Lily Allen has a history of coming up with the wittiest, frequently colorful lyrics based on her personal experiences and society. The track “The Fear” from her second album It’s Not Me, It’s You poked fun at the way people desire to be rich and make it to the top.
Four years, one hiatus, one husband and two children later, she’s back with “Hard Out Here” and she’s not afraid to take a stab at the music industry and more importantly, empower girls everywhere.
The lyrics are as explicit as ever as Allen tackles the double standard women face such as men being praised for talking about their sexuality while women being chastened for it. In the beginning of the video, Allen is getting liposuction before being forced to a music video set where there are scantily clad backup dancers.The dancers “twerk” and the way they exaggerate their sexiness represents how the pop industry prioritize sex before music and anything else. Allen pokes fun at Robin Thicke’s video “Blurred Lines” by blowing up enough balloons to mention something regarding her geniltalia.
If the video is tasteless, it’s because that’s the point Allen makes. Many of the music videos that are released depict how a female should look like and act. Unlike her previous records, she experiments with more dance and hip-hop beats that oddly sound like Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” at times.
While “Hard Out Here” won’t be considered the “feminist” song of the year, it’s still worth listening to as pop culture is in a need of a makeover.
