Avril Lavigne is a legend. She showed us how to be a pop-punk princess from the eyeliner to the ties, and hell yes I got well and truly around that aesthetic. Her debut album Let Go gave us some of the defining sounds of the early 2000’s and 16 years later the tracks still bang.
Avril’s pop culture royalty status was cemented from the first time we heard ‘Complicated’, so any time she releases new music we are here with open arms and ready to listen.
Today Avril Lavigne released her first single in five years, ‘Head Above Water’. It’s an epic ballad that recounts her battle with Lyme disease, and it’s a real throwback to the sound that made us fall in love with her in the first place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyOMmfqK1d8
In honour of 2018 Avril, who is clearly killing it, let’s take a moment to reminisce on the glory of her 2002 debut masterpiece, Let Go.
I would have been nine years old when I got my Let Go CD and that bad boy barely left my boombox between sessions of dancing on my bed while belting along to Avril.
Every song is a unique work of art that holds the power to plunge you back into the previous decade with just a few bars, and I love them all.
Losing Grip
The opening track is seething with so much angst that it might have brought me prematurely into my moody teen phase. “Why should I care?” belts out Avril in the sudden release of the chorus, giving us an ageless anthem for the young and apathetic.
Complicated
The sheer magnitude of this song is the greatest proof of its excellence. ‘Complicated’ is the leading single off the album for a reason and it spent six damn weeks at #1 in Australia.
“Chill out”, Avril demands in the opening line, because she’s not afraid to speak her mind and pull fakers back in line.
Sk8er Boi
This is truly one of the greatest narrative songs that we have ever been blessed with. Avril loved to paint herself as the underdog, and not unlike Taylor Swift in ‘You Belong With Me’, it does take on a little bit of an “I’m not like other girls” shaming quality to it.
But ‘Sk8er Boi’ is a classic (and one of the greatest grammatical risks the song name genre has ever seen), so it gets away with it. Plus, nine-year-old me wasn’t quite on that feminist-questioning-beloved-pop-culture train yet and so I have an irreversible obsession with this song.
I’m With You
If there was ever a song to sing in the rain while overcome with emotion, this is it. When Avril sings, “It’s a damn cold night tryna figure out this life,” I really felt that.
Mobile
The only way I know how to describe ‘Mobile’ is a stress bop. The verses have a perky folksiness to them and the chorus gets into her usual ballad-like groove as she relents her unrooted lifestyle.
“I’m a mobile” remains one of the most awkward chorus top lines but I really got around it in 2002.
Unwanted
Avril dives into some dark, heavy, rock in this track. It’s eerie with suppressed rage and I’m sure that we all enjoyed feeling like tough kids while shouting along to the chorus of:
“You don’t know me. Don’t ignore me. If you had your way you’d just shut me up, and make me go away.”
YES Avril lay down the law girl.
Tomorrow
We hear a bit of a softer, more vulnerable side of our pop-punk princess in ‘Tomorrow’, and I didn’t realise that 25-year-old me needed this song even more than 9-year-old me. Dating in your 20’s be like:
“I try to believe you, but I don’t.”
Anything But Ordinary
This song is actually in my top 10 favourite songs that are significant to my life – it is that good. Shouting along to this song is one of the most cathartic activities I know to exist on this earth.
The desperation to not fall prey to the humdrum existence that society lays out before you is forever relevant, and somehow Avril’s encapsulation of the cringe-inducing I’m-so-weird attitude is endearing on her.
“Sometimes I get so weird, I even freak myself out.”
Things I’ll Never Say
LA DA DA DA LA DA DA DA HA, LA DA DA DA LA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA.
Did I have someone I wanted to “marry me today” when I was nine? No. Did that stop me from getting swept up in this absolute track? No it absolute did not.
My World
This is a sweet little daydreaming song that doesn’t get the appreciation it deserves.
“In this head my thoughts are deep sometimes I can’t even speak.”
Been there Avril.
Nobody’s Fool
Things got a little weird here when Avril seemed to try her hand at rapping, but I’ll tell you my pre-pubescent taste in music did not discern that this song might be bad.
It’s got a good message about standing your ground and being true to yourself, and though I’m still unsure about what “I’m not the milk and cheerios in your spoon” really means, I’m fairly sure cheerios are not the thing you want to be.
Too Much to Ask
I honestly forgot this song exists (blasphemy!) and I never realised that it is commenting on how smoking too much weed can make you withdraw and do some serious damage to your relationships.
“It’s funny when you think it’s gonna work out, ’til you chose weed over me, you’re so lame”
Mind blown.
Naked
And to finish off the time capsule that is this album, we’ve got another uncharacteristically vulnerable song that, upon re-listening, definitely has some overtly sexual overtones.
Yet another nuance of Avril Lavigne’s artistry lost on nine-year-old me that thankfully 25-year-old me is currently enjoying. Avril fangirl forever.