Fuck You (Lily Allen song)

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2009 single by Lily Allen

“Fuck You” is a song by English singer Lily Allen from her second album, It’s Not Me, It’s You (2009), as her third international single.[1] A maximalist EDM track, its lyrics dismiss and ridicule a bigoted antagonist, criticising their racism and homophobia. The song was a hit in mainland Europe, topping the chart in Flanders for three weeks and reaching number two in Wallonia and the Netherlands. It became a top-five hit in Finland, Norway, and Switzerland, reached the top 20 in several other European nations, and peaked at number 23 in Australia.

Background and content[edit]

The song originally appeared on Allen’s Myspace page in 2008 alongside the songs “I Could Say” and “I Don’t Know” (later released as “The Fear”) under the title “Guess Who Batman”. The song samples the piano of the theme to the Australian television show Neighbours. The song was written by Allen and Greg Kurstin. Allen wrote: “We are the youth, we can make coolness for our future, it’s up to us. Go green and hate hate.”[2]

Despite its reference to Batman, according to NME and Rolling Stone magazines the song is a protest against George W. Bush.[3][4] At a concert on 2 April 2009 at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, Allen stated that the song was about Bush.[3] At a concert in São Paulo, Brazil, Allen stated, “It was originally written about this fucking arsehole who used to be the President of the United States of America. His name is George W. Bush.”[5]

The Urban Review states that it was originally inspired by the far-right British National Party, adding Allen now “feels the track is relevant everywhere now so has removed a particular target.”[6] At the 2009 Glastonbury Festival prior to performing the song, Allen made reference to the elections to the European parliament that had commenced three weeks earlier in which the British National Party gained their first ever representative seats, citing this as a reason to sing the song.[6]

Chart performance[edit]

The song made its chart debut at number 37 on the Canadian Top 100 on 28 February 2009 despite not being released as an actual single. The song also entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 68 on the same week, being her third song on entry.[7]

In the United Kingdom, the song never received an official release.[8]

In the Netherlands the song was released as the album’s second single and debuted on the Dutch Top 40 on 18 April 2009 at number 23 and has peaked at number three.[7] The song reached number one in Belgium on 6 June 2009.[7] It also peaked at number four in Finland and Norway,[7] number 18 in Sweden,[7] number nine in France, number 23 in Australia[7] and number 16 in Switzerland.

Music video[edit]

A music video for the song was posted on the official Parlophone YouTube page on 15 June 2009. EMI hired the French production company Frenzy Paris, who in turn hired the art collective AB/CD/CD and the post-production company “Firm”. The video is shot from Allen’s point of view (she can be seen using a polaroid she takes of herself). She is seen to be making the journey from her hotel room to a television studio. Throughout the video, Allen warps the shape and size of her surroundings using her hands and her own perspective; for example, by moving her hands apart she stretches the Eiffel Tower and enlarges a man’s afro hairstyle.[9]

Track listing[edit]

Certifications[edit]

In popular culture[edit]

The song was chosen as the theme song for the TV programme Periodismo para todos (Spanish: Journalism for Everyone) in Argentina. Periodismo para todos is a controversial Argentine television program that has been labelled as investigative journalism.[46] The song was chosen because it had been used in a telenovela of the state-owned TV Pública, in a satirical Spanish lyrics version. The opening of the show features photos of the audience making the “fuck you” sign.[47]
The song has a medium rotation on radio stations like La 100, from Buenos Aires (owned by Grupo Clarín, which also belongs Canal 13 who broadcast Periodismo para todos weekly). However, it was the second most popular song of 2012 in the chart show TUS 25 (Spanish: Your 25) of Tu Dial,[48] an Argentinian web radio station based in Mexico.

The song was featured in the pilot of ABC’s Suburgatory.[49]

The song was performed by The Sockapellas in the 2012 film Pitch Perfect, singing “Eff You” instead.

The song is featured in the 2014 film Love, Rosie and in the 2016 film Bridget Jones’s Baby.

Finnish actor Antti Holma covered the song in Finnish in 2016, with the title “V-laulu” (“The V Song”).[50]

The song is featured in the 2020 video game Watch Dogs: Legion.[51]

The song is performed by the character Janae in the 2021 series, One of Us Is Lying (adaptation of the bestselling Karen M McManus book).

On 25 June 2022, Allen performed the song with Olivia Rodrigo at Glastonbury Festival 2022. They dedicated the song to the five conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices—Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh—who formed the majority in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overrule Roe v. Wade the day before, ending the right to an abortion under the federal constitution.[52][53]

References[edit]