"Shame for You" is a song by British

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Lily Allen, Her accolades include a Brit Award, alongside nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivi ...

from her debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''

Alright, Still ''Alright, Still'' is the debut studio album by English singer Lily Allen, released on 13 July 2006 by Regal Recordings. After being rejected by several record labels, Allen signed to London Records, who eventually lost interest in her, leading ...

''. Written by Allen and

Blair MacKichan Blair MacKichan is a British musician and songwriter. He started his musical career playing drums, then later progressed to the piano. As a musician he fronts a band named ''Blair and Friends''. MacKichan writes a lot of his own material. He w ...

, while sampling

Jackie Mittoo Donat Roy Mittoo (3 March 1948 – 16 December 1990), better known as Jackie Mittoo, was a Jamaican-Canadian keyboardist, songwriter and musical director. He was a member of The Skatalites and musical director of the Studio One record label. ...

's "Loving You" melody, the song was released as the

A-Side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

to her fourth single, " Alfie", exclusively in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2007, by

Regal Recordings Regal Recordings is a British record label functioning as an Record label#Imprint, imprint of Parlophone, Parlophone Records. Background Regal Records was a British record label founded in 1913 as a subsidiary of the UK branch of Columbia Rec ...

. While no music video had been shot for the song, it was recorded performed live in Allen's 2007 concert tour.

Background

The song, ''Shame For You'' is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

song with pieces of

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

mixed with it. The song is set in the

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

of common time and played in the key of

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic ...

, with Allen's vocals ranging from F#3 to A4. It has a

metronome A metronome () is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a uniform interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats per minute (BPM). Metronomes may also include synchronized visual motion, such as a swinging pendulum ...

of 80

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

. Allen plays the piano featured in the song. "Shame for You" samples parts of the melodic lines of "Loving You", a

song from his album, ''Evening Time''. Lyrically, the song has a "nice-then-naughty approach" and a vindictive streak that belies the sugarcoated sounds around it, while she revels in being the one that got away from her ex-boyfriend. "Shame for You" was performed live, as part of the setlist of Allen's 2007

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

, for promoting ''

''.

Reception

"Shame for You" was described by

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

reporter Lucy Davies to be a reggae-fused song, which "sticks in your head whilst you desperately suss out why t'sfamiliar". Davies went on to say that Allen blatantly lifts the chorus

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

from the song "

You Don't Love Me (No, No, No) "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)" is a song by Jamaican singer Dawn Penn, released in February 1994 by Big Beat as the first single from her first studio album, '' No, No, No'' (1994). The song's lyrics are credited to Penn, Bo Diddley and Wil ...

" by

Dawn Penn Dawn Penn (born 11 January 1952) is a Jamaican reggae singer. She first had a short career during the rocksteady era from 1967 to 1969, but she is most known for her single " You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)", which became a worldwide hit in 1994. ...

. Mark Pytlik of ''

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

'' compared the singer's easy comfort with language to that of Mike Skinner, also suggesting she's confident enough that she never overexerts herself lyrically, but uses the song's wilting punchline, "Oh my God you must be joking me / If you think that you'll be poking me", to argue that she is "not above risking a stupid joke either". Sal Cinquemani from ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' praised the production of "Shame for You", as well as "Alfie", with "plenty of catchy melodies and clever samples", but claimed that Allen lacks charisma. Having only being released through the "Alfie/Shame for You" single exclusively in the singer's home country, the song peaked at number 15, along with A-side " Alfie", on the UK Singles Chart.

Track listing and formats

* CD Single #"Shame for You" #"Alfie" * 7" Vinyl :A. "Shame for You" :B. "Alfie" (explicit) * Digital download #"Alfie" (explicit) #"Alfie" ( CSS remix) #"Alfie" (live at Bush Hall) #"Shame for You" #"Shame for You" (live at Bush Hall)

Credits and personnel

*Lead vocals, piano -

*Writer(s) - Lily Allen, Blair Mackichan *Producer - Blair Mackichan *

Audio mixing Audio mixing is the process by which multiple sounds are combined into one or more audio channels. In the process, a source's volume level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated or enhanced. This practical, aest ...

Future Cut The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ex ...

*Audio mixing (assisted) - Dan Porter *Audio mixing (credited to) - Darren Lewis, Iyiola Babalola

Certifications

References

External links

*
"Shame for You" lyrics
LilyAllenMusic.com {{Authority control 2007 singles Lily Allen songs Songs written by Lily Allen Songs written by Blair MacKichan 2006 songs