Taylor Swift may drop Easter eggs in her break-up songs, leaving fans to wonder who the lyrics are about. But her British counterpart, Lily Allen, is dropping grenades in her newly released album West End Girl.
There’s no denying the album is about the breakdown of her marriage to Stranger Things star David Harbour, and the opening and title track, West End Girl, appears to tell the tale of how it all imploded after just four short years – and how a “sinister” note would mark the beginning of the end for the pair.
In the catchy song, Allen, 40, sings about being offered a lead in a play without auditioning shortly after she and her fictional man bought a brownstone in New York. She sings about needing to move back to London to start production and that’s when she reveals through the lyrics that her partner’s mood has shifted.
“That’s when your demeanour started to change,” she sings. “You said that I’d have to audition, I said ‘You’re deranged.’”
The song perfectly mirrors Allen’s reality. In 2021, she starred in the West End production of 2:22: A Ghost Story. She would go on to receive rave reviews for her stage debut and also scored a Best Actress nomination at the 2022 Laurence Olivier Awards – the equivalent to the Tony Awards in the US.
At the time, Harbour, 50, had sent her a bunch of flowers on opening night with a note that appeared to show some playful competition between husband and wife as he also has roots in the theatre world.
“My ambitious wife,” he wrote. “These are bad luck flowers ‘cause if you get reviewed well in this play you will get all kids of awards and I will be miserable, your loving husband.”
But in the wake of their split and Allen’s scathing song, it appears Harbour may not have been that supportive of his wife’s new endeavour.
“This note is so sinister in hindsight after listening to West End Girl,” one fan noted on X. “David Harbour could not stand that is wife might find success as an actress. He must have crashed out when she was nominated for an Olivier Award.”
“Not even in hindsight. This note is even awful at the first reading. It’s so much screaming red flag. Poor girl,” another X user tweeted.
“My ‘ambitious’ wife feels so backhanded,” another wrote, as one commented, “Yes it is sarcasm but when you know now how annoyed he was about her getting the part, it doesn’t look so funny anymore.’
An interview of the pair at the Laurence Olivier Awards red carpet 2022 has also resurfaced online – and you could cut the tension with a knife.
“It’s the first time I’ve been here …” Allen began as Harbour chimed in thinking the question was for him, leaving him to look on as Allen continued, “ … because it’s not my usual industry or crowd. But I’m just really, really honoured and happy and humble to be here and to be nominated is just, like, beyond. I don’t know what’s happening, really, but I couldn’t be happier.”
When Harbour was then asked by the reporter if it was his first time at the awards, he replied, “This is. I’ve done about a hundred thousand plays, never been recognised.”
“Congratulations,” he tells his wife, through what appears to be gritted teeth.
Elsewhere in Allen’s new album, she sings about themes such gaslighting, open relationships and sex addiction.
On the tracks Tennis and Madeline, Allen sings about a woman named Madeline, whom she interrogates after seeing a text message from her appear on a partner’s phone.
When asked by The Times this week if Madeline was “a fictional character” and a “construct of others”, Allen replied, “Yes”.
However, a woman who allegedly had an affair with Harbour has since been revealed to be Natalie Tippett.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, the costume designer, who met the Stranger Things actor while filming a movie in New Orleans in 2021, reacted to Allen singing about the affair on her newly released album.
“Of course I’ve heard the song,” Tippett told the outlet while allegedly rolling her eyes.
“But I have a family and things to protect. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, and I understand this is going on,” the single mum added. “It’s a little bit scary for me.”
On Madeline, Allen sings about a man breaking the rules in their “open” marriage.
Tippett, 34, worked in the costume department while Harbour starred in the 2021 Netflix film We Have A Ghost. Their alleged affair reportedly started shortly after filming began.
