ELLE
MARCH
T
hroughout my life, the songs of strong
women have always been incredibly
important. As a teenager, I listened to their
lyrics for hours. Back then, the music of
everyone from Patti Smith, Debbie Harry
and Madonna, to Siouxsie Sioux, Annie
Lennox and Karen Carpenter, emotionally
fuelled my hopes for the future. Their words
made me feel connected to the rest of the
world; their stories brought comfort and inspiration – and I can still
quote from those evocative songs today.
Music is such a powerful memory maker – I couldn’t live
my life without it. Which is why I’m ridiculously in awe of musicians.
What a talent to have: to be able to define a period in someone’s
life for them to remember forever, or even, in some cases, define
a generation’s evolution. I’m always proud to be to able to put
musicians on the cover of ELLE. And we have one of the most
spirited and thought-provoking voices of our musical era on the front
of this March issue: Lily Allen, or Lily Rose Cooper as she is also
now known. This is her fourth cover during my nine-year editorship
(what can I say, I am a fan).
What I like about Lily is her ability to sense a mood and
write outspoken, evocative poetry that describes it. Her commentary
on popular culture is important, because she describes what she
sees in a witty, feminine way other women relate to. She is smart,
with a creative curiosity that questions life’s normal boundaries.
More than anything, Lily is herself. Unfiltered. Lily has been
true to who she is since she first rose to fame in 2006. It’s unusual in
a world that is littered with the emotional debris of women less able
to hold on to who they are and how they want the world to see them.
It is this unique honesty that guarantees Lily’s longev- ity, because
we will always want to hear about her experiences, in her own words.
Her ability to make a serious point playfully is impressive and we
need more feminist thinkers like Lily right now. I hope you like the
new interview and David Vasiljevic’s amazing shoot on p282.
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