THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

953-Avril Lavigne-Girlfriend.

2007-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 0.59. It’s the poor boyfriend I feel sorry for, it must be awful having all those girls fighting over you.

Avril Ramona Lavigne was born on September 27th, 1984, in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, she is considered a key player in the development of ‘Pop Punk’ in the early 2000’s, which earned her the honorific title ‘Pop Punk Queen.’ After signing with ‘Arista Records’ at the age of 16, her debut studio Album ‘Let Go,’ (2002) was her breakthrough, and went on to become the best selling Album of the 21st Century by a Canadian artist to date. Speaking about her early career development, Lavigne has said,’I had to fight to keep my image really me. I rejected some gorgeous publicity shots because they just didn’t look like me. I won’t wear skanky clothes that show my booty, my belly or my boobs. I have a great body.

The discography of Avril Lavigne includes seven studio Albums released between 2002-2022, and 33 singles issued in the same time period. In her native Canada, 15 of those singles have reached the ‘Canadian Hot 100’ top 40 chart, with ‘Complicated,’ (2002) and ‘Girlfriend,’ (2007) both making Number 1. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, she had reached the top 40 on 10 occasions, with ‘Girlfriend’ making Number 1, while on the UK top 40, she has charted on 13 occasions, with ‘Girlfriend’ peaking the highest at Number 2. With sales in excess of 40 million Albums, and 50 million singles sold worldwide, Avril Lavigne is the third best selling Canadian female artist of all time.

‘Girlfriend’ was the first of four singles released from Avril Lavigne’s third studio Album ‘The Best Dam Thing,’ from April 2007, it was co-written by Avril Lavigne, and Dr Luke, with the production also credited to Dr Luke. Dr Luke (see also best songs 870-824 and 566) was born Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald on September 26th, 1973, in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. he has also written and produced music using the names ‘Tyson Trax,’ and ‘Made in China.’ As a songwriter and music producer he is right up there with the most successful of the 21st Century, having worked with dozens of the most recent top ‘Pop’ acts, including Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and Pink. In 2011 Dr Luke founded ‘Kemosabe Records,’ and some of the artists he has signed, and developed on the label include, Kesha, Juicy J, and Doja Cat.

‘Girlfriend’ can boast being the best selling single of 2007 worldwide with sales in excess of 7.5 million copies, it has since gone on to top the 10 million mark. The song has been noted to have similarities to Toni Basil’s 1982 single ‘Mickey, (Billboard Number 1, and UK Number 2) and also to the American ‘Power Pop’ group ‘The Rubinoos’ 1979 single ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.’ That songs writer James Gangwer, and Tommy Dunbar of ‘The Rubinoos,’ sued Avril Lavigne, and Dr Luke, over claims that ‘Girlfriend’ was too similar to ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.’ Both Lavigne, and Dr Luke strenuously denied those accusations, stating that they had never heard of that song. Eventually things were settled out of court, with Lavigne saying it was cheaper to do it that way, rather than having to spend more on court costs. After the settlement Dunbar and Gangwer released a statement in which they claimed to ‘Completely exonerate’ Lavigne and Dr. Luke from any wrongdoing.

‘Girlfriend’ is sung by Avril Lavigne from the perspective of a girl who likes a boy that already has a girlfriend. In an ‘immature’ manner she tries to convince the boy that she would be a better choice of girlfriend for him. Avril Lavigne has said,’The song is just a fun song, and it doesn’t really mean anything. Writing it I just starting singing, ‘I don’t like your girlfriend, I think you need a new one,’ thinking this is cool. So we just went in that direction.’ Lavigne has also said,’Sometimes I’ve found that the stuff I write really quickly and don’t really think about tends to be the magic. We both knew, Dr. Luke and I, that that song was going to do well.’

‘I can see the way, I see the way you look at me, and even when you look away, I know you think of me. I know you talk about me all the time, again and again. So come over here and tell me what I wanna hear, better yet, make your girlfriend disappear.’