Member-only story
Avril Lavigne Continues to Sing for the Eternal Teenage Girl Hidden in Almost Every Woman’s Heart
And I don’t say that in a derogatory way.
The last few weeks have been interesting for my music listening pursuits. Ed Sheeran released a new album that (don’t hate me, don’t hate me) was a letdown for me compared to his previous two efforts. Taylor Swift came out with another rerecorded ghost from the past with some intriguing new insights. Even Adele’s latest, 30, has been on and off my Spotify options as I struggle to come up with something to say about a release that didn’t really knock my socks off.
And in the middle of it all stands Avril Lavigne like a specter from the dance floor of an ill-fated prom night.
Avril’s newest single, “Bite Me,” harks back to an era when we liked our young singers to be edgy and almost-too-cool for their fans. Today’s teens are hopping on the BTS and Olivia Rodrigo bandwagons, but back in the early 00's? Avril was your go-to for teen angst next to “softer” options like Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton.
Songs such as “Complicated” (2002), “Girlfriend” (2007), and “What the Hell” (2011) were my favorites to listen to when no one else was nearby because it was easy to sing along to them and project myself into the songs’ storybooks of…
