“Bite Me” by Avril Lavigne (ft. Travis Barker and Marshmello)

These days, many female vocalists are quite saucy. Fundamentally speaking, they may be saying the same things that such professionals have always dropped songs about. For instance, during this particular outing (“Bite Me”) Lavigne appears to be addressing a romantic interest. And this addressee is akin to a playa or a guy that has been feigning commitment throughout their entire relationship. And such individuals are the types that women have always had to contend with.

But, let’s just say that Avril is not necessarily ladylike in her response to having been “played”. To the contrary, she basically proceeds to threaten her ex. However, the vocalist doesn’t really harp on that particular aspect of her reaction. Rather, she is thoroughly convinced that he is going to regret crossing her once it occurs to him that she is in fact irreplaceable. 

So when Lavigne asserts that he ‘should’ve known better than to f–k with someone like her’, that statement sounds like she’s threatening physical assault. However, we don’t know if she’s actually going to go there. But if nothing else, she is confident that romantic karma itself will adequately deal with the situation.

Indeed at the end of the day, it can be said that her focus really isn’t on wishing the addressee harm per se. Rather, the singer is sort of kicking herself due to falling for him in the first place. 

And ultimately, this song attempts to tread that thin artistic line between wanting to hurt a romantic partner physically or desiring to injure him emotionally. And it can be confusing pinning down exactly what the singer is trying to put forth. 

In Conclusion

Going a bit out on a limb in the name of a comprehensive and easy-to-understand thesis statement, perhaps what she’s saying is that if she too were a man, she would probably just punch the addressee in the face. But since she isn’t, what the vocalist is rather looking forward to is him progressively growing to miss her, as she has no intention of ever taking him back.

Avril Lavigne and “Bite Me”

Avril Lavigne is a singer we have covered before as back in the aughts, during her youth even, she was very much one of the top singers in the game. Since then, i.e. during the 2010s, her success level has increasingly humbled itself. 

But this phenomenon has not been attributed to Avril falling off per se but rather noticeably changing her musical style from 2010 onward. However, now Lavigne traditionalists have cause to rejoice, as “Bite Me” is being reported as the vocalist’s return to her “punk pop” roots.

“Bite Me” was issued by Elektra Records on 10 November 2021.

Besides for Elektra, another entity known as DTA Records, a label co-owned by Travis Barker, is behind the issuance of this song. And it would appear that Barker, a long-standing member of Blink-182, also is personal friends with Lavigne.

In addition to playing the drums, Barker also co-produced the track with Marshmello. And Marshmello, another famous musician in his own right, is credited with writing this piece alongside the following:

• Mod Sun
• Omer Fedi
• John Feldmann
• Avril Lavigne

The first teasing of this song is said to have been conducted by Avril herself. This was about a week before it officially came out, via TikTok (and Twitter).

According to Lavigne, this song centers on knowing one’s worth. Put simply, it is a song that focuses on “self worth”.