This Wednesday marks the one-month anniversary of Lily Allen’s latest single “Hard Out Here,” and the video that accompanied it, immediately setting off sparks all around the world for its fiery commentary of 2013 culture.

And when I say “culture,” be assured that I’m only addressing the negative, misogynistic culture brought into the world in a post-Blurred Lines / twerking / YOLO environment.

After discovering the track less than a week ago, I can honestly say as sharp as the barbs are that Allen is throwing at her audience, “Hard Out Here” is far and away, one of the best and culturally important songs of 2013.

The video marks a vicious, inspired comeback for Allen. What’s so intriguing about the video is how it came at a time when backlash for the recently enhanced misogyny of the music industry was just starting to become a hot- button issue.

This song just doesn’t critique the ridiculous trends taking place … it takes a firm stance on the double standard of sex and music. The presence of this theme gives the song that much more of a timeless feel.

And for someone as previously unremarkable as Allen to accomplish that feat – an artist who I thought was going to naturally settle down into parenthood after a modest success in music – is pretty incredible.

For those that are formerly unfamiliar with Allen’s work, her dreamy, hypnotic 2006 single “Smile” sparked a huge hit over in the United Kingdom, and even transferred to the United States pretty successfully.

The same went for her record “Alright, Still,” which went three times platinum in the U.K. and was certified gold in the United States.

Other than this track, however, Allen’s success would pretty much only stay overseas. Sure, her other record “It’s Not Me, It’s You” sold pretty well, but after that the musician really dropped off, also coming from a musical hiatus to start a family.

And I thought that was going to be it: A hit or two from Allen halted by the admirable desires of starting a family.

Any preconceived notions I had about the artist, however, suddenly vanished after one view of the video for “Hard Out Here.”

Not only am I excited to see how the general public will digest Allen’s commentary, but also I’m extremely excited to see where the song will take Allen’s career in 2014.

With the year coming to a fast close, it’s always interesting to see how and which cultural trends will thrive and which will soon die out once their interest has lowered.

And I intensely hope that, no matter what strange, head-scratching trends end up plaguing 2014 that Lily Allen is there to give us her thoughts in the best way she knows how.

If you haven’t listened to the song or checked out the video yet, get on it. At 11.8 million views and counting, it’s only going to become more and more popular. What better time to discover a new YouTube clip to show all of your friends?