we've talked about in class (glass ceilings, people saying feminism is irrelevant in modern society ("we've never had it so good, we're out of the woods, and if you can't detect the sarcasm you're misunderstood"), the double standard regarding male and female sexuality, body image, general inequality, etc) . It's a serious critique, but also funny ("How does somebody let themselves get like this?" "It's a lack of self-discipline I suppose." "Um... I just had two babies.")
In conclusion: totally badass.
AMAZING!! I'm pretty much gonna make this my workout song. I'm not that familiar with Lily Allen's music but I do remember her Smile song was my jam for a while too. I loved the go between and the old man in the suit trying to criticize their butt shaking moves! Total badass indeed!
ReplyDeleteI think Lily Allen is equally as talented as any other artist, for instance Katy Perry. The difference is that she doesn't have to fall into the sexual music culture to be successful, and I think this is a great way of her saying F U (That's a reference to one of her other song titles) to people who are questioning her talent based on her image.
ReplyDeleteAlso... I've seen a couple of articles criticizing supposed "racist undertones" of the video.. but here's Lily Allen's response to that.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rrk3og
This is awesome! I love hearing when female artists stand up for female body image, ideals, opinions, etc. I may not be well informed, but to me it seems like this doesn't happen very often. Too often I hear about "cat fights" and "backstabbers." I want to hear about something inspiring and empowering, and your post is a great example of that!
ReplyDeleteHonestly after we watched this music video in class the other day I have not been able to get this song out of my head! I absolutely love Lily Allen, and once again she is taking a stand against society through her music. I also don't agree with the many accusations that this video is only perpetuating racism. I think a lot of people are failing to see the satirical nature of the song and music video, and without realizing this they are failing to comprehend Lily's message, which is a complete shame in itself because I think it's an extremely valid one.
ReplyDelete