Avril Lavigne: What Happened?

She released her first album, Let Go, when she was only seventeen. She gave girls the idea that's it's okay not to wear dresses and skirts all the time, and to rebel a little bit every now and then. Her lyrics were deep and had true meaning to them. People easily related to her music and her personality. Songs like 'Naked' and 'Tomorrow' are great from this album. 'Too Much To Ask' is another one about her feeling lonely when her boyfriend ignores her and chooses some less-then-legal substances.

Her next album, Under My Skin, was equally deep with a little more spunk to it. It gave off the same messages of heartbreak, but added some fun along the lines. "He wasn't" is a song off of this album that says how her boy wasn't what she thought he should be. And she also recognizes in this song [without being vain or rude] that she could do better than a boy who ignores her. 'Slipped Away' is a song about her missing her grandfather, and it touches the heart deeply.

Her latest [full] album, The Best Damn Thing, is something completely different than her other albums. While these song may be fun, upbeat, and easy to dance to, they lose a lot of what got her her fans: the connection. While yes, the songs still have some sort of deep meaning, they lose it to the pop and vain lyrics. 'Cause I can, Cause I can do it better! She's so stupid, what the hell were you thinking!?' is a quote from her song 'Girlfriend.' It is indeed a catchy, upbeat song, it really took away from what she could have done.

'Runaway' is her complaining about her day, and saying how she wants to run away. It's more acoustic then most of the other songs, and despite what I just said, it is a happy song. It somehow manages to be upbeat and slow at the same time. There are about three other songs on this album that show how talented she is without tacky lyrics and too much pop.

But her new single, 'What The Hell,' has really made me consider what I think of her. The deepest meaning I can think of to this song is that 'it's okay to be crazy sometimes!' The music video for it is an utter disaster. She just does what ever she wants (such as crashing and stealing a taxi) with no repercussions what-so-ever. And in the very beginning, there is an obvious product placement of a Sony laptop. Yes, it is a fun song to dance and sing to, but what happened to the old Avril, who used to sing about deep feelings? The one who didn't sell out? She claims that the whole album Goodbye Lullaby will have a lot of acoustic songs and deeper meaning, but we won't know for sure until it gets released.

I have one question for her: What the happened to you, Avril?