Saturday, April 16, 2011

Lyrical Analysis - Avril Lavigne's "Smile"

*Caution: This song contains extremely harsh language. I'll censor it in my post, but I'll also post a link to the song. If you are easily offended, don't listen to the song.*

Hello and welcome to Lyrical Analysis, where at first I felt bad for a while, but now I just smile.

Oh hey, not only does Avril Lavigne apparently still exist, but she released not one but TWO Jormunga- sorry, singles at the same time. One of them was "What the H***" which, as I said, although it's lyrics were far from great, the song wasn't that bad at all.

The other was Smile. No, not that smile. You know how "What the H***" was her song about how innocent and good she'd been her whole life? This single is about what she's actually like.

So, without any further ado, let's dive right into "Smile" by Avril Lavigne.



"You know that I'm a crazy b****"


This is the first line of the song. She could have gone with any line to be the introduction to her song, and this is the one she picked.

Ah well, at least she's acknowledging it.

"I do what I want when I feel like it"


Yeah, I wasn't kidding. This is a song about what she's actually like.

"All I want to do is lose control/Oh oh"


But if losing control is what you want, and you then lose control, technically aren't you controlling yourself by losing control, thus keeping in control?

Ugh. 13 seconds in and already my head hurts.

"But you don't really give a s***"


Hey look, arbitrary and forced swearing that exists for no reason.

"You don't let it go/Let it go with it/'Cause you're f***ing crazy rock 'n roll"


ALRIGHT THIS HAS TO BE ADDRESSED.

Look folks, I can handle swearing in songs. Heck, I did a whole post about why "F*** You" was less offensive than "California Gurls". But see, if there's going to be swearing in a song, it should at least be there for a reason. In "F*** You", at least the swear is there because honestly, that's a very succinct way of conveying exactly how Cee-Lo feels about this girl.

Here, she's just swearing because her image demands it. Also, f*** is her favorite word, apparently. Anyways, it annoys me when artists swear for the sake of swearing. I don't like it, it only comes across as forced and makes the character in the song less likable... And it's just dumb and unnecessary.

"You-ou said hey/What's your name?/It took one look/and now I'm not the same"


"You-ou"? What?

"Yeah you said hey"


Don't you mean "You-ou"?

"And since that day/You stole my heart/And you're the one to blame"


Well yeah, no duh. I'd assume if HE stole your heart that HE would be the one to blame. That's just a tautology. It's like saying, "You drew a picture, so the picture was drawn by you."

A=B, thus B=A. Duh.

"Yeah and that's whyyyy/I smile/It's been a while/Since every day/And everything has felt this right"


WAY. THE WORD YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS WAY. NOT RIGHT. WAY. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY. 3 LETTER WORD. ONE SYLLABLE. RHYMES WITH DAY. YOU ARE AN IDIOT.

"And now/You turn it all around/And suddenly/You're all I need/The reason why/I-I-I/I smile/I-I"


I like to think this is the song she wrote for her boyfriend immediately before cheating on him in "What the H***".

"Last night I blacked out I think"


You don't know if you blacked out? How's that work? It seems pretty obvious to me, if you remember the night before you did not, if you don't remember it, you did. Not a lot of gray area here.

"What did you/What did you/Put in my drink"


Real catch you've got there Avril.

"I remember making out and then/Oh oh/I woke up with a new tattoo/Your name was on me/And my name was on you"


HOORAY FOR MAKING MAJOR LIFE DECISIONS WHILE INTOXICATED!!!!!

"I would do it all over again"


Yep folks, that's right, she'd get drugged and get the name of a guy she just met tattooed on herself while completely wasted AND drugged again if she could.

"You-ou said hey"


Seriously the way she says "You-ou" is SOOOOO IRRITATING!

"What's your name?/It took one look and/Now I'm not the same/Yeah you said hey/And since that day/You stole my heart/And you're the one to blame"


Still a dumb line.

"Yeah and that's why/I smile/It's been awhile/Since every day/and everything has felt this right"


WAY IS STILL THE WORD YOU ARE LOOKING FOR YOU MORON.

"You turn it all around/And suddenly/You're all I need/The reason why/I smile/I-I-I/I smile/I-I/I smile/I-I-I/I smile"


Oh yeah, and this repetition of "I-I-I" is really annoying too, by the way.

"You know that I'm a crazy b****/I do what I want/When I feel like it/All I want to do is lose control (x2)"


Oh joy, I was just thinking "Hey, this song could use some more arbitrary swearing."

"And that's why/I smile/It's been awhile/Since every day/and everything has felt this right/And now/You turn it all around/And suddenly/You're all I need/The reason why/I-I-I/I smile/I-I-I/Smile"


And thus ends Avril Lavigne's single "Smile". What an idiotic song. That said, it makes a lot of sense that she'd sing this, as opposed to "What the H***". This actually sounds like her.

Seriously, it's an annoying song with arbitrary swearing every which way, and overall idiotic lyrics including a spot where there easily COULD have been a rhyme, but WASN'T.

Well, hopefully I'll be done covering Avril Lavigne for awhile. Hopefully next time I look for a song, this "Punk Rock Princess" will be in another castle.

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