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Lily Allen · S1 E5
Alfie
A little brother, a best friend, and the kid who'd become Theon Greyjoy
London, 1991. A five-year-old boy in a suit stands in line at the premiere of Hear My Song, holding a box of handkerchiefs to present to Princess Diana, when he gets his genitals caught in his trouser zip.
Alfie by Lily Allen (2007), official music video. Lily writes a song calling her brother a lazy, weed-smoking layabout. The video features a demonic puppet version of Alfie in a Tom and Jerry-style animation. It becomes a Top 20 hit. Alfie asks the label not to release it as a single. They do it anyway.
Sixteen Months Apart
Alfie Evan Allen arrives on September 12, 1986, sixteen months after Lily. They share the same council flat, the same absent father, the same string of schools. They are each other's one constant in a world where everything else keeps moving.
“When Lily wrote the song, I was in Canada teaching kids how to snowboard. I went on Myspace and listened to it, and I was... entertained. It's a song about love, isn't it? She was missing her little bro!”
— Alfie Allen, The Guardian
Alfie (2007)
Built on a sample from Sandie Shaw's 1967 Eurovision winner "Puppet on a String," the production is deceptively sweet. Lily's vocal is half lullaby, half intervention. She pleads with her brother to stop smoking weed, get off the sofa, and do something with his life. The irony: when Lily wrote it, Alfie was in Canada teaching kids how to snowboard.
TAP TO REVEAL: Alfie Allen auditioned for a completely different Game of Thrones role
Three by Lily Allen (No Shame, 2018)
A lullaby for her daughters Ethel and Marnie. Lily and Alfie grew up with absent parents and broken promises. This song is Lily's vow to do it differently. Knowing the childhood these siblings shared makes every line land harder.
Alfie Allen's CV
How did Alfie Allen get his Emmy nomination for Game of Thrones?
The family is mapped, the chaos documented. Next: Lily at fifteen, dropped out of school, on a plane to Ibiza with a bag of ecstasy tablets and absolutely no plan.
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