The 10 Best Avril Lavigne Songs

When Canadian teen Avril Lavigne burst onto the scene in 2002, she seemed like a novelty skater kid who would be long forgotten before she reached her 18th birthday. Almost ten years later, Lavigne is still going strong, with the 2011 release of Goodbye Lullaby, her fourth album.

Here's one opinion of the 10 best Avril Lavigne songs, counted down in reverse order.

10 Alice
Producer by rocker Butch Walker, "Alice" was taken from Tim Burton's 2010 film Alice in Wonderland. Like the movie itself, "Alice" has a dark, creepy vibe. Piano and strong percussion played in the background while the soaring chorus featured some of Lavigne's strongest vocals yet.

9 Things I'll Never Say
An album track from Avril's debut Let Go, "Things I'll Never Say" still holds up as an appealing, laid-back pop song. The most clever thing about the song was the collection of subtle double entendres that pepper the lyrics, like "I wanna blow you...away" and "I wanna see you go down... on one knee."

8 Complicated
Avril burst onto the scene with this catchy pop number in 2002. The chorus was impossible to get out of your head: "You fall and you crawl and you break and you take / What you get and you turn it into..." "Complicated" got to #2 on the charts.

7 What the Hell
Every pop artist these days is going electro, and Lavigne joined the party on her 2011 single "What the Hell." The track produced by Max Martin and Shellback has a sing-along chorus is reminiscent of her earlier hit "Girlfriend." The keyboards almost give the song a playful, carnival-like atmosphere.

6 Sk8er Boi
"He was a boy, she was a girl / Can I make it any more obvious?," Lavigne sang to open this 2002 smash hit. The catchy rock tune proved that the singer wouldn't be just a one-hit wonder and made her one of the top female pop artists in music. The shopping mall music video also made her an MTV star.

5 I Don't Have to Try
Avril channels electroclash singer Peaches on "I Don't Have to Try," an album track from The Best Damn Thing. "I'm the one who wears the pants," she rap-sings over a rock riff. The song is pure ear candy, and it's delicious.

4 My Happy Ending
If you're fretting about a relationship that didn't work out, "My Happy Ending" is a perfect song to relate to. "All this time you were pretending," she sang angrily on the up-tempo rock track from the album Under My Skin, "So much for my happy ending."

3 Together
Sadly, "Together" wasn't released as a single, but Dresden Dolls singer Amanda Palmer gave the song new life when she recorded a video for the track and posted it on YouTube. Palmer's performance beautifully tapped into the troubled, angsty feeling Lavigne created for the track.

2 Girlfriend
By 2007 Lavigne seemed to be old news, but she returned with one of her best songs yet, the wonderfully bratty "Girlfriend." With its catchy beat and cheerleader chants, "Girlfriend" was clearly a retread of Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl," but you're allowed to ripoff other songs when you do it this well.

1 I'm With You
Lavigne's big hit ballad from 2002 (#4 on the charts) remains her best song. The song about longing for a soulmate who she hasn't yet met is lyrically mature and the strings make it polished and professional. "I'm With You" earned a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year and ranks at #1 on our rundown of the best Avril Lavigne songs.

Honorable Mention
Among the tracks that just missed the cut on the list of The 10 Best Avril Lavigne Songs are "Losing Grip," "Anything But Ordinary," "I Can Do Better," "The Best Damn Thing" and "Don't Tell Me."

The 10 Best Avril Lavigne Songs: Sources
www.allmusic.com
www.mtv.com