Avril Lavigne - Musical Style and Songwriting

Musical Style and Songwriting

Themes in Lavigne's music include messages of self-empowerment from a female or an adolescent view. Lavigne believes her "songs are about being yourself no matter what and going after your dreams even if your dreams are crazy and even if people tell you they're never going to come true." On her debut album, Let Go, Lavigne preferred the less mainstream songs, such as "Losing Grip", instead of her more radio-friendly singles, such as "Complicated", saying that "the songs I did with the Matrix... were good for my first record, but I don't want to be that pop anymore." Lavigne's second album, Under My Skin, had deeper personal themes underlying each song. Lavigne explained, "I've gone through so much, so that's what I talk about.... Like boys, like dating or relationships". In contrast, her third album, The Best Damn Thing, was not personal to her. "Some of the songs I wrote didn't even mean that much to me. It's not like some personal thing I'm going through." Her objective in writing the album was simply to "make it fun". Goodbye Lullaby, Lavigne's fourth album, was much more personal than her earlier records, with Lavigne describing the album as "more stripped down, deeper. All the songs are very emotional". Ian McKellen defined her as "... a punk chanteuse, a post-grunge valkyrie, with the wounded soul of a poet and the explosive pugnacity of a Canadian." on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in 2007.

Growing up, Lavigne listened to Blink-182, Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox Twenty and Shania Twain, and her influences include Courtney Love and Janis Joplin. Because of these influences, musical genres, and her personal style, the media often defined her as punk, something she denied being. Lavigne’s close friend and guitarist, Evan Taubenfeld, said, "It's a very touchy subject to a lot of people, but the point is that Avril isn't punk, but she never really pretended to claim to come from that scene. She had pop punk music and the media ended up doing the rest". Lavigne also commented on the matter: "I have been labeled like I'm this angry girl, rebel... punk, and I am so not any of them." Although she stated to have punk influences on her music: "I like to listen a lot to punk rock music, you can notice a certain influence of punk in my music. I like an aggressive music, but pretty enough pop-rock, which is what I really do."

I know my fans look up to me and that's why I make my songs so personal; it's all about things I've experienced and things I like or hate. I write for myself and hope that my fans like what I have to say.

—Avril Lavigne, Girl.com.au

Most of critics identify Lavigne as some form between teen pop and pop-punk: Publications such as The New York Times, Rolling Stone, NME, MusicMight, IGN and Popmatters have identified Avril Lavigne as a mix of rock, teen pop and pop-punk, influenced by a grungey pop-rock sound.

While Lavigne denied being angry, her interviews were still passionate about the media's lack of respect for her songwriting. "I am a writer, and I won't accept people trying to take that away from me", adding that she had been writing "full-structured songs" since she was 14. Despite this, Lavigne’s songwriting has been questioned throughout her career. The songwriting trio, the Matrix, with whom Lavigne wrote songs for her debut album, claimed that they were the main songwriters of Lavigne’s singles, "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi" and "I'm with You". Lavigne denied this, asserting that she was the primary songwriter for every song on the album. "one of those songs aren't from me". In 2007, Chantal Kreviazuk, who wrote with Lavigne on her second album, accused Lavigne of plagiarism and criticized her songwriting. "Avril doesn't really sit and write songs by herself or anything". Lavigne also disclaimed this, and considered taking legal action against Kreviazuk for "clear defamation" against her character. Kreviazuk later apologized: "Avril is an accomplished songwriter and it has been my privilege to work with her". Shortly after that, Tommy Dunbar, founder of the 1970s band, the Rubinoos, sued Lavigne, her publishing company, and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald for allegedly stealing parts of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" for her song "Girlfriend". Gottwald defended Lavigne, stating, "me and Avril wrote the song together.... It has the same chord progressions as ten different Blink-182 songs, the standard changes you'd find in a Sum 41 song. It's the Sex Pistols, not the Rubinoos." In January 2008, the lawsuit was closed after a confidential settlement had been reached.

Read more about this topic:  Avril Lavigne

Famous quotes containing the words musical and/or style:

    I was with Hercules and Cadmus once,
    When in a wood of Crete they bayed the bear
    With hounds of Sparta: never did I hear
    Such gallant chiding; for besides the groves,
    The skies, the fountains, every region near
    Seemed all one mutual cry. I never heard
    So musical a discord, such sweet thunder.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    Switzerland is a small, steep country, much more up and down than sideways, and is all stuck over with large brown hotels built on the cuckoo clock style of architecture.
    Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)