The song is set in common time and has a tempo of 120 beats per minute . While it is played in the key of C major and has backing piano and guitar sounds , " Alfie " also uses a sample from Sandie Shaw 's 1967 Eurovision Song Contest winning song " Puppet on a String " . In an interview with Pitchfork Media , Allen stated that the song 's lyrics describe her younger brother , Alfie Allen . She further explained : When I wrote " Alfie " , nobody really knew who I was . At first he was really upset about it , because he thought that I was just pointing out all of his bad points and attacking him . I thought it was really flattering Laughs . I thought he 'd be really , really happy because it proved to him how much I loved him , that I care about him , and I want him to do something with his life . I suppose his paranoia — induced by smoking so much weed — made him think , " Why are you trying to be mean ? " In the song , she tries to persuade him to emerge from his room and stop wasting his life away , while complaining that he is spending too much time stuck in his room smoking weed , watching television and playing computer games
1967 Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1967
Alfie (Lily Allen song)