Avril Lavigne - Complicated

September 18, 2011 Critic Jonni 0 Comments

This was Avril Lavigne's first ever single, although I have to admit I could so see it being a band rather than Avril herself, obviously it didn't work out that way. This song was originally written by Avril Lavigne with the help of her producers, which kind of surprised me as I always thought that she had only recently started songwriting. Avril looks so much like a tom-boy in this video, and it's hard to think that she has managed to become as stunning as she is in her most recent video. Some people prefer her this way, of course, people prefer artists in their original format, but she's different and has shown she has developed in her most recent albums. This sing was taken as the first single from her first album "Let Go", it took me a while to realise I enjoyed her music, and by that time the second album had come out "Under My Skin", so I'm missing some of the singles that I would have bought, but there's places I can get them from, as long as I have extra money. For those of you who care.... Abbey Dawn and Black Star and Vaio and Forbidden Rose and any other product placements that now appear in some of her most recent videos weren't even around let alone thought of so you're saved from product placement.

As I have previously mentioned, Avril wrote this song alongside her producers: The Matrix, which consists of Scott Spock, Lauren Christy and Graham Edwards and they have worked with a number of artists, from Korn to Hilary Duff. This song is really good and Avril has mentioned that it is about people being fake. I think it is a clever song talking about "preppy clothes" and "dressed up like you're something else", I like how she sings about high school dramas, because that's where people being fake come from, as they need to fit in with other people to create these cliques. When high school finishes some people become their selves whereas others get stuck in this sort of look that isn't them as they aren't sure what to do next even though their personality may be totally different to what they look like. Thinking of Avril here, I believe she has never changed to try and fit in, she obviously have always wanted to be herself, and it's worked for her.

The amount of times I have watched this music video is a little surprising, if I had bothered to count. I know everything that happens in this music video, and still it makes me laugh, I like lots of different aspects, and now I really enjoy seeing the backing band, who are no long her backing band, as she has a new backing band now. The old backing band featured Mark Spicoluk, Matt Brann and Evan Taubenfeld, who are all doing their own thing now. Mark is now the founder, president and owner of a record label/management company called Underground Operations. Matt is working on projects with other bands as he plays the drums. Evan recently collaborated with Avril on her most recent album "Goodbye Lullaby" and has started his own solo career along with a few acting roles here and there.

This music video is really good, I like how some things have obviously been edited to fit in with the lyrics especially when she sings "we fall and we crawl" a skater falls over. I like how they mess about in the mall and every single time Avril jumps out of the clothes rack to scare that woman I laugh, I also like how she tricks her backing band into jumping into the pool, when she doesn't actually jump in, although personally I would have laughed about it then jumped in anyway, or if I were one of her backing band I would've dragged her in. I like how they ride on the mall karts and when the boys dress up for Avril.

I like how the narrative side includes Avril and her backing band, and this is one of only a few of her music videos where they are shown, which I do feel a sorry for the band, but then again they're lucky to get a few glimpses, some singers take them for granted and don't even bother filming them. I like how they try running up the down escalator, I think that's really funny and I bet you everyone has done that once in their lives, or at least gone down so far and then ran to get back to the top. There's so much I like about this video, but it's also very simplistic but that's to be expected since the producers and director didn't expect Avril to be as big as she is.

Overall I like the freedom and fun elements in this video, I like the skater as it makes it more real, I definitely like the fact that the band gets to play a part in the narrative storyline, and although the music video doesn't reference the song in it's meaning, it totally makes up for it by flipping it upside down and including certain parts into the lyrics. So, although you may call me biased, I feel that this rating suits this video and it definitely deserves it.

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