| "The Fear" | ||||
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| Single by Lily Allen | ||||
| from the album It's Not Me, It's You | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | 9 December 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2007 | |||
| Studio | Home studio (Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, England) | |||
| Genre | Electropop | |||
| Length | 3:27 | |||
| Label | Regal | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Greg Kurstin | |||
| Lily Allen singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "The Fear" on YouTube | ||||
"The Fear" is a song by English singer-songwriter Lily Allen from her second studio album, It's Not Me, It's You (2009). Written by Allen and Greg Kurstin, the song was released as the lead single from the album. Initially, "Everyone's at It" was announced to be the first single from the album. However, it was ultimately decided on "The Fear" to be released on 26 January 2009 by Regal Recordings, while Allen posted the demo (which was then titled "I Don't Know") onto her MySpace account in April 2008. The song incorporates electropop music as the lyrics articulate problems with celebrity lifestyles and include metaphors for recognised tabloid national newspapers such as The Sun and the Daily Mirror.
Contemporary critics complimented the song and its themes of consumerism and the postmodern condition. "The Fear" topped the UK Singles Chart for four consecutive weeks, thus becoming the longest running number 1 in the UK of 2009, while peaking inside the top 10 in Australia and Ireland and the top 20 in several European countries. It is also Allen's second entry on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, where it reached number 80.
The accompanying music video portrayed a fantasy theme, with Allen dancing with giant wrapped gifts and balloons. It was shot at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire and also featured dancers dressed as butlers; the locations were initially in a caravan in a park, and then in a giant colourful mansion, surrounded by contrasting grey clouds. The song was performed live for the first time via The Scott Mills Show on BBC Radio 1 and during Allen's 2009 concert tour. "The Fear" was awarded with Best Track prize at the 2009 Q Awards,[1] and also won Allen two Ivor Novello Awards in 2010, for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, and Most Performed Work.[2]
- ^ Scott, Elizabeth. "Lily, Lady Gaga and Muse Celebrate Q Awards". Sky News. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
- ^ Masters, Tim (20 May 2010). "Lily Allen wins three Ivor Novello songwriting awards". BBC News. London. Retrieved 31 May 2010.