“Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne
This classic Avril Lavigne track finds her trying to win over a guy who already has a girlfriend. And she mainly tries to achieve her objective by discrediting his current relationship. According to the singer, she is aware that this guy has mutual feelings for her but is being inhibited by his girlfriend.
Throughout the verses, she presents herself as a better choice for this guy while letting him know that his current lover was a very poor choice. She goes to the extent of stating her dislike for her, and calling her stupid, just to prove that she does not regard her as a worthy competitor.
In all, Lavigne is persistent about her plan to get her love interest, but insensitive when looking at it from the said girlfriend’s perspective.
“Hey, hey, you, you, I want to be your girlfriend”
Writing of “Girlfriend”
Lavigne, who co-wrote “Girlfriend” with Dr. Luke, once revealed to MTV that she was drunk when she wrote this song. She further explained to Channel 4 TV that the song was just a fun song.
Date of Release and Album
Lavigne (through RCA and Columbia Records) released this in February 2007. This song was the lead single from her highly successful third studio album – an album she titled “The Best Damn Thing”. FYI, this album also features the hit song “When You’re Gone“.
A Number 1 Hit!
“Girlfriend” was a number 1 hit for Lavigne. It achieved number 1 status in as many as eight different countries, the United States included. Sweden, Spain, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand are some other countries where this song topped the charts.
Having sold more than 7 million copies worldwide, this single went on to become one of the most successful songs of the 2000s. Furthermore, its official music video earned the distinction of being the most-viewed YouTube video of 2008. Also, the video also set a record of being the very first video on YouTube to be viewed a 100 million times.
The massive success of “Girlfriend” motivated Lavigne to make an official remix of it. Said remix features an American rapper called Lil Mama.
Lavigne is sued
In the late 1970s, the American pop band known as The Rubinoos released a song titled “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”. Now, in a number of aspects, this song is strikingly similar to Lavigne’s “Girlfriend”. And considering it was released more than three decades before “Girlfriend”, its writers wasted no time suing Lavigne for using a significant portion of their song without their permission. Both parties eventually settled the suit.
Genre
The best music genre to use in categorizing “Girlfriend” would be the pop-punk genre. It also fits perfectly into the power-pop genre.
Did “Girlfriend” win Avril Lavigne a Grammy Award?
Despite the song being one of the most significant hits of its year of release, it never won Lavigne a Grammy. Interestingly, it wasn’t even nominated for one!
