Attention psychiatrists who specialize in troubled teens: Instead of Rorschach tests, you might consider playing your patients a selection of Avril Lavigne songs. There's enough hurt, angst, anger and self-destructive tendencies in...
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Attention psychiatrists who specialize in troubled teens: Instead of Rorschach tests, you might consider playing your patients a selection of Avril Lavigne songs. There's enough hurt, angst, anger and self-destructive tendencies in her lyrical catalog to jumpstart a conversation about nearly any therapy-worthy situation, especially concerning relationships. Within the words to most of her songs, Lavigne's a mess. She's upset that her boyfriend has put on airs in "Complicated." She's "so weird/I even freak myself out" in "Anything But Ordinary." "I just wanna scream and lose control," she cries out in "Runaway" -- set off by a car crash and the lack of good cell phone coverage.
Lavigne is credited with co-writing many of her songs, but how much she actually contributes to the process is open to debate. Production team The Matrix and Canadian songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk have both indicted Lavigne's involvement is minimal. Yet, her image as a punkish pop princess remains undimmed by those charges, mostly because of her convincing delivery of teen morality plays like "Sk8er Boi," in which an unpopular kid is rejected for his looks and status, only to become a rock star; and "Girlfriend," in which Avril sees a boy she likes and is determined to have him, damn it.
To be fair, she does sing some happy songs, especially since her marriage to Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley. But even when she's in a "state of bliss," as in the words to the song "Innocence," she adds that, "It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry." Guess the girl just can't help it.
