Songfacts®:

• If Lily Allen has taught us anything over the years, it's that she's never been one to leave the messier bits of her life out of her art. "Madeline," from her 2025 comeback album West End Girl, continues that tradition. The album explores themes surrounding the dissolution of her marriage to actor David Harbour; this song references a specific woman he was having an affair with.
• The track opens with the tense twang of a Western standoff, a cinematic wink to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. It's the second time Allen's borrowed that aesthetic; her 2019 Shy FX collaboration "Roll the Dice" began with a similar duel-at-dawn swagger.
• The song's premise is that Allen and Harbour had an open relationship, complete with agreed-upon boundaries. Then one day, she discovered those boundaries aren't quite as intact as she'd believed. What follows is part heartbreak, part cross-examination. Allen reads aloud what sound like real text messages - allegedly from "Madeline" – where she claims her affair with Harbour "isn't an emotional connection" and her lover told her he had Allen's "full consent."
• Allen addresses Madeline directly through her lyrics, with the mix of vulnerability and biting wit that once powered "Smile" and "Not Fair." It's uncomfortable, theatrical, and very Lily, equal parts heartbreak and high drama.
• When The London Times asked who Madeline really was, Allen's first response was pure deflection: "She's a fictional character." But when pressed further - was she "a construct of others"? - Allen replied, "Yes."
  
  The intrigue deepened when a real person, costume designer Natalie Tippett from New Orleans, came forward to the Daily Mail claiming she was Madeline. Tippett said she met Allen's husband, actor David Harbour, in 2021 on the set of the movie We Have a Ghost, and that their relationship continued afterward. When approached about the song, Tippett confirmed she'd heard it, calling the situation "a little bit scary."
• Allen wrote the song in collaboration with Welsh songwriter Violet Skies (Tiesto featuring Mabel's "God Is A Dancer," Marshmello featuring Venbee's "No Man's Land") and her longtime musical director Blue May.
• Lily Allen performed "Madeline" on Saturday Night Live in December 2025. Actress Dakota Johnson joined her on stage in the role of the titular other woman during the performance. It was Allen's first appearance on the comedy sketch show since her 2007 performance 18 years earlier.