July 11, 2024 • 21 mins
Welcome to Season FOUR of Encore!
By 2007, Avril Lavigne was Canada’s Undisputed Pop-Punk Queen. The 22- Year old Avril was two wildly successful albums deep into a career that seemingly knew no bounds.
Her Debut, the influential ‘Let Go’ had introduced her to the world at the young age of 17 - and would go a resounding SIX times platinum in America in less than a year.
Songs like ‘Complicated’ and ‘Sk8er Boi’ blew up charts worldwide, winning her Juno Awards, MMVAs and MTV VMAS, and granting her critical acclaim with a handful of prestigious GRAMMY Nominations to boot.
Her followup record - 2004’s Under My Skin was a darker, more moody affair that top the Canadian and US Billboard Album charts, also go multi platinum and give us such hits as ‘My Happy Ending’ and ‘Nobody’s Home’.
After Touring the world with a gruelling 140 dates throughout 2004 and 2005 Avril had entered her 20s and was ready to make some big changes to her music.
Clearly, Lavigne had done some great things… but now she was ready to make: The Best Damn Thing.
This is the story of Avril Lavigne's 'Girlfriend' - with newly unearthed audio from Avril Lavigne!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dive into the behind the scenes world of your favorite artist,
interviews with us. Shannon Burns, producer Jess and the entire
iheartradio team on the Filter podcast. Grab
Speaker 2 (00:09):
your
Speaker 1 (00:09):
headphones, new episodes land
Speaker 2 (00:11):
every week wherever you get your podcasts,
this is Encore. The stories behind the songs. Here's iHeartRadio's
Myles Galloway.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Hey, hey, you, you welcome to season four of Encore.
It's a pleasure to be back. I'm Miles Galloway and
this is the story of Avril Lavigne's girlfriend
by 2007. Avril Lavigne was Canada's undisputed pop punk queen.
The 22 year old Avril was two wildly successful albums
deep into a career that seemingly knew no bounds. Her debut,
(00:48):
the influential Let Go had introduced her to the world
at the young age of 17 and we go are
resounding six times platinum in America in less than a year.
Songs like complicated
and skater boy blew up charts worldwide winning her Juno Awards.
Mm VA S and MTV V MA s and granting
her critical acclaim with a handful of prestigious Grammy nominations
(01:11):
to boot. In fact, to this very day, let go
remains the best selling album by a Canadian in the
21st century outselling efforts from fellow Canadian icons, Celine Dion
Michael Buble and Nelly Furtado by
millions with over 16 million copies sold her follow up
record 2000 four's under my skin was a darker, more
moody affair that got mixed reviews from critics but not
(01:34):
from fans. It would top the Canadian and us Billboard
album charts also go multi platinum and give us such
hits as my happy ending and nobody's home. If you
were being picky, you could technically say
this record was less successful selling a mere 10 million
records worldwide. Putting Avril in the company of artists like
Justin Timberlake, Coldplay, Beyonce and future ex-husband, Chad Kroger's band
(01:59):
Nickelback on the global scale. But hey, what do they
ever achieve? Actually, they achieve quite a bit and you
can hear all about them in the back catalog of
a little podcast called Encore. The Stories behind the Songs
You Love.
After touring the world with a grueling 140 dates throughout
2004 and 2005. Avril had entered her twenties and was
ready to make some big changes to her music. Clearly,
(02:22):
Levine had done some great things, but now she was
ready to make the best damn thing.
One of the major appeals to Avril S music since
breaking out in 2002 was her undeniable relatability. Originally manifesting
itself as this kind of tomboyish anti-establishment, anti pop star, Vibe.
Avril had always used co writers for her music but
(02:44):
had generally pulled from her own lived experiences as a
normal Canadian girl. When songwriting
people could relate to her because she didn't seem like
she'd grown up with a silver spoon. She'd done it
her way and followed the beat of her own drum.
Her songs were like diary entries for the World to observe.
But Avril Lavigne had grown up, she was newly married
to fellow Canadian punk icon Derek Wy. She was living
(03:05):
in Los Angeles and of course, was a multi platter
superstar across the world. Avril could do whatever she wanted.
And in late 2006, she updated her blog. Remember those
with a preview of things to come, promising her next
album would be fast, fun, young Braddy, aggressive, confident, cocky
in a playful way. All the good stuff, much like
(03:26):
this podcast.
Levine would enter the studio in the summer of 06.
Feeling laid back and full of the confidence that being
a pop star at the top of her game provided.
But she would step out of her comfort zone and
begin working with a pre scandal. Doctor Luke, famed Green
Day producer Rob Cavallo, as well as her constant
operator, Butch Walker and of course her husband, some 40
(03:46):
one's Derek Wy because now that I've made a couple
of records going into this one, my third record, I
knew exactly what I wanted to do. I want it
to be super fun and I want to try new
things and I just feel like it's really strong and
I took my time and
it's truly fun. Like, it's gonna be the best record
(04:08):
to perform live. Like I'll be able to jump around
and run around it. Um I'm really excited about this.
Um I feel like this album lyrically and musically, it
is a little more aggressive than before, you know, just
in the style of it. Do you feel like that's
a testament to where you are personally? I think lyrically,
it's like, it's like, it's fun and cocky and playful
(04:31):
and it's very like young and it's just, it's like,
it's like good fun. Avril had full control of every
aspect of the best damn thing. Nitpicking every last detail,
whether the label liked it or not. She had built
up enough cachet through her previous works that even something
as straightforward as a pre-arranged album cover photo shoot could
be scrapped within a day's notice at Levine's request. Avril
(04:54):
told Leah Miller the story behind the simple but famous
album cover, you know, it's, it's my image and I
had to stand behind it 40%. So I pick everything
Derek and I shot the album cover together
like in the valley like a couple of blocks away
from here. Yeah. He shot it really? That's amazing. So
you just came up with everything on your own and
(05:14):
you're like, let's go do it. Well, I did a
photo shoot and was a really talented photographer and he's amazing.
And um
how was it?
I just looked at all the photos and I was
like the, the car is not here. So um Derek
can you um take me down to the valley and
just shoot me on the street? I was like just
(05:35):
on the street. I don't care, put me on the sidewalk, whatever,
like just shoot me. So because I was freaking out
because I had, I had a deadline of like two days.
I had to hand in the album cover and I
was freaking out. So we came down here like a
couple blocks away and I just stood up against the
wall and I'm just like, and I'm just like, literally,
I'm like,
(05:55):
and it's, it's the cover and I'm like, like we got,
we went to the car and we put the pictures
on the, on the computer and went, oh my God,
I'm like, oh my God, this is awesome. And, and
that's crazy how it goes. Like, so and he shot
a lot of my press photos really? And one of
the other photos he shot is uh the girlfriend like single, single.
(06:18):
So it's all about trusting your instincts, I guess, right?
Like I, I know right away if I like something
or a Dell or
you know, and I was like, oh, well, because these
are great photos, but the cover is not here So
who are we gonna do? So I just, we just
made it happen. A kind of funny. I'm like to my,
I'm like to my manager is he gonna get paid?
(06:39):
He should get paid and now everyone's gonna want him
to like, shoot his, their cover. Now you should just
use him. Now. You don't have any issues. You're like,
it's gonna work. I don't need to hire someone fancy.
He's better.
Sadly, with the photos and songs Wy and Levine created
together will last forever. Their marriage would not. Canada's pop
punk super couple would split in 2009 and finalize their
(07:00):
divorce in 2010. But the two remain friends to this
very day. In fact, Derek joined
Avril on stage only a few weeks ago as this
episode is being written to perform the Sun 41 classic
in Too Deep Live in Las Vegas. If you want
to hear more about Sun 41 during their in too
deep era, check out our episode in season two for
the crazy stories around their hit fat lip.
(07:22):
The best damn thing sessions were as much of a
party as they were anything else with Avril admitting that
she was intoxicated throughout the production of a few of
the songs including girlfriend itself, which we'll get into shortly
and she would constantly be overindulging in food and drink
on the Daily. Here she is recounting the tales of
debauchery to much is Leah Miller and one time, um
(07:46):
I was at Ocean Way. It's a big studio here
and I had two rooms, I had one room with
Rob Cavallo, one room with Luke. And it was like
this huge party. I was like, so excited to be
working on my record. I'd like, go in while Rob
was recording the band and I'd like, give him my
feedback and then go run into Luke's room and like,
(08:08):
write down,
like, wrote the bridge of girlfriend and then ran back and,
you know, Dave and C Campbell's doing strings. It was
like this party and we'd be like drinking Jagger and like,
literally running through the halls, like being stupid. It was
just like so much fun. You probably so excited though, right?
Because at least, you know, your creative juices are flowing
(08:29):
and doing all those things. Um
I always put myself in these circumstances where I always
have too much going on at once. And I, that's
kind of what I did. I had like, I was
working with like two producers at the same time, like
three different songs in the same day. But I, I
always do that to myself. But
(08:50):
one particular drinking session even inspired a song lyrically a
verse in the track I can do better was inspired
by Citrusy, Italian Liquor, Lemoncello, which Avril Giddily recounted to
much as Sarah Taylor Studio. Um I took my time.
We were, we'd like order in like all this junk food. And,
and for my song, I can do better. Like the
(09:13):
day we wrote it, I drank a half bottle of
lemon cello.
Like do like half bottle. Lemoncello is like this yellow liqueur.
It's like Italian. I drink a half bottle. I was
hammered and then I was like, hey, we have to
talk about Lemoncello in this song. So in the second verse,
we're like, I'll drink as much Lemoncello as I can
and I'll do it again and again. And so shout
(09:36):
out to the Lemoncello. Um And I mean, I had
so much fun and I think it really comes across
on the record. It does. Do you feel like
Avril would explain that these sessions were looser and more
playful on purpose as she still wanted to aim for
relatability in her music. But more so in the sense
that the songs would contain universal, easy to understand lyrical
(09:58):
themes as opposed to the heartfelt personal messages found in
albums past admitting to MTV, some of the songs I
wrote didn't even mean that much to me. It's not
like some personal thing I'm going through. They're just songs
she would tell Sarah Taylor.
It's like, good fun. It's not like, you know, like
my other records were like um dark one, like
(10:21):
deeper and uh so this is lighter and it's just
like more fun. Yeah, because on some of the tracks
you're actually literally laughing. I'm totally laughing. I've always, I I,
you know, sometimes you hear people's records and they're like
talking and like laughing, I've never done that before, but
it just happened on this record, like I was laughing
and they were recording me. And so it's kinda cool
(10:42):
with the tone of the album established and the friends
it creates
process perfected. It was time for a lead single that
would truly reintroduce Avril Lavigne to the world. Levine had
never had any problem catching people's attention with her music.
But now she was ready to grab radio by the
scruff of the neck with reckless abandon with a chant
of nine anthemic words. Hey, hey, you, you, I don't
(11:05):
like your girlfriend.
According to Avril lyrically, girlfriends started out as a joke,
drunkenly shouting the anthemic chorus while goofing off during the
best damn thing sessions before eventually realizing it could actually
be a single. Although they worked together for the better
part of four months. Lavina Lucas Gottwald allegedly wrote the
song in a mere two minutes together.
Avril had literally just gotten married before jumping back into
(11:28):
the studio to compose girlfriend as well. So the irony
of an anti girlfriend, bad girl song being her first
single all while still very much living out the honeymoon
phase of her marriage in real life, made the track
all the more intriguing to critics. Was there trouble in Paradise?
Is there some sort of deep rooted confessional found in
between the lines of this seemingly simple song
(11:49):
as Avril told much. Absolutely not. I think that might
be my new favorite. I love that song. And it's
funny because I was watching TV the other night and
I don't know, I was, like, sitting at home and
there was all these, like, different news shows on and
they were, like, doing little stories and they're like their
new song, girlfriend. Who know, and they're like, what is
it about? It's just so weird and it's not about anything.
It's just a, you know, one of those things that
(12:12):
you just learn about, it's just a, you know, a
topic and it was kind of like, very,
it just came out of my mouth. That's what happens
when I'm writing all. As I, like, I just started going,
I don't like your girlfriend. I think you need a
new one. And I was like, oh, that's kind of weird.
But that's funny. And then I just kept going with
like a whole story. So that's kind of the beauty
(12:32):
of like, art. You know, when you create something, when
you're in the middle of, you know, creating, you don't
really know where you're gonna go and then you end
up with like, you know, either this painting or, or,
you know, a song and it's like, oh,
it works and then, like, everyone, like, asks you what
does this mean? And we're this, like, just really mean. Um,
(12:52):
but this superfluous or not, one thing is for sure
if you hear even just 10 seconds of girlfriend at
any time in any place it gets stuck in your
head for hours. Girlfriend.
The reaction has been incredible upset because like, someone will
hear the song once and totally remember the song. Oh, yeah,
(13:14):
sing the chorus. I think that might be my new favorite.
I love that song. And the song is the earworm
of all earworms. Like an endless supply of sour jelly
beans that make your tongue feel raw, but you just
can't stop eating. It's a sassy cheerleader style anthem. Ala
Gwen Stefani's holler back girl or the eighties classic Mickey.
Speaking of Mickey,
I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that. Although the
(13:35):
song is not a note from a rip off. Let's
put it this way. It would make one hell of
a mash up with the aforementioned Tony Basil anthem. Am
I right? Am I right? I'm winking right now, but
you can't see it because it's a podcast critics from
the likes of Rolling Stones Slant magazine, the Guardian and
pop matters all concurred with the Mickey theory, but it
wasn't only
the sing song chorus that got credit for the song's addictiveness.
(13:57):
Jody Rosen of Slate raved over girlfriends shower along vocals,
power chords and hand claps amplified to the sound like
an army on the march. John Peres of the New
York Times also dug the soundscapes, noting the cleverly manipulated
echoes and attacks to sound as if Miss Levine were
charging in from all
directions, not only was Avril coming at you from all
directions on every radio station across the US and Canada.
(14:19):
But the song quickly became a worldwide phenomenon as well.
No word of a lie. Avril Lavigne recorded girlfriend's super
chorus in seven different languages. There's Girlfriend Spanish edition French
edition Portuguese, Japanese, German Mandarin.
It was almost a Hindi version as well, but the
meter didn't work with Hindi rhythm patterns. It might not
(14:40):
need to be said, but you should take the time
to hunt them down. They're simultaneously the greatest and most
surreal things I've ever heard.
Not everyone was pleased with girlfriend though seventies band, the
Rubens filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Levine got Walled
RC A Records and Apple in mid 2007 on the
grounds that Avril ripped off lyrics from their song. I
Wanna be your boyfriend, Levine of course, denied the accusations
(15:02):
pointing out that lyrics like, hey, you and the concept
of wanting to be not wanting to be someone's boyfriend
are pretty common lyrical
themes, citing hits like the Rolling Stones Get Off of
My Cloud. And the Ramon song also titled, I Wanna
Be Your Boyfriend. A dueling set of musicologists were hired
to analyze the songs and surprise surprise. The musicologist representing
(15:23):
the Ruben whose members stated there was an unusually high
degree of similarity between boyfriend and girlfriend. While team Avril
s musicologist reported that there wasn't any significant lyrical or
melodic content
eventually to avoid legal proceedings. The opposing parties settled out
of court and Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer of the
(15:44):
Renews released a statement wishing to completely exonerate Levine and
Gottwald after the settlement, Avril told Brazilian outlet Capito Gangwer
and Dunbar didn't win. But that happens all the time
in the music business. I'm not the first artist nor
will I be the last to go through this somewhere.
Ed Sheeran is thinking preach sister
(16:05):
as well as being one of Avril s most immediately
identifiable earworms. The music video of her girlfriend is also
one of her most recognizable Avril does triple duty in
the music video playing a mousy spectacle wearing redhead, a
goth punk badass with jet black hair and well regular
Avril Levine, I guess all living in the same universe
competing for the affection of a guy at an amusement
(16:26):
park
directed by veteran music video duo, the malloys. The three
Avril compete for the dude's affection in bumper cars, photo
booths and over an oversized churro in the very climactic
final mini putt scene. Dark Avril smacks a golf ball
directly into bookworm Avril s head and the definitely concussed
(16:47):
ginger triplet
falls into the nearby water fountain. She makes her way
out of the water only to furiously lunge a and
now Smid and Goff Avril with her boyfriend only to
miss them by a mile and roll into a conveniently
open porter party. Regular Avril mostly just sings through it all.
Sharing the stage with boyfriend without having to really try
(17:09):
too hard to win him over
best to stay out of the drama, I suppose. Now,
if nothing you've just said, is jogging your memory about
the girlfriend music video and you seem to remember a
lot more graffiti and a Barbie pink mustang. Then you
my friend are thinking of the remix video cos starring
late two thousands rapper Lil Mama
(17:29):
Avril and Lil Mama sat down with MTV to explain
their vision for girlfriend 2.0 he actually came up with
the treatment together, which was really cool. I think I
had said, do you want to do like a big
dance routine together where I have a gang of girls
behind us. About 10 girls, about 1012 girls, two of
us will be in the front, it will be half
(17:50):
hip hop, half rock and just like a mixture like
both our stuff.
And she was like, yeah, that's hot and then she's
like in like a car and we're like both like
hot pink pink and, and I were like, yeah, and
we'll have our boyfriends in the car. So we kind
of came up with this idea together and then we
called the director and told him and he made it
(18:11):
happen and sure I did this video released a few
months after the original is much more song and dance
performance focused and helped Avril further cross over into the
hip hop
world and remains one of Lil Mama's biggest claims to
fame outside her ubiquitous hit lip gloss. Personally, I prefer
the clash of the Avril clones original version. But what
can I say? I'm a hipster like that, I guess
(18:33):
as you've probably guessed by now, girlfriend became a number
one hit on nearly every chart it entered topping Canada's
Hot 100 Hot ac charts. Billboard's hot 100 mainstream top
40 charts in America as well as charts in Austria,
Hungary, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden to name just a few.
What may surprise you however, is that despite being everywhere
(18:53):
and leaving such a lasting legacy, girlfriend only survived a
solitary week on top of the US Billboard chart being
knocked off by a different Levine as in Adam Levine
with Maroon Five's Make me wonder quickly usurping it on
the charts and the song remains Avril Levine's only number
one hit.
The song had absolutely no issue becoming a commercial success
(19:15):
going four times platinum in Canada, seven times platinum in
the States and managed to sell over 2 million ringtones
in the American Canadian and Japanese markets. Can you imagine
being in a complicated situation and having, hey, hey, you, you,
I don't like your girlfriend. Shout at you every time
you got a text or a phone call. I say
(19:35):
this a lot on the show. But the two thousands
were weird. Men,
girlfriend would clean up a wide variety of awards on
the global scale, winning best international video by a Canadian
and favorite Canadian artist at the MM VA S. It
would win most addictive track at the MTV Europe Music
Awards and best song to dance to at the radio
(19:56):
Disney Music Awards but was robbed of the prestigious best
song to sing to an ex at that very same show.
Shame on you Disney.
The success of Girlfriend would help the release of the
best damn thing become a number one album in the
US UK and Canada and it would only take three
months for the record to go platinum.
(20:18):
The best damn thing would spawn three more singles over
the following year or so, including the heartfelt ballad when
you're gone and the return to pop rocky songs, Hot
and best damn thing in the years that would follow,
Avril would release a slew of albums with a diverse
array of musical influences leaning in on the emotional material,
sometimes more mellow and certainly more personal while none reached
(20:40):
the superhuman heights of her first three records. Levin
also dealt with quite a bit of adversity over the years,
revealing a serious battle with Lyme disease back in 2014,
in 2022. However, Avril returned in a blaze of glory
to the Devil May Care. Pop punk sounds of 2007
with a spiritual successor to the best damn thing. The
Aptly named Love Sucks, produced by pop punk legends Travis Barker,
(21:05):
John Feldman and her at the time, boyfriend, Mad Son,
Avril
teamed up with the new class of hip hop leaning
pop punkers like MGK and black bear as well as
OG icon Mark Hoppus. Now in her mid thirties and
opting for black and red motifs over girlfriends, pink and white.
The Renaissance of Avril Lavigne has come at the perfect
time with Avril booking a massive Greatest hits world tour.
(21:27):
And according to sets dot FM, you already know what
song she starts with when she hits the stage each night.
Hey, hey, you, you, I'm Miles Galloway. And that was
the story of Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne on Encore with
new episodes every Thursday.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Encore is an iheartradio Canada podcast. Subscribe to this podcast
on iheartradio or wherever you get your podcasts. Download the
iheartradio app for more great podcasts just like these.
Dive into the behind the scenes world of your favorite artist,
interviews with us. Shannon Burns, producer Jess and the entire
iheartradio team on the Filter podcast. Grab
Speaker 2 (00:09):
your
Speaker 1 (00:09):
headphones, new episodes land
Speaker 2 (00:11):
every week wherever you get your podcasts,
this is Encore. The stories behind the songs. Here's iHeartRadio's
Myles Galloway.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Hey, hey, you, you welcome to season four of Encore.
It's a pleasure to be back. I'm Miles Galloway and
this is the story of Avril Lavigne's girlfriend
by 2007. Avril Lavigne was Canada's undisputed pop punk queen.
The 22 year old Avril was two wildly successful albums
deep into a career that seemingly knew no bounds. Her debut,
(00:48):
the influential Let Go had introduced her to the world
at the young age of 17 and we go are
resounding six times platinum in America in less than a year.
Songs like complicated
and skater boy blew up charts worldwide winning her Juno Awards.
Mm VA S and MTV V MA s and granting
her critical acclaim with a handful of prestigious Grammy nominations
(01:11):
to boot. In fact, to this very day, let go
remains the best selling album by a Canadian in the
21st century outselling efforts from fellow Canadian icons, Celine Dion
Michael Buble and Nelly Furtado by
millions with over 16 million copies sold her follow up
record 2000 four's under my skin was a darker, more
moody affair that got mixed reviews from critics but not
(01:34):
from fans. It would top the Canadian and us Billboard
album charts also go multi platinum and give us such
hits as my happy ending and nobody's home. If you
were being picky, you could technically say
this record was less successful selling a mere 10 million
records worldwide. Putting Avril in the company of artists like
Justin Timberlake, Coldplay, Beyonce and future ex-husband, Chad Kroger's band
(01:59):
Nickelback on the global scale. But hey, what do they
ever achieve? Actually, they achieve quite a bit and you
can hear all about them in the back catalog of
a little podcast called Encore. The Stories behind the Songs
You Love.
After touring the world with a grueling 140 dates throughout
2004 and 2005. Avril had entered her twenties and was
ready to make some big changes to her music. Clearly,
(02:22):
Levine had done some great things, but now she was
ready to make the best damn thing.
One of the major appeals to Avril S music since
breaking out in 2002 was her undeniable relatability. Originally manifesting
itself as this kind of tomboyish anti-establishment, anti pop star, Vibe.
Avril had always used co writers for her music but
(02:44):
had generally pulled from her own lived experiences as a
normal Canadian girl. When songwriting
people could relate to her because she didn't seem like
she'd grown up with a silver spoon. She'd done it
her way and followed the beat of her own drum.
Her songs were like diary entries for the World to observe.
But Avril Lavigne had grown up, she was newly married
to fellow Canadian punk icon Derek Wy. She was living
(03:05):
in Los Angeles and of course, was a multi platter
superstar across the world. Avril could do whatever she wanted.
And in late 2006, she updated her blog. Remember those
with a preview of things to come, promising her next
album would be fast, fun, young Braddy, aggressive, confident, cocky
in a playful way. All the good stuff, much like
(03:26):
this podcast.
Levine would enter the studio in the summer of 06.
Feeling laid back and full of the confidence that being
a pop star at the top of her game provided.
But she would step out of her comfort zone and
begin working with a pre scandal. Doctor Luke, famed Green
Day producer Rob Cavallo, as well as her constant
operator, Butch Walker and of course her husband, some 40
(03:46):
one's Derek Wy because now that I've made a couple
of records going into this one, my third record, I
knew exactly what I wanted to do. I want it
to be super fun and I want to try new
things and I just feel like it's really strong and
I took my time and
it's truly fun. Like, it's gonna be the best record
(04:08):
to perform live. Like I'll be able to jump around
and run around it. Um I'm really excited about this.
Um I feel like this album lyrically and musically, it
is a little more aggressive than before, you know, just
in the style of it. Do you feel like that's
a testament to where you are personally? I think lyrically,
it's like, it's like, it's fun and cocky and playful
(04:31):
and it's very like young and it's just, it's like,
it's like good fun. Avril had full control of every
aspect of the best damn thing. Nitpicking every last detail,
whether the label liked it or not. She had built
up enough cachet through her previous works that even something
as straightforward as a pre-arranged album cover photo shoot could
be scrapped within a day's notice at Levine's request. Avril
(04:54):
told Leah Miller the story behind the simple but famous
album cover, you know, it's, it's my image and I
had to stand behind it 40%. So I pick everything
Derek and I shot the album cover together
like in the valley like a couple of blocks away
from here. Yeah. He shot it really? That's amazing. So
you just came up with everything on your own and
(05:14):
you're like, let's go do it. Well, I did a
photo shoot and was a really talented photographer and he's amazing.
And um
how was it?
I just looked at all the photos and I was
like the, the car is not here. So um Derek
can you um take me down to the valley and
just shoot me on the street? I was like just
(05:35):
on the street. I don't care, put me on the sidewalk, whatever,
like just shoot me. So because I was freaking out
because I had, I had a deadline of like two days.
I had to hand in the album cover and I
was freaking out. So we came down here like a
couple blocks away and I just stood up against the
wall and I'm just like, and I'm just like, literally,
I'm like,
(05:55):
and it's, it's the cover and I'm like, like we got,
we went to the car and we put the pictures
on the, on the computer and went, oh my God,
I'm like, oh my God, this is awesome. And, and
that's crazy how it goes. Like, so and he shot
a lot of my press photos really? And one of
the other photos he shot is uh the girlfriend like single, single.
(06:18):
So it's all about trusting your instincts, I guess, right?
Like I, I know right away if I like something
or a Dell or
you know, and I was like, oh, well, because these
are great photos, but the cover is not here So
who are we gonna do? So I just, we just
made it happen. A kind of funny. I'm like to my,
I'm like to my manager is he gonna get paid?
(06:39):
He should get paid and now everyone's gonna want him
to like, shoot his, their cover. Now you should just
use him. Now. You don't have any issues. You're like,
it's gonna work. I don't need to hire someone fancy.
He's better.
Sadly, with the photos and songs Wy and Levine created
together will last forever. Their marriage would not. Canada's pop
punk super couple would split in 2009 and finalize their
(07:00):
divorce in 2010. But the two remain friends to this
very day. In fact, Derek joined
Avril on stage only a few weeks ago as this
episode is being written to perform the Sun 41 classic
in Too Deep Live in Las Vegas. If you want
to hear more about Sun 41 during their in too
deep era, check out our episode in season two for
the crazy stories around their hit fat lip.
(07:22):
The best damn thing sessions were as much of a
party as they were anything else with Avril admitting that
she was intoxicated throughout the production of a few of
the songs including girlfriend itself, which we'll get into shortly
and she would constantly be overindulging in food and drink
on the Daily. Here she is recounting the tales of
debauchery to much is Leah Miller and one time, um
(07:46):
I was at Ocean Way. It's a big studio here
and I had two rooms, I had one room with
Rob Cavallo, one room with Luke. And it was like
this huge party. I was like, so excited to be
working on my record. I'd like, go in while Rob
was recording the band and I'd like, give him my
feedback and then go run into Luke's room and like,
(08:08):
write down,
like, wrote the bridge of girlfriend and then ran back and,
you know, Dave and C Campbell's doing strings. It was
like this party and we'd be like drinking Jagger and like,
literally running through the halls, like being stupid. It was
just like so much fun. You probably so excited though, right?
Because at least, you know, your creative juices are flowing
(08:29):
and doing all those things. Um
I always put myself in these circumstances where I always
have too much going on at once. And I, that's
kind of what I did. I had like, I was
working with like two producers at the same time, like
three different songs in the same day. But I, I
always do that to myself. But
(08:50):
one particular drinking session even inspired a song lyrically a
verse in the track I can do better was inspired
by Citrusy, Italian Liquor, Lemoncello, which Avril Giddily recounted to
much as Sarah Taylor Studio. Um I took my time.
We were, we'd like order in like all this junk food. And,
and for my song, I can do better. Like the
(09:13):
day we wrote it, I drank a half bottle of
lemon cello.
Like do like half bottle. Lemoncello is like this yellow liqueur.
It's like Italian. I drink a half bottle. I was
hammered and then I was like, hey, we have to
talk about Lemoncello in this song. So in the second verse,
we're like, I'll drink as much Lemoncello as I can
and I'll do it again and again. And so shout
(09:36):
out to the Lemoncello. Um And I mean, I had
so much fun and I think it really comes across
on the record. It does. Do you feel like
Avril would explain that these sessions were looser and more
playful on purpose as she still wanted to aim for
relatability in her music. But more so in the sense
that the songs would contain universal, easy to understand lyrical
(09:58):
themes as opposed to the heartfelt personal messages found in
albums past admitting to MTV, some of the songs I
wrote didn't even mean that much to me. It's not
like some personal thing I'm going through. They're just songs
she would tell Sarah Taylor.
It's like, good fun. It's not like, you know, like
my other records were like um dark one, like
(10:21):
deeper and uh so this is lighter and it's just
like more fun. Yeah, because on some of the tracks
you're actually literally laughing. I'm totally laughing. I've always, I I,
you know, sometimes you hear people's records and they're like
talking and like laughing, I've never done that before, but
it just happened on this record, like I was laughing
and they were recording me. And so it's kinda cool
(10:42):
with the tone of the album established and the friends
it creates
process perfected. It was time for a lead single that
would truly reintroduce Avril Lavigne to the world. Levine had
never had any problem catching people's attention with her music.
But now she was ready to grab radio by the
scruff of the neck with reckless abandon with a chant
of nine anthemic words. Hey, hey, you, you, I don't
(11:05):
like your girlfriend.
According to Avril lyrically, girlfriends started out as a joke,
drunkenly shouting the anthemic chorus while goofing off during the
best damn thing sessions before eventually realizing it could actually
be a single. Although they worked together for the better
part of four months. Lavina Lucas Gottwald allegedly wrote the
song in a mere two minutes together.
Avril had literally just gotten married before jumping back into
(11:28):
the studio to compose girlfriend as well. So the irony
of an anti girlfriend, bad girl song being her first
single all while still very much living out the honeymoon
phase of her marriage in real life, made the track
all the more intriguing to critics. Was there trouble in Paradise?
Is there some sort of deep rooted confessional found in
between the lines of this seemingly simple song
(11:49):
as Avril told much. Absolutely not. I think that might
be my new favorite. I love that song. And it's
funny because I was watching TV the other night and
I don't know, I was, like, sitting at home and
there was all these, like, different news shows on and
they were, like, doing little stories and they're like their
new song, girlfriend. Who know, and they're like, what is
it about? It's just so weird and it's not about anything.
It's just a, you know, one of those things that
(12:12):
you just learn about, it's just a, you know, a
topic and it was kind of like, very,
it just came out of my mouth. That's what happens
when I'm writing all. As I, like, I just started going,
I don't like your girlfriend. I think you need a
new one. And I was like, oh, that's kind of weird.
But that's funny. And then I just kept going with
like a whole story. So that's kind of the beauty
(12:32):
of like, art. You know, when you create something, when
you're in the middle of, you know, creating, you don't
really know where you're gonna go and then you end
up with like, you know, either this painting or, or,
you know, a song and it's like, oh,
it works and then, like, everyone, like, asks you what
does this mean? And we're this, like, just really mean. Um,
(12:52):
but this superfluous or not, one thing is for sure
if you hear even just 10 seconds of girlfriend at
any time in any place it gets stuck in your
head for hours. Girlfriend.
The reaction has been incredible upset because like, someone will
hear the song once and totally remember the song. Oh, yeah,
(13:14):
sing the chorus. I think that might be my new favorite.
I love that song. And the song is the earworm
of all earworms. Like an endless supply of sour jelly
beans that make your tongue feel raw, but you just
can't stop eating. It's a sassy cheerleader style anthem. Ala
Gwen Stefani's holler back girl or the eighties classic Mickey.
Speaking of Mickey,
I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that. Although the
(13:35):
song is not a note from a rip off. Let's
put it this way. It would make one hell of
a mash up with the aforementioned Tony Basil anthem. Am
I right? Am I right? I'm winking right now, but
you can't see it because it's a podcast critics from
the likes of Rolling Stones Slant magazine, the Guardian and
pop matters all concurred with the Mickey theory, but it
wasn't only
the sing song chorus that got credit for the song's addictiveness.
(13:57):
Jody Rosen of Slate raved over girlfriends shower along vocals,
power chords and hand claps amplified to the sound like
an army on the march. John Peres of the New
York Times also dug the soundscapes, noting the cleverly manipulated
echoes and attacks to sound as if Miss Levine were
charging in from all
directions, not only was Avril coming at you from all
directions on every radio station across the US and Canada.
(14:19):
But the song quickly became a worldwide phenomenon as well.
No word of a lie. Avril Lavigne recorded girlfriend's super
chorus in seven different languages. There's Girlfriend Spanish edition French
edition Portuguese, Japanese, German Mandarin.
It was almost a Hindi version as well, but the
meter didn't work with Hindi rhythm patterns. It might not
(14:40):
need to be said, but you should take the time
to hunt them down. They're simultaneously the greatest and most
surreal things I've ever heard.
Not everyone was pleased with girlfriend though seventies band, the
Rubens filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Levine got Walled
RC A Records and Apple in mid 2007 on the
grounds that Avril ripped off lyrics from their song. I
Wanna be your boyfriend, Levine of course, denied the accusations
(15:02):
pointing out that lyrics like, hey, you and the concept
of wanting to be not wanting to be someone's boyfriend
are pretty common lyrical
themes, citing hits like the Rolling Stones Get Off of
My Cloud. And the Ramon song also titled, I Wanna
Be Your Boyfriend. A dueling set of musicologists were hired
to analyze the songs and surprise surprise. The musicologist representing
(15:23):
the Ruben whose members stated there was an unusually high
degree of similarity between boyfriend and girlfriend. While team Avril
s musicologist reported that there wasn't any significant lyrical or
melodic content
eventually to avoid legal proceedings. The opposing parties settled out
of court and Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer of the
(15:44):
Renews released a statement wishing to completely exonerate Levine and
Gottwald after the settlement, Avril told Brazilian outlet Capito Gangwer
and Dunbar didn't win. But that happens all the time
in the music business. I'm not the first artist nor
will I be the last to go through this somewhere.
Ed Sheeran is thinking preach sister
(16:05):
as well as being one of Avril s most immediately
identifiable earworms. The music video of her girlfriend is also
one of her most recognizable Avril does triple duty in
the music video playing a mousy spectacle wearing redhead, a
goth punk badass with jet black hair and well regular
Avril Levine, I guess all living in the same universe
competing for the affection of a guy at an amusement
(16:26):
park
directed by veteran music video duo, the malloys. The three
Avril compete for the dude's affection in bumper cars, photo
booths and over an oversized churro in the very climactic
final mini putt scene. Dark Avril smacks a golf ball
directly into bookworm Avril s head and the definitely concussed
(16:47):
ginger triplet
falls into the nearby water fountain. She makes her way
out of the water only to furiously lunge a and
now Smid and Goff Avril with her boyfriend only to
miss them by a mile and roll into a conveniently
open porter party. Regular Avril mostly just sings through it all.
Sharing the stage with boyfriend without having to really try
(17:09):
too hard to win him over
best to stay out of the drama, I suppose. Now,
if nothing you've just said, is jogging your memory about
the girlfriend music video and you seem to remember a
lot more graffiti and a Barbie pink mustang. Then you
my friend are thinking of the remix video cos starring
late two thousands rapper Lil Mama
(17:29):
Avril and Lil Mama sat down with MTV to explain
their vision for girlfriend 2.0 he actually came up with
the treatment together, which was really cool. I think I
had said, do you want to do like a big
dance routine together where I have a gang of girls
behind us. About 10 girls, about 1012 girls, two of
us will be in the front, it will be half
(17:50):
hip hop, half rock and just like a mixture like
both our stuff.
And she was like, yeah, that's hot and then she's
like in like a car and we're like both like
hot pink pink and, and I were like, yeah, and
we'll have our boyfriends in the car. So we kind
of came up with this idea together and then we
called the director and told him and he made it
(18:11):
happen and sure I did this video released a few
months after the original is much more song and dance
performance focused and helped Avril further cross over into the
hip hop
world and remains one of Lil Mama's biggest claims to
fame outside her ubiquitous hit lip gloss. Personally, I prefer
the clash of the Avril clones original version. But what
can I say? I'm a hipster like that, I guess
(18:33):
as you've probably guessed by now, girlfriend became a number
one hit on nearly every chart it entered topping Canada's
Hot 100 Hot ac charts. Billboard's hot 100 mainstream top
40 charts in America as well as charts in Austria,
Hungary, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden to name just a few.
What may surprise you however, is that despite being everywhere
(18:53):
and leaving such a lasting legacy, girlfriend only survived a
solitary week on top of the US Billboard chart being
knocked off by a different Levine as in Adam Levine
with Maroon Five's Make me wonder quickly usurping it on
the charts and the song remains Avril Levine's only number
one hit.
The song had absolutely no issue becoming a commercial success
(19:15):
going four times platinum in Canada, seven times platinum in
the States and managed to sell over 2 million ringtones
in the American Canadian and Japanese markets. Can you imagine
being in a complicated situation and having, hey, hey, you, you,
I don't like your girlfriend. Shout at you every time
you got a text or a phone call. I say
(19:35):
this a lot on the show. But the two thousands
were weird. Men,
girlfriend would clean up a wide variety of awards on
the global scale, winning best international video by a Canadian
and favorite Canadian artist at the MM VA S. It
would win most addictive track at the MTV Europe Music
Awards and best song to dance to at the radio
(19:56):
Disney Music Awards but was robbed of the prestigious best
song to sing to an ex at that very same show.
Shame on you Disney.
The success of Girlfriend would help the release of the
best damn thing become a number one album in the
US UK and Canada and it would only take three
months for the record to go platinum.
(20:18):
The best damn thing would spawn three more singles over
the following year or so, including the heartfelt ballad when
you're gone and the return to pop rocky songs, Hot
and best damn thing in the years that would follow,
Avril would release a slew of albums with a diverse
array of musical influences leaning in on the emotional material,
sometimes more mellow and certainly more personal while none reached
(20:40):
the superhuman heights of her first three records. Levin
also dealt with quite a bit of adversity over the years,
revealing a serious battle with Lyme disease back in 2014,
in 2022. However, Avril returned in a blaze of glory
to the Devil May Care. Pop punk sounds of 2007
with a spiritual successor to the best damn thing. The
Aptly named Love Sucks, produced by pop punk legends Travis Barker,
(21:05):
John Feldman and her at the time, boyfriend, Mad Son,
Avril
teamed up with the new class of hip hop leaning
pop punkers like MGK and black bear as well as
OG icon Mark Hoppus. Now in her mid thirties and
opting for black and red motifs over girlfriends, pink and white.
The Renaissance of Avril Lavigne has come at the perfect
time with Avril booking a massive Greatest hits world tour.
(21:27):
And according to sets dot FM, you already know what
song she starts with when she hits the stage each night.
Hey, hey, you, you, I'm Miles Galloway. And that was
the story of Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne on Encore with
new episodes every Thursday.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Encore is an iheartradio Canada podcast. Subscribe to this podcast
on iheartradio or wherever you get your podcasts. Download the
iheartradio app for more great podcasts just like these.
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.