"Nolita Fairytale" is a song by Vanessa Carlton, and is the first single from her third album, Heroes & Thieves. The single was released as a digital download at the U.S. iTunes Store and to U.S. radio stations on July 17, 2007.

According to Carlton, the song is about her life in Nolita (a neighborhood of New York City) and, in her words, "the series of revelations I have had over the past few years." It documents major changes in her life in the two-year time period from 2005 to 2007, including touring with Stevie Nicks (who is thanked in the song), buying her own home, getting a puppy and, as she put it, "staying in one spot for more than a couple weeks". The song also includes a reference to Carlton's departure from her previous record label, A&M Records. She said that developing her life in Nolita "gave me peace and clarity. I lead a pretty enchanted life." The line "Ruby's in the afternoon" refers to a café in Nolita and one of Carlton's favorite neighborhood hangouts.

On June 19, Irv Gotti, head of Carlton's record label The Inc. Records, released a video of an interview with Carlton and a performance of the song live from her apartment intercut with shots of Nolita.

"Nolita Fairytale" is composed in common time and is in the key of E♭ major. It follows the common verse-chorus format (strophic), with a bridge between the second and final repetitions of the chorus. However, each appearance of the refrain has the same melody but different lyrics. Unlike some of Carlton's other work, it is much more dependent on a rhythm section (especially percussion, as the intro and outro both feature drums) but the dominant instrument is still piano.

"Nolita Fairytale" was officially released to U.S. radio on July 17, 2007. It was made available for download at the iTunes Store. Entertainment Weekly wrote, "if [the single ...] isn't in heavy radio and MTV rotation by the end of summer, I'll be surprised".

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