Lilly Allen - "The Fear"

Lyrics and vocals by Allen, music by Greg Kurstin.

Witty and acid the lyrics express shallow materialistic cynicism. Despite the slowly descending melody there is hubris, "yeah we're on to a winner", convincing her self of the truth of what she is saying.

Form
The first sounds are ambient bird song which quickly fades as the intro begins. Played on an acoustic guitar this consists of four bars of the verse and has a touch of synth and wind machine in the last bar.

Verse consists of four couplets, each line being two bars. The couplets are also paired up, the first half of the verse being gentle and in the relative minor key the second half in the dominant major key and much bolder. The melody, in the style of a recititive, is entirely subservient to the lyrics, the second half of the couplet answering the first and using the rhythm of ordinary speech.

The chorus, in the tonic key, is a typical modern chorus. It is the most intense part of the song, the verse having built up to it. After a deep breath the chorus bursts into life with the feeling of returning to the centre of the song. The verse is seemingly a diversion, filling in information supporting the idea summed up in the chorus. In contrast to the verse there is uncertainty and self doubt and it comes to its chilling conclusion that fear is driving this recklessness.

Then there is a four bar recapitulation of the intro calming the song down in preparation for the next verse. Next time round, after the second chorus, there is a bridge of eight bars, and after the third chorus, the outro. The bridge allows recovery from the chorus but is more active than the intro, the song having momentum by this stage.

After all the building up the eight bars of outro unwraps the music leaving the electric guitar and delay line. It ends on the second note of the scale and hangs, suspended, with no resolution. Wind machines add to the ominous conclusion. The overall form is: Intro Verse Chorus Intro Verse Chorus Bridge Verse Chorus Outro.

Some Final Thoughts
This song raises many questions. What is "the fear" the fear of? Allen is being sarcastic, but about who exactly? Is she being self-righteous? Is the song green? Is it a protest song? What about the excesses of Rock-and-Roll and your right to party, does it go that far? The song is about the absurdity of lavish consumption, so is this a post credit crunch song? Could you dance to this music? Am I the only person who thinks her lyrics are the best since Dylan? Or am I just happy to hear a young fashionable person who is articulate about the world around them? Or is it because I imagine it supports my hope that the credit crunch will lead to eco-Keynesianism and a saner, cleaner, better life?