“He was a skater boy, she said see you later boy.”
Try reading that without singing it in your head.
We all went through that middle school punk/emo phase where we just wanted to be as edgy as we could possibly be – black clothes, long straight hair and having a half-smile/smirk in every selfie you took with your Motorola Razor.
What really defined your status as an edgy middle schooler was your choice in music. It’s what inspired every decision you made in your “everything must be black” part of your life.
My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, Paramore and many more were your guideline through this phase. But there is one that everyone knows or has at least heard a couple hits from: Avril Lavigne.
Lavigne released her first hit album at the age of 17 and was instantly a worldwide hit. If you’re a ’90s kid, you know her CD was a necessary part of your middle school and high school career, and if you tell me you didn’t jam to this on your portable CD player, then you’re lying. You can’t tell me that you haven’t been given DJ rights in the car and didn’t play “Sk8er Boi” at least once.
With all of that said, let me get to the main point. Lavigne recently put out her latest album, so I wanted to take everyone on a trip down memory lane from her full music career to her apparent death back in 2003.
“Let Go”, 2002: Our young lives were changed when this album released. With the hits “Sk8er Boi” and “Complicated” alone, the album was punk gold as soon as we heard it. The album was certified seven-times platinum in the United States and received a diamond certification from the Canadian Recording Industry Association, and Lavigne was an instant hit. According to some, that was as far as SHE went.
“Under My Skin”, 2004: This is where the apparent death part comes in. She didn’t stray too far from her first album. With that said, this album is, for the lack of a better word, depressing. The conspiracy says that Lavigne was in a place of depression, so there were times she was unable to perform; to keep the money coming in, the record label hired a doppelgänger named Melissa Vandella to perform in her place. According to some, her lyrics hint at what happened to the real Avril Lavigne and her subsequent replacement by Vandella. For example, in her song “My Happy Ending,” Lavigne sings the lyrics, “In a City so dead/so high hanging/in such a fragile rope” and in another song “Together” she sings, “the truth comes to me and I’m living a lie.” The media believes this is really Vandella hinting at the “truth.” Let’s be honest though. Every artist has used sad lyrics.
If you didn’t think that was stretch, some even try to say the color scheme hinted at her death and represented mourning because wait for it…. her name was in black and so were her clothes. This should have been expected before she even released this album. She is a punk icon. All they wear is black!
They didn’t stop there though. Let’s look at the height difference between the two albums. In her first release, Lavigne was 1.58 m tall according to her official website. The web (which is always to be trusted) says she’s now 1.55 m tall. There are some other pieces of hard-to-prove evidence as well, such as missing freckles or body marks.
“The Best D**n Thing”, 2007: The conspiracy didn’t keep Lavigne from making more music. Personally, I believe this album was one of her greatest because it returned to her older sound, but with lyrical improvement. The album’s hit song “Girlfriend” really gave that 2002 punk feel that we all know and love. Of course the media wasn’t as interested in that as they were interested in continuing the conspiracy. They wanted to prove Vandella’s existence. This time they pointed out the facial changes between old Avril and current Avril. It was pointed out that her facial features were not the same; her nose between old Avril and “Melissa” Avril were slightly different lengths, and the distance between her mouth to chin was also different. Yes they went that far. But chalking it up to her growing up isn’t good enough.
With that said, this is probably the most convincing evidence. There are pictures showing the differences in her face, and admittedly, there is a questionable amount.
“Goodbye Lullaby”, 2011: Saying goodbye (pun intended) to pretty much every signature sound she used to have, Lavigne released what was probably her most out-there album she has ever made, which isn’t necessary a bad thing. Considering this her “grown up” album, “Goodbye Lullaby” delivered a more romantic/emotional feel. She dropped the electric energy and used more acoustics and piano. So there’s a little bit of everything for everyone now.
Surprisingly, I couldn’t find anything about developments in evidence for the conspiracy, but she was asked about it.
“Yeah some people think that I’m not the real me, which is so weird! Like why would they even think that?” Lavigne said.
At least she didn’t seem to take offense to the conspiracy.
“Avril Lavigne”, 2013: The romantic and soft-hearted lyrics didn’t last long. This self-titled album just took a dive for anything but that. With a more rock/punk feel, Lavigne even collaborated with other rock icons that were relevant in 2013, one of those being everyone’s favorite: lead singer of Nickelback, Chad Kroeger (acknowledge the sarcasm). Songs on the album such as “Rock N Roll” and “Here’s to Never Growing Up” really emphasized the rebellious/no care side of her.
Fast forward a couple years after this album, Lavigne was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2015. The illness kept her bed-ridden for months. Lyme disease is an inflammatory disease characterized at first by a rash, headache, fever and chills, and later by possible arthritis and neurological and cardiac disorders.
“Head Above Water”, 2019: While she was fighting the disease, Lavigne would write songs. In a personal letter she released to the media, she described her battle with the disease and even felt like she was dying.
“During one of the scariest moments of my life, I had accepted death and could feel my body shutting down,” Lavigne wrote. “I felt like I was drowning. Like I was going under water and just needed to come up for air.”
During that time, she said she prayed to God for help while her mother was holding her.
Soon after the moment passed, she was inspired to write her latest hit song “Head Above Water” alongside her album of the same name. The album was easily one of her most heart-filled/emotional albums filled with songs of real meaning and struggles. The album is a tribute to her past struggles and to let her fans know that they are not alone in theirs.
The song marked her first ever crossover to the Christian music billboard ranking at No. 2. While the vast majority of Lavigne’s music does not reflect Christian morals, she says that her near-death experience grew her closer to God.
Since my research, I have an immense newfound respect for Avril Lavigne. She endured criticism of her work and a conspiracy that told her she was not even alive, and she wrote an incredible album while fighting Lyme disease. I’ll definitely be one of the first ones ready to download her next album whenever it releases.
