We needed Lily Allen’s edgy lyrics and sweet voice when she first stole our hearts with her 2006 album, Alright Still.
Her songs poked at problems within society and tore apart the particulars of pop culture; she had a knack for voicing the insecurities we felt as young women.
Allen’s new single, It’s Hard Out Here (a play on Three 6 Mafia‘s song) takes aim at a bunch of new issues, not to mention Miley Cyrus. She covers body image and celebrity culture, cosmetic surgery, how female pop stars are treated by the music industry, Robin Thicke (no explanation needed) and of course twerking and other cues / digs at Miley Cyrus’ music videos. There’s also an interesting message beneath her use of People of Colour as back-up dancers.
“It’s hard out here for a bitch,” Allen repeats.
It seems her break from making music has given her more time to reflect on the same stuff that used to get her angry – she packs an impressive number of cultural references into one short song. Has nothing changed since 2009? It doesn’t seem to have improved, that’s for sure.
At least Lily Allen is here to point that out: we still need her.
What do you think of Lily’s new song?
Hayley (Editor of Birdee) is passionate about publishing positive, real content for women and girls. Her background in marketing, advertising and design has seen her work closely with many brands for women over the past six years, including a collection of titles at Pacific Magazines. She fucking loves science, cycling, cats, Japanese animated films, sloths, print media, food, and women doing great things. She is also Managing Editor at The Hoopla. You can follow her on Twitter:@Hayley_Gleeson.