Not Fair

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"Not Fair"
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Template:Infobox song/link by Lily Allen
from the album It's Not Me, It's You
B-side"Why"
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Genre
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LabelRegal
[[Songwriter|SongwriterTemplate:Pluralize from text]]
[[Record producer|ProducerTemplate:Pluralize from text]]Greg Kurstin
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"The Fear"
(2008) 		"Not Fair"
(589) 		"Fuck You"
(2009)
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"Not Fair" is a song by English singer 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 second single from the album on 20 March 2009 by Regal Recordings. The song incorporates country music as the lyrics depict sexual frustration. Contemporary critics did not positively receive the song and its theme, with some calling it a "pseudo-country track" and considering it a strange musical composition.[1] The single peaked in the top 20 of the charts of some European countries and Australia, while scoring Allen's second consecutive top-five hit on both the UK Singles Chart and the Dutch Top 40 (since in the latter "Fuck You" was a commercial success before "Not Fair").

The accompanying music video portrayed a western country theme, with Allen dancing next to a microphone while backing singers are dressed as cowgirls, accompanied by cattle and poultry. The video was shot the same day of the release of the single. It was performed live on different occasions, including Allen's 2009 concert tour. In Australia, the song was ranked at number eight on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2009.[2]

Background

In the song, Allen describes her relationship with a boyfriend to which she describes him as "the perfect guy" yet is frustrated at his sexual laziness. She furthermore describes the situation as "Not Fair" because while he plays the perfect boyfriend in every other way, he is selfish when it comes to their sex life ("all you do is take") – thus the song gives the impression that all his niceness and concern may have been just a face to get what he wants from his girlfriend without any genuine concern with her satisfaction and happiness.

The single was officially released on January and climbed the charts, still being in the top 10 in June. The single was released as a digital download on 21 March 2009 (iTunes) and on 11 May 2009 as a CD. Allen performed it live for the first time on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway on 21 March 2009.

The censored version of the song, which is often used on the radio, blanks out the words "wet patch" and "I spent ages giving head" on the second verse, replacing them with a burst of the background instruments. An alternative version only removes the word "head", replacing it with a short chord played on a mouth organ. While performing the song in the BBC Radio Live Lounge and on The Graham Norton Show, she replaced the latter with "I spent ages kneading bread".

Composition

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"Not Fair" is a "bluegrass-infused" country song.[3][4]

Commercial performance

"Not Fair" charted two months before the release date at number 200 in the United Kingdom. By 2 May 2009, "Not Fair" had reached the number-10 spot on UK Singles Chart before reaching a peak of number five. In New Zealand, the song debuted at number 32 and peaked at number 20, giving Allen her fifth top-40 hit there. The song has also been a big hit in Australia, where it peaked at number three and spent eight consecutive weeks in the top 10, equalling the success of her previous single "The Fear".

Music video

File:Notfairmusicvideo.jpg
Allen in the 1970s-inspired music video for "Not Fair"

The music video for "Not Fair" was directed by Melina Matsoukas and filmed in Los Angeles on 19 February 2009.[5][6] Allen released pictures from the video on her official Twitter account.[7] A 17-second teaser of the video was released on YouTube on 17 March, before T4 premiered the entire video on Saturday, 21 March. As of May 2026, it has gained over 135 million views on YouTube. [8]

The music video shows Allen performing the song on the Porter Wagoner Show, starting off with a snippet from the Porter Wagoner show from the 1970s to present Allen (dubbed) by saying, "Now it's time for the purty little lady to come forth with a real purty song. And it's called "Not Fair". Let's make her welcome, Miss Lily Allen!"

Allen is revealed to be singing alongside a country and western band, including a very bored-looking drummer, mullet-wearing guitarists, and backing singers/dancers. Allen performs the song into a microphone and can be seen dancing around the stage, dressed in a white jumpsuit and sporting a blunt fringe with long hair. The video was recorded on videotape and with a real vacuum tube TV camera (as can be seen by the "comet trails" at 1:56 when the camera pans away from the studio lights) to keep with the theme of the video, as opposed to being filmed like most other music videos made in the 21st century.[citation needed]

Track listing

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Charts

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Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[25] Platinum 70,000 
Germany (BVMI)[26] Gold 300,000 
New Zealand (RMNZ)[27] Platinum 0 
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[28] Gold 15,000 
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] 2× Platinum 1,200,000 

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format
United Kingdom[30]
Australia 		20 March 2009 Digital download
Germany
8 May 2009 CD single
Australia[31]
9 May 2009
United Kingdom 11 May 2009 CD single
United States June 2009 Digital

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Davies, Lucy. "BBC – Music – Review of Lily Allen – It's Not Me, It's You". bbc.co.uk.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Hottest 100 Archive: 2009". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 November 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cinquemani, Sal (3 February 2009). "Lily Allen – It's Not Me, It's You Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 27 February 2014. ...a key component to the inventively bluegrass-infused 'Not Fair',...
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."It's Not Me, It's You Album Review | Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."SHOT: Lily Allen – Melina, director". VideoStatic.com. 27 February 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Gettin my hair did. Shooting the next video today x". Twitter. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Not Fair". Twitpic. Twitter. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Lily Allen | Not Fair (Official Video)". YouTube. 20 March 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  9. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."2009-04-03: 'What's Happening?' – LillyAllenMusic.com". Archived from the original on 11 September 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Auspop.Net: A Totally Fair Local Lily Single". Auspop.blogspot.com. 28 April 2009. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."iTunes – Music – Not Fair – EP by Lily Allen". iTunes Store. 8 May 2009.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Airplay" (in Nederlands). Ultratop Flanders. 30 January 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Hits of the World: European Hot 100". Billboard. Vol. 121, no. 21. 30 May 2009. p. 46.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."2009/30. heti Editors' Choice Top 40 slágerlista" (in magyar). MAHASZ. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Media Forest: Airplay chart". Media Forest.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sns Ifpi". Ifpicr.cz. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."ARIA Top 100 Singles for 2009". ARIA. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Jahreshitparade Singles 2009" (in Deutsch). Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 2009" (in Deutsch). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."FIMI – Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana – Ricerche e dati di mercato". FIMI. 19 January 2010. Archived from the original on 23 January 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 2009" (in Nederlands). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Jaaroverzichten – Single 2009" (in Nederlands). MegaCharts. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2009" (in Deutsch). Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."End of Year Singles Chart: 2009". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
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  29. ^ Script error: No such module "cite". Select singles in the Formats field. Type Not Fair Lily Allen in the "Search:" field.
  30. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."UK Digital Download". apple.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014.
  31. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."AUS Digital Download". apple.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014.

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