Smile (Lily Allen song)

Infobox Single
Name = Smile


Caption = CD 1 cover
Artist = Lily Allen
Album = Alright, Still
B-side = "Cheryl Tweedy", "Absolutely Nothing"
Released = 3 July 2006 (worldwide)
25 December 2006 (U.S.)
Format = CD single, digital download, 7" single
Recorded = 2006
Genre = Pop, ska, R&B
Length = 3:13
Label = Regal Zonophone
Writer = Lily Allen, Iyiola Babalola, Darren LewisSample written by Jackie Mitoo.
Producer = Future Cut
Certification =
Last single =
This single = "Smile"
(2006)
Next single = "LDN"
(2006)
Misc = Extra album cover
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Type = studio


Lower caption = CD 2 cover

"Smile" is Lily Allen's first mainstream single release, and was penned by Lily Allen, Iyola Babalola and Darren Lewis (the duo who produced the track as Future Cut). The organ riff is a sample of Jackie Mittoo playing keyboards on "Free Soul" by The Soul Brothers, written by Jackie Mittoo.

About the record

Allen announced through her MySpace blog that her first official single would be "Smile", taken from her debut album entitled, "Alright, Still". The track was sent to radio a few weeks later, and was added to radio playlists immediately. The music video premiered in early June on all mainstream music channels in the UK. Allen also appeared on the cover of "The Observer Music Monthly" as well as performing on UK TV shows, such as "Top of The Pops".

"Smile" was released to iTunes UK on 26 June 2006, ahead of the physical CD release on 3 July. It spent most of its first week at number 1 on the iTunes chart before entering at number 13 in the Official UK Top 40. The physical single is backed by two B-sides including "Cheryl Tweedy", a track which generated publicity (Allen states she wishes she looked like Girls Aloud member Tweedy in the lyrics). The single rose to number one in the UK on 9 July, selling 39,501 copies in that week. It amassed 2 weeks at the number one spot selling a further 35,228 copies, falling to number four in its fourth week (the same week the album was released). The single ended 2006 as the UK's eleventh best selling single of the year. The single peaked at number forty-nine in the US, mainly due to digital sales. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/top40_2006.shtml Top 40 Singles of 2006] , from BBC Radio 1 website ]

There is a remix ft. Robin Thicke and Samantha Jade to be released on 16 August 2007.

In the April 2007 issue of FourFourTwo it is suggested that the song is about Ashley Cole. This would mean "the girl next door" is a personifying metaphor of Chelsea and it would also explain having Cheryl Tweedy on the B-side.

Music video

The music video, directed by Sophie Muller (who also directed the video of previous UK number-one "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira), shows Allen getting revenge on an ex-boyfriend (played by Elliott Jordan) who cheated on her. She pays some thugs to beat him up, then takes him to a cafe to console him while the thugs trash his apartment and scratch his vinyl records. At the cafe, she puts laxatives in his coffee so he gets diarrhea. Later, as a result of the laxatives, he has to come to her house to use the toilet as his has been blocked by the thugs. The video finishes with Allen walking down the street smiling while the ex-boyfriend is DJing in a nightclub only to find that all his vinyl records have been scratched. Allen commented in an interview that the video was banned on MTV because it contained mugging.Fact|date=January 2008 It also has a profanity in its first verse; the offending lyric 'But you were fucking that girl next door' is censored in some releases, but present in others. "I got really offended when my single, Smile, got banned from MTV in the UK because it had the word "fuck" in it!" [cite web |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20014481,00.html |title=Lily Allen Blows Up |accessdate=2008-01-07 |author=Willman, Chris |date=2007-03-09 |publisher="Entertainment Weekly" ]

Promotion

On the day of the official release of "Smile", Allen performed and did an exclusive record signing at private record store Sister Ray in Soho, London. She performed four songs from her debut album "Alright, Still": "LDN", "Knock 'Em Out", "Littlest Things" and "Smile", followed by the signing. Earlier the same day, Allen performed on the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge with DJ Jo Whiley, performing an acoustic version of "Smile", and a cover of The Kooks' "Naïve", to apologise for insulting them via her MySpace blog.

The song was re-recorded by Allen in Simlish, the fictional language used in "The Sims" games. The Simlish version was used in the "Sims" expansion pack "", [cite web|url=http://thesims2.ea.com/news/detail.php?id=905|title=Smile in Simlish|work=Sims 2|accessdate=March 10|accessyear=2007] in which Allen also had her own character.

The song also appeared in .

At the 2007 South By Southwest music festival, Allen said she was "so sick of this song" before performing it. [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=7301 Smile Songfacts] . "Songfacts". Retrieved April 2 2007.]

The song is featured on the 2007 Judd Apatow film "Knocked Up".

EastEnders Episode in Time to say goodbye

Other versions

Rapper Example has recorded a new version of "Smile" called "Vile", which is an answer song written from the perspective of the ex-boyfriend (although he was never actually Allen's boyfriend [ cite web | url = http://forums.lilyallenmusic.com/viewtopic.php?p=10916#10916 | title = Untitled Forum Post | accessdate = 2006-07-28 | last = Allen | first = Lily] ). Both songs were then parodied by Chris Moyles on his Radio 1 breakfast show in a song called "Piles". There is also a remix to the original "Smile" version featuring rap artist WhoSayin? which can be found at his music site reverbnation.com/whosayin or myspace.com/whosayin. The original version of Lily Allen's "Smile" is very hard to come by.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Smile".

;CD1 (UK and 7" Vinyl)
#"Smile" — 3:13
#"Smile" (Aaron LaCrate's Gutter Mix) — 2:59
#"If You Don't Know me By Now",(Simply Red Cover) 3:27

;CD2 (UK)
#"Smile" — 3:13
#"Cheryl Tweedy" — 3:15
#"Absolutely Nothing" — 4:04
#"Smile" (music video)

;12" Vinyl (Promo)
#"Smile" (Digital Soundboy Mix) — 5:00
#"Smile" (Digital Soundboy Dub) — 5:00Digital Soundboy remixes by Shy FX.

;CD (Australia)
#"Smile" — 3:13
#"Cheryl Tweedy" — 3:15
#"Absolutely Nothing" — 4:04
#"Smile" (Aaron LaCrate's Gutter Mix) -2:59

;Digital download release (U.S.)
#"Smile" — 3:13
#"Smile" (Aaron LaCrate's gutter mix) -2:59
#"Cheryl Tweedy" — 3:15
#"Absolutely Nothing" — 4:04

*Note: There is also a recorded version of Smile in Simlish for The Sims available on iTunes.

Charts

References

External links

* [http://lilyallenmusic.com/ Lily Allen's official site]
** [http://lilyallenmusic.com/emi-site/site.php?page=lyrics&item=1582750 "Smile" lyrics]
** [http://lilyallenmusic.com/emi-site/site.php?page=av "Alright, Still" audio and music videos]
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