View source for User:Zylo1994/musical style and songwriting

==Musical style and songwriting==
{{Rquote|right|I know my fans look up to me and that's why I make my songs so personal, its all about things I've experienced and things I like or hate. I write for myself and hope that my fans like what I have to say.|Avril Lavigne|Girl.com.au{{r|girlauinterview}}}} 
Themes in Lavigne's music are usually self-empowerment messages from a female or adolescent point of view.{{r|blossoming}} Lavigne has stated "my songs are about being yourself no matter what and going after your dreams even if your dreams are crazy and even if people tell you they're never going to come true."{{r|girlauinterview}} On her debut album, ''Let Go'', Lavigne prefered the less-mainstream songs, such as "[[Losing Grip]]", instead of her more radio-friendly singles, such as "[[Complicated (Avril Lavigne song)|Complicated]]", stating "the songs I did with [[The Matrix (record production team)|The Matrix]], yeah, they were good for my first record, but I don't want to be that [[pop music|pop]] anymore."{{r|teenspirit}} Lavigne's second album, ''Under My Skin'', had more personal themes, with Lavigne stating "I've gone through so much, so that's what I talk about....Like boys, like dating or relationships".{{r|musicomhinterview}} In contrast, her third album, ''The Best Damn Thing'', was not very personal to her, "Some of the songs I wrote didn't even mean that much to me. It's not like some personal thing I'm going through. They're just songs."{{r|scold}} ''Goodbye Lullaby'', Lavigne's fourth album, is expected to be much more personal than her earlier records,{{r|musicmix}} with her describing it as "mellow" and "deep".{{r|departure}}

Lavigne has an [[alto]] vocal range.{{r|blossoming}} Growing up Lavigne listened to [[Blink-182]], [[Goo Goo Dolls]], [[Matchbox Twenty]] and [[Shania Twain]].{{r|teenspirit}} Her influences include [[Courtney Love]] and [[Janis Joplin]].{{r|musicomhinterview}} Due to Lavigne’s influences, musical genre and personal style, the media frequently referred to Lavigne as a [[punk subculture|punk]], something she denied. Lavigne’s close friend and guitarist, [[Evan Taubenfeld]], stated "Its a very touchy subject to a lot of people, but the point is that Avril isn't punk, but she never really pretended to claim to come from that scene. She had pop punk music and the media ended up doing the rest". {{r|ultimateguitar}} Lavigne stated "I have been labeled like I'm this angry girl, [a] rebel... punk, and I am ''so'' not any of them."{{r|ledgermoody}}

While Lavigne denied being angry, her interviews were still passionate about the media's lack of respect for her songwriting. "I am a writer, and I won't accept people trying to take that away from me", adding that she'd been writing "full-structured songs" since she was 14.{{r|ledgermoody}} Despite this, Lavigne’s songwriting has been questioned throughout her career; The songwriting trio, The Matrix, who Lavigne wrote with for her debut album, stated that they were the main songwriters of Lavigne’s singles "Complicated", "[[Sk8er Boi]]" and "[[I'm With You]]". Lavigne denied this, implying she was the primary songwriter for every song on the album, stating "none of those songs aren't from me".{{r|teenspirit}} In 2007, [[Chantal Kreviazuk]], who wrote with Lavigne on her second album, accused Lavigne of plagiarism{{r|kreviazuk}} and criticised her songwriting, "I mean, Avril, songwriter? Avril doesn't really sit and write songs by herself or anything".{{r|yahoomusic}} Lavigne denied this and stated that she was considering taking legal action due to a "clear defamation of my character".{{r|yahoomusic}} Kreviazuk then apologised, stating "Avril is an accomplished songwriter and it has been my privilege to work with her".{{r|kreviazuk}} Shortly after Kreviazuk apologised, Tommy Dunbar, the founder of the 1970s band the [[Rubinoos]], sued Lavigne, her publishing company and [[Lukasz Gottwald|Lukasz "Dr.Luke" Gottwald]] for allegedly stealing parts of her song "[[Girlfriend (Avril Lavigne song)|Girlfriend]]" from the Rubinoos’ "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend".{{r|stole}} Gottwald defended Lavigne, stating "me and Avril wrote the song together….It has the same chord progressions as 10 different Blink-182 songs, the standard changes you'd find in a [[Sum 41]] song. It's the [[Sex Pistols]], not the Rubinoos."{{r|yahoomusic}} In January 2008, the lawsuit was closed after a confidential settlement had been reached.{{r|settle}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=

<ref name="ledgermoody">{{cite journal|last=Moody|first=Nekesa Mumbi|date=1 June 2004|title=Lavigne's Not Really Angry: The shy Canadian singer shuns the rebel, punk labeling that many people have given her.|journal=[[The Ledger]]|location=Florida|url=http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Or4wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Av4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6368,123891&dq=avril+lavigne+angry&hl=en|accessdate=1 June 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="musicomhinterview">{{cite web|url=http://www.musicomh.com/music/features/avril-lavigne.htm|title=Interview: Avril Lavigne|last=Soghomonian|first=Talia|date=September 2004|work=''[[musicOMH]]''|accessdate=29 December 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.musicomh.com%2Fmusic%2Ffeatures%2Favril-lavigne.htm&date=2010-12-29|archivedate=29 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="settle">{{cite web|url=http://www.chartattack.com/news/45176/avril-lavigne-settles-with-rubinoos-over-copyright-lawsuit|title=Avril Lavigne Settles With Rubinoos Over Copyright Lawsuit|date=10 January 2008|work=''[[Chart (magazine)|ChartAttack.com]]''|accessdate=29 December 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chartattack.com%2Fnews%2F45176%2Favril-lavigne-settles-with-rubinoos-over-copyright-lawsuit&date=2010-12-30|archivedate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="stole">{{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003607413#/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003607413|title=Seventies Band Sues Lavigne Over 'Girlfriend'|work=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|accessdate=29 December 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.billboard.com%2Fbbcom%2Fnews%2Farticle_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003607413%23%2Fbbcom%2Fnews%2Farticle_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1003607413&date=2010-12-30|archivedate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="yahoomusic">{{cite web|url=http://new.music.yahoo.com/avril-lavigne/news/girlfriend-power-for-avril-chantal--45048018|title="Girlfriend" Power for Avril, Chantal|date=11 July 2007|work=''[[E!]]''|publisher=[[Yahoo! Music]]|accessdate=29 December 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnew.music.yahoo.com%2Favril-lavigne%2Fnews%2Fgirlfriend-power-for-avril-chantal--45048018&date=2010-12-30|archivedate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="kreviazuk">{{cite web|url=http://www.nme.com/news/nme/29624|title=Avril Lavigne: songwriter retracts songwriting claims|date=11 July 2007|work=[[NME]]|accessdate=29 December 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nme.com%2Fnews%2Fnme%2F29624&date=2010-12-30|archivedate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="ultimateguitar">{{cite web|url=http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/interviews/evan_taubenfeld_avril_isnt_punk.html|title=Evan Taubenfeld: 'Avril Isn't Punk'|work=''[[Ultimate Guitar Archive]]''|date=2 July 2004|accessdate=29 December 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ultimate-guitar.com%2Fnews%2Finterviews%2Fevan_taubenfeld_avril_isnt_punk.html&date=2010-12-30|archivedate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="teenspirit">{{cite news|title=Smells like teen spirit|first=Jenny|last=Eliscu|url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2003/mar/07/artsfeatures|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=7 March 2003|accessdate=29 December 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fmusic%2F2003%2Fmar%2F07%2Fartsfeatures&date=2010-12-30|archivedate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="blossoming">{{cite news|title=Avril Lavigne blossoming|first=Greg|last=Kot|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-11-13/news/0411130129_1_avril-lavigne-self-empowerment-audience|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=13 November 2004|accessdate=30 December 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Farticles.chicagotribune.com%2F2004-11-13%2Fnews%2F0411130129_1_avril-lavigne-self-empowerment-audience&date=2010-12-30|archivedate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="girlauinterview">{{cite web|url=http://www.girl.com.au/avril-lavigne-over-the-hedge-interview.htm|title=Avril Lavigne Over the Hedge Interview|last=Flynn|first=Gaynor|work=Girl.com.au|accessdate=31 May 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.girl.com.au%2Favril-lavigne-over-the-hedge-interview.htm&date=2010-12-30|archivedate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="scold">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1553431/20070227/lavigne_avril.jhtml|title=Don't Know How To Spell 'Avril Lavigne'? Prepare To Be Scolded|date=28 February 2007|last=Vineyard|first=Jennifer|work=''[[MTV]]''|accessdate=30 December 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtv.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2F1553431%2F20070227%2Flavigne_avril.jhtml&date=2010-12-30|archivedate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="departure">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1652842/20101122/lavigne_avril.jhtml|title=Avril Lavigne Says Her New Album 'Is A Departure'|last=Montgomery|first=James|date=22 November 2010|work=''MTV.com''|accessdate=23 November 2010|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtv.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2F1652842%2F20101122%2Flavigne_avril.jhtml&date=2010-12-30|archivedate=30 December 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="musicmix">{{cite web |url=http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/07/24/avril-lavigne-in-the-studio-exclusive/ |title=Avril Lavigne in the studio: An EW exclusive! |author=Pastorek, Whitney |date=24 July 2009 |work=EW.com |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmusic-mix.ew.com%2F2009%2F07%2F24%2Favril-lavigne-in-the-studio-exclusive%2F&date=2010-07-01 |archivedate=2 July 2010 |accessdate=30 January 2010}}</ref>

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