On “What The Hell”—the bouncy lead single from Avril Lavigne’s fourth studio album Goodbye Lullabye—the 26-year-old Canadian famous for her skaterpunk-meets-pop style struts with a defiant swagger as she scorches an old flame. “All I really want is to mess around,” she sings. “And I don’t really care about if you love me or hate me.”
Later, on “Smile,” she proclaims that she’s “a crazy bitch” who “does what [she] wants when [she] feels like it,” and who wants to “lose control.” But the gusto of those songs can’t hide the obvious emotional turmoil at the core of the bulk of the songs on Goodbye Lullaby, an album which showcases a thoroughly dejected young woman who seems—with only a couple of exceptions—to have lost all faith in love.
Composed in the time surrounding her divorce from her husband of three years, Sum 41 lead singer Deryck Whibley (who produced a number of these tracks), even the sweetest of these fourteen songs presume that all love eventually dies and that all romantic relationships eventually fail.
Sometimes, that’s because the object of her affection drops the ball, like on “Not Enough,” where she sings: “You didn’t listen, you didn’t hear me/When I said ‘I want more’ I got no more.” Sometimes, it’s because she herself has grown discontent, like on “Push,” in which she confides: “I’ve seen too much of you lately and you’re starting to get on my nerves/This is exactly what happened last time.”
More often that not, however, Lavigne doesn’t pin love’s failure on one party or the other. Rather, she presents that failure as inevitable an inescapable. And nowhere is that fact more evident than on “I Love You,” which may in fact be the sweetest love song she’s ever written.
“I like your smile, I like your vibe, I like your style/But that’s not why I love you,” she sings, before explaining that the couple in question share a long history and a deep emotional connection that can’t be defined by such superficial things. So, it’s jarring (and disappointing) when she drops the following bomb: “Even though we didn’t make it through/I am always here for you.”
There is, of course, absolutely nothing in the rest of that almost saccharine song which would serve as evidence for their relationship being on the rocks. And by turning the song down that dark path, Lavigne only muddles the song’s spirit.
Still, the fact that she does so is strangely fascinating, in that it demonstrates how strongly an overall tone of loss is essential to these compositions—Goodbye Lullaby isn’t an album that talks about heartbreak, its one birthed from it.
Unfortunately, much of the songwriting that comprises the album is so generic that it doesn’t allow Lavigne to ever fully or effectively express the sentiments she’s trying to express. Goodbye Lullaby is full of cheap rhymes and amateurish word choice that runs counter to the obvious complexity at the heart of these songs.
At times, it’s even frustrating to watch Lavigne struggle to break through the clichés and blank phrases that so heavily weigh her songs down. Especially since the album is so beautifully sung. Lavigne has never sounded more convicted or committed to her material, and the album’s production smartly places her vocals way up front in the mixes.
But there’s just too many forced expletives (damns, bitches and fucks abound), too many rudimentary expressions and not nearly enough of the kind of disarming sarcasm and surprising charm that highlight this talented artist’s best work.
The album closes with “Lullaby,” and it’s a fitting end: “I have to go/But always know/I love you so,” Lavigne sings over a simple track highlighted by piano and strings. Like the rest of the album, she never gives any insight into the “why.” Here, she doesn’t say why she has to go—just that she “can’t hide what has come.”
Great songwriting doesn’t necessarily require specific details from the writer’s life. But, great songwriting does require some specific details, even if they’re fabricated. And the songs on Goodbye Lullaby are notably short of any such furniture. These are stories about loss, about walking away, about the end of things, but they fail to communicate anything meaningful about those topics—just an overbearing sense of defeat that seeps into every part of the album.
Our rating: ★★★☆☆
Her current single (“What The Hell”) is representative of the core dilemma she is facing in this phase of her career.
She entered the previous decade strongly, thriving on the persona of an “anti-Britney” that, in contrast to her perceived image by many at the time, to be less polished and diva-like and more aggressive and DIY-driven but still safe and listenable for mainstream radio…………..and during that time, there was less competition, with Pink being her main chart rival riding on that image. Her appeal resonated and, inevitably, “Let Go” became a breakout success.
Then she would hold her own on through the “Under My Skin” era because of her intention to tackle more mature topics. Frankly, I think there were already visible fissures in her foundation during the “The Best Damn Thing” era, where it felt like she was somewhat forcefully retreating back to mainstream radio instant gratification with a more poppy sound……………but it didn’t matter none because she got one massive hit (“Girlfriend”) that era that effectively overshadowed the reality that her subsequent releases all lacked staying power (I don’t know anyone who still hears “When You’re Gone” on the airwaves).
I think “The Best Damn Thing” ultimately was as much a curse as it was a blessing for Avril. It was a blessing in that she got a career-defining hit single out of that, and satisfying enough sales to go with it…………..but a curse in that the image she established her career on was eroding, and had little remaining blood to squeeze from that turnip anyway. Her perception of Britney Spears and more hyped and/or overproduced divas may ring as true as ever to many…………….yet going with a “what you see is what you get” image, or perhaps a “this is me, and I don’t care if you can’t accept it” image has a drawback in that you can only say so much and, conversely, when you try venturing out of the box, you look calculative and pandering.
“What the Hell”, to me anyway, just represents that struggle to me in a nutshell. Especially with many more artists now seizing upon that pro-”individual”/pro-”being yourself” image that Avril initially thrived on, and anteing up with shocking music videos dripping with emotional realism, use of the F-word and appeal to the GLBTQI community among other things………….Avril just can’t help but seem outdated to many……………and “What The Hell” just drips with desperation in a last-ditch drive to cater to the same listeners who are enamored with Katy Perry, Ke$ha and Pink primarily at the moment, who also sing frequently without regret about messing around.
Avril is enduring an image crisis………………..and I think the sharp decline in first-week sales for her reflect that more than anything. And, hypothetically, let’s just run with the notion that this is Lavigne’s most emotional, mature and acoustically-driven record yet (in essence, I still find “I’m With You” and “Mobile” to be her two most mature efforts, arguably). Even by that scenario, singles have become a dominant medium again in an age of declining album sales, and Lavigne has no one to blame but herself for allowing the anomaly to be the lead release, thus making the album appear just as generic and lightweight as “The Best Damn Thing”.
your review of her album is so stupid. Goodbye Lullaby is a great album. She does tell about heartbreaks but don’t go around saying it has cheap rhymes and amateurish word choice! That’s just plain wrong! She writes how she feels and if u can’t understand that, then you r retarded! If u can’t tell already, i’m really pissed off your comment and i am a HUGE fan of Avril. So just shut you’re mouth when you give stupid reviews like that one!
BTW, if any1 as any regards about what i said in my last comment, then email me at jessangelichio@gmail.com
Despite the negative review, I actually am glad that there are record labels out there which allow their singers to decide the direction of the album produced. From my point of view, the sense of loss perpetuated in the album is exactly what Avil wanted to portray and she did it pretty well.