Who is Madeline Lily Allen? Wait, I don’t actually want to know – Pop needs his puzzles music

SOh, to quote Lily Allen – who the hell is Madeleine? As mysteries go, this didn’t seem to last long. On Friday, Allen released her new album, West End Girl, which appears to be about her divorce from American actor David Harbour, with its highly detailed unpacking of an open marriage destroyed by an affair between the husband and a woman named Madeleine. By Sunday, the press had already announced that they had found Madeleine: the Mail on Sunday published an interview with a woman who claimed to have had an affair with Harpur. “They quoted her as saying, “Of course I heard the song. But I have a family and things to protect… It’s a little scary for me.” (Harbour, for his part, has not responded to the album’s contents or the Post’s claims.)

In Madeline, Allen (or her character) sings about texting a woman whose husband was sleeping with her, explaining her fears that emotions are now involved: “We had an arrangement / Be discreet and don’t be blatant / Money had to be paid / It had to be with strangers / But you’re no stranger, Madeline.” She then reads text messages Madeleine sent – ​​“Tell me you’re aware of what’s going on and he’s got your full consent / If he’s lying about it, please tell me” – which the Mail claims were pulled from real messages.

Allen has said in interviews that West End Girl refers to things she experienced in her marriage “but that doesn’t mean it’s all gospel.” She told The Times that Madeleine is a “fictional character” who is also made up of several people — an explanation that seems legally admissible and suggests that more people might come forward to declare themselves Madeleine. (No, I’m Spartacus!) None of this is glorious. It’s all convincing.

Compare Madeleine, then, to the story of Jolene Whelan, a red-haired Canadian woman who came forward in 2016 to identify herself as a possible inspiration for Dolly Parton’s 1972 song Jolene, the last other woman in pop music. Parton herself has told a story about being inspired by a fan who approached her for an autograph: “I said, ‘You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.’ She had red hair, green eyes, and light skin. And I said, ‘What’s your name?’ And she said, ‘Jolene.’ I said, ‘I’m going to write a song about you, and if you hear it, you’ll know it was about you.’

But Whelan was only 10 when she approached Parton for an autograph, which is much less flattering than the singer’s other explanation — that Jolene was inspired by an unnamed red-haired bank teller who would flirt with her husband whenever he went to the bank. A great story for a pop song – while Whelan found her potential association with the track disturbing, telling CBC: “She’s shy, man… What little kid wants to be ‘Jolene, don’t steal my leg’?”

Think back to the enthusiasm with which Beyoncé’s 2016 album Lemonade was received and its numerous references to infidelities, which some of her fans speculated were related to her husband, Jay-Z. Sorry’s most famous lyric – about “Becky with the good hair” – sparked an online manhunt to find the real Becky. Beyoncé remained silent. Songwriter Diana Gordon called all of this speculation “absolutely ridiculous,” adding: “At what day and age in that lyric did you get all that information? Is it really telling you that much, accusing people?”

Sometimes it’s better not to know, and enjoy the mystery instead. Sadly, Carly Simon has revealed one of the three inspirational men behind You’re So Vain (Warren Beatty) after decades of speculation that both parties enjoyed. Ed Sheeran left out a lot of details in “Don’t Do It” and fans quickly assumed it had something to do with Ellie Goulding; Meanwhile, Taylor Swift barely hides the ex she’s singing about, luring fans with a constant sense that they can find out the truth. However, Alanis Morissette never revealed the identity of her spleen owner, which maintained the intrigue while also making it a more universal song.

Whatever the truth or fiction, West End Girl has struck a nerve. It could just be our appetite for gossip about a famous singer and her actor husband, sure — but it also reflects a new reality that married women (and men) face now, as non-monogamy becomes more common among monogamous people. Whereas Parton’s song was a desperate plea for a beautiful, flirtatious woman to respect her marriage and stay away, Allen’s songs tell the story of a wife who knows her husband is having sex with other women, and even signs up for it — but who hates the prospect of him being emotionally invested enough to do things like play tennis with them. “You’re just a little boy looking for his mama,” she sings on the final track. Obviously Madeleine, whoever she was, could have it if she wanted.