Girlfriend (Avril Lavigne song)


"Girlfriend" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. The song was written by Lavigne and producer Dr. Luke for Lavigne's third studio album, The Best Damn Thing. "Girlfriend" was released as the lead single from the album on 27 February 2007 by Columbia and RCA Records. Lyrically, the song revolves around its protagonist having a crush on someone who is in a relationship, proclaiming she should be his girlfriend. The song has been noted to have similarities to Toni Basil's 1982 single "Mickey", and The Rubinoos' 1979 single "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend". The songwriters of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" sued Lavigne and Dr. Luke for copyright infringement; the suit was later settled.
"Girlfriend" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who complimented its catchiness. The song was a worldwide success, peaking at the top spot of the charts in eight countries, including Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. It additionally charted in the top ten of most other countries. The song's accompanying music video, directed by The Malloys, sees Lavigne portraying three alter-egos, with all of them fighting over the same guy. In June 2007, the song's official remix, featuring American rapper Lil Mama, was released. Lavigne performed the song a number of times, including at the 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards, the 2007 Teen Choice Awards, and the 2008 Juno Awards.
The song's success made it a mainstay of pop music in the late 2000s. "Girlfriend" was certified multi-platinum in Australia and the United States. It was among the top-selling songs of 2007, with over 7.3 million worldwide sales. In 2008, the song became the most viewed video on YouTube, and was the first video on the site to reach 100 million views. Rolling Stone ranked the song number thirty-five on their list of "Top 100 Songs of 2007" list. Several versions of the song were released with the chorus sung in multiple languages. In 2010, the song was named the ninety-fourth most successful song on the Hot 100 in the 2000s decade. Allmusic highlighted the song as one of the most significant punk-pop songs of all time.

Writing and inspiration

Following the release of her second studio album, Under My Skin, Lavigne wanted to record more "fun and upbeat" music. "Girlfriend" was written by Lavigne and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, with Dr. Luke also producing the track. The song was written while Lavigne was intoxicated, with Lavigne commenting that the chorus only took two minutes to write.
Lavigne was inspired to write more fun and upbeat songs after concluding her second concert tour, the Bonez Tour, in 2005. Lavigne was initially hesitant to release "Girlfriend" as the lead single from The Best Damn Thing, referring to the song's conception as "just a joke".

Composition

"Girlfriend" was written by Lavigne and Dr. Luke, who also produced the song. "Girlfriend" is a moderately fast pop punk, and power pop song. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing, the song is written in the key of D major and is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 152 beats per minute. Lavigne's vocal range spans two octaves, from A3 to D5.
The song's chorus was recorded in seven different languages other than English – Japanese, French, Spanish, Mandarin, Italian, German and Portuguese.

Critical reception

"Girlfriend" received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. The song was No. 35 on Rolling Stone list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. This song was also No. 77 on MTV Asia list of Top 100 Hits of 2007. Also was listed as the number 1 hit of 2007 according to MTV Latin America. "Girlfriend" also won Favorite Song at the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards. It beat "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Don't Matter", and "Beautiful Girls". Billboard ranked "Girlfriend" the twelfth best song of 2007.
Reviewers have noted similarities between Girlfriend and other songs. One similarity is to The Rubinoos' 1979 single "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", in which they sing "Hey hey, you you, I wanna be your boyfriend" similar to "Hey hey, you you, I could be your girlfriend" in "Girlfriend". Similarities have also been noted to Toni Basil's "Mickey".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic highlighted the song as a 'track pick' in a review of the album, The Best Damn Thing. He complimented the album for opening with Girlfriend, describing the song as a "bright bubblegum blast". Focusing on Girlfriend in a review for The Best Damn Thing, Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly said "If the girls of Heathers formed a Runaways tribute band, it would sound exactly like this". Alex Macpherson of The Guardian newspaper labelled Girlfriend as "brilliantly addictive". Jon Pareles of The New York Times called Girlfriend the best song off the album and stated it used "cleverly manipulated echoes and attacks to sound as if Ms. Lavigne were charging in from all directions". Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine was more negative on the song and states that Lavigne can't "pull off the pink pumps or punky pout with any kind of believability". MuchMusic praised the success of the song because of the mix of various genres "she can succeed in punk, rock and pop with her bubblegum anthem Girlfriend".

Chart performance

Because of digital download sales in excess of 122,000, the song debuted at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, the highest debut of her career. Afterwards it became Lavigne's first song to reach number one on the Hot 100, in the issue dated 5 May 2007; her previous highest peak on the chart was with 2002's "Complicated", which reached number two. It remained in the top ten for 18 weeks, which was two more than the year-end #1 single of 2007, Irreplaceable. It became the last number one hit on that chart by a Canadian female artist until 2012's "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen. In Canada, the song debuted at number 1. As of September 2015, "Girlfriend" has sold 3.8 million copies in the United States.
In Japan, the song has been certified Million for more than 1,000,000 sales through ringtones and 3x Platinum for 750,000 sales. Thus, the song has sold more than 3,000,000 copies there making it the best-selling single by a western female artist of all time on Japan.
"Girlfriend" debuted on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number three. The following week it reached number-one, and it remained at the top for six non-consecutive weeks, equalling Lavigne's previous number-one single on the ARIA Charts, "Complicated". After three weeks on the charts, it was certified gold by ARIA, then platinum after seven weeks for sales in excess of 70,000 copies. It was then certified double platinum, with sales in excess of 140,000. In 2008, it was certified quadruple platinum for sales of 280,000.
On the UK Singles Chart, "Girlfriend" peaked at number two, surpassing "Complicated" as Lavigne's highest peaking single on the chart. The song ended 2007 as the years 20th biggest-selling single in the UK and spent 28 weeks inside the chart and is Lavigne's biggest hit in the UK to date. It became the best selling song of 2007 worldwide with around 5 million copies outside the US.To date, "Girlfriend" has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

Accolades

It won the Award for "Canción del Año" in "Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2007" and was nominated for "Monster Single" in the MTV Video Music Awards 2007. It won Most Addictive Track at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Indicates non-competitive categories

Award/PublisherYearCategoryResult
Allmusic2012Significant Pop punk songs
ASCAP Pop Music Awards2008Most Performed Song
:de: Capricho Awards|Capricho Awards2008Best Video at YouTube
Japan Gold Disc Awards2008Mastertone of the Year
Japan Gold Disc Awards2008Single Track of the Year
Juno Awards2008Single of the Year
Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica2007Song of the Year
MTV Asia Awards2008Best Hook-up
MTV Europe Music Awards2007Most Addictive Track
MTV Italian Music Awards2008Best Number One of the Year
MTV Video Music Awards2007Monster Single of the Year
MTV Video Music Awards Japan2008Best Pop Video
MTV Video Music Awards Japan2008Best Karaokee! Song
MuchMusic Video Awards2007Best International Video By A Canadian
MuchMusic Video Awards2007
MuchMusic Video Awards2008MuchMusic.com Most Watched Video
Myx Music Awards2008Favorite International Video
Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards2007Fave Song
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards2008Favorite Song
Nickelodeon UK Kids' Choice Awards2007MTV Hits Best Music Video
Planeta Awards2007Pop/Hip Hop Song of the Year
Premios Oye!2007Main English Song of the Year
Radio Disney Music Awards2007Best Song
Radio Disney Music Awards2007Best Song to Dance
Radio Disney Music Awards2007Best Song to Sing to an Ex
Radio Disney Music Awards2007Best Video That Rocks
RTHK International Pop Poll Award2008Top Ten International Gold Songs
SOCAN Awards2008SOCAN Salutes
SOCAN Awards2008Pop/Rock Music Award
Teen Choice Awards2007Choice Music: Single
VEVO2008First Video to reach 100 Million Views Online
Virgin Media Music Awards2007Best Track

Songwriting claim

On 25 May 2007, Tommy Dunbar of The Rubinoos and songwriter James Gangwer filed a plagiarism lawsuit against Lavigne, Gottwald, RCA Records, and Apple Inc. Dunbar and Gangwer claimed that the chorus of "Girlfriend" infringed on the copyright of their 1979 single "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend". Lavigne's manager, Terry McBride denied these allegations, commenting that "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" itself is similar to The Rolling Stones' song "Get Off of My Cloud". Soon afterwards, Lavigne posted a blog post on her Myspace page in which she denied having any knowledge of the song in addition to claiming that The Rubinoos' song had a similar title and chorus to The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend".
In June 2007, McBride hired a musicologist to compare the two songs, with the musicologist reporting that the songs were completely dissimilar, and even a different meter. In July 2007, McBride said that Lavigne had no plans to settle the case, but would consider the costs of defending the case against those of settling. An undisclosed settlement was reached between Lavigne and the Rubinoos in January 2008. Gangwer and Dunbar released a statement saying that the similarities between the songs were based on "certain common and widely used lyrics" and that they "completely exonerate Lavigne and Gottwald from any wrongdoing of any kind in connection with the claims made by us in our lawsuit."

Music video

Development

The music video was directed by The Malloys and filmed at in Norwalk, California. They praised the video for "sounding different than most female artist at the time and for its very punk rock-pop feel, something she does better than anybody."

Concept

The music video features two girls both played by Lavigne: one with glasses and red hair, and one with a rebellious persona and black hair. The video begins inside a family fun entertainment center where the red-haired Lavigne and her boyfriend are walking together. The black-haired Lavigne sees her and shows her an intimidating disposition, to which the former ignores. As the couple walk away, the black-haired Lavigne begins to sing the song and tries her luck on the red-haired Lavigne's boyfriend. Featured in the video are scenes of black-haired Lavigne fighting over the man with the red-haired Lavigne and trying to outdo her repeatedly. Between the scenes we see Lavigne, now with pink-streaked blonde hair, singing with her band accompanying her at the back. The video also featured this Lavigne and her friends dancing in a restroom.
After the starting scene, the video shows them at Li'l Indy, where they ride go-carts. Here, black-haired Lavigne is seen viciously bumping the car of the red-haired Lavigne, causing her to spin around and lose control. Next, the red-haired Lavigne and her boyfriend get inside a photo booth where black-haired Lavigne slips in and pulls the red-haired Lavigne out of the booth before the booth takes the pictures. Black-haired Lavigne's friends then block the red-haired Lavigne's way to give the black-haired Lavigne time in the booth.
The couple are now seen sharing a churro stick together, where black-haired Lavigne sees them yet again, throws the churro stick away and kisses the red-haired girl's boyfriend, much to the latter's surprise and anger. It is nighttime when the couple decide to head over to a miniature golf course to while away some time playing, where the red-haired Lavigne cheerfully wins.
Unfortunately for her, the black-haired Lavigne and her friends happen to be present at the venue as well. As soon as she and her friends see them, black-haired Lavigne hits her in the head with a golf ball, resulting in the red-haired Lavigne splashing down into the water. Her boyfriend tries to grab her hand but misses, to black-haired Lavigne's amusement. Finally, the man, who eventually develops feelings for black-haired Lavigne, is seen waiting for her. As she comes toward him, they soon hold hands together, but red-haired Lavigne sees this and attempts to seize black-haired Lavigne. But black-haired Lavigne and the man manage to dodge her, and in her attempt to win back her boyfriend, she tumbles all the way down and lands in a portable toilet ahead, where she gives a look of desperation towards the camera, showing she has failed to do so, and signalling that black-haired Lavigne has finally won the man's affections. Blonde Lavigne then takes her new boyfriend into a bathroom stall and slightly opens the door after a moment and pumps her arm in victory.
Lavigne's boyfriend in the video is played by American model Bryan McMullin and dresses similarly to the "rocker" Lavigne in the video. The video features Lavigne's previous guitarist Evan Taubenfeld, and Lavigne's brother Matt on bass.

Reception

On 18 July 2008, "Girlfriend" became the most viewed video at that time on YouTube and in August of that year, surpassed 100 million views, becoming the only YouTube video available at that time to reach that milestone. The YouTube video of the song was accused of having an exaggerated number of views due to the use of a web link posted by AvrilBandaids, a fansite devoted to Lavigne. Clicking on the link would automatically reload the YouTube video of "Girlfriend" every fifteen seconds. Fans of Lavigne were encouraged to: "Keep this page open while you browse the internet, study for exams, or even sleep. For extra viewing power, open up two or more browser windows at this page!" However, the fansite later revealed that no "cheating" had taken place, and that the link had merely been a ruse to draw more attention to the video, thereby attracting additional views. It is expected that Lavigne's YouTube video views have earned in excess of US$2,000,000. In November 2009, RCA Records removed the video of the song from YouTube, by which time it had received around 130 million views. A new upload of the music video is now officially hosted on Lavigne's Vevo channel on YouTube, with over 500 million views as of May 2020.
The song is featured on the soundtrack to the video game Burnout Dominator in four different languages which includes Japanese, Spanish, Mandarin and English. The song is also featured in Burnout Paradise which only includes the English Version.
The BBC Chart Show reported a sharp divide in reaction to the video. A criticism of the video was that it was damaging to Lavigne's claims to integrity by imitating younger girls' fashions and encouraging poaching of boyfriends from other girls.

Dr. Luke Remix

and Lavigne shot a video for the remix of "Girlfriend", which was directed by R. Malcolm Jones.

Live performances

Lavigne performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 15 June 2007. She also performed on Saturday Night Live.

Track listings and formats

  1. "Girlfriend" – 3:39
  1. "Girlfriend" – 3:25
  1. "Girlfriend" – 3:40
  2. "Girlfriend" – 5:44
  1. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  2. "Alone" – 3:13
  1. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  2. "Girlfriend" – 3:37
  1. "Girlfriend" – 3:24
  2. "Girlfriend" – 3:37
  3. "Keep Holding On" – 4:00
  4. Ringtone1
  1. "Girlfriend" – 3:37
  2. "Girlfriend" – 3:37
  3. "Girlfriend" – 3:11
  4. "Girlfriend" – 3:41
  5. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  6. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  7. "Girlfriend" – 3:13
  8. "Girlfriend" – 3:36
  9. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  10. "Girlfriend" – 3:13
  11. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  12. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  13. "Girlfriend" – 3:12
  14. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  15. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  16. "Girlfriend" – 3:12
  17. "Girlfriend" – 3:37
  18. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  19. "Girlfriend" – 3:10
  20. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  21. "Girlfriend" – 3:38
  22. "Girlfriend" – 3:12
  23. "Girlfriend" – 3:28
  24. "Girlfriend" – 3:28
  25. "Girlfriend" – 3:13
1 A code was included on the CD to download the ringtone online.

Zebrahead version

In September 2009, American punk rock band Zebrahead released "Girlfriend" as the first single off their album Panty Raid, which was released on 4 November 2009 in Japan and 8 December in the rest of the world. It peaked in the Hot Modern Rock Tracks in the first week in the No. 84 position.
The music video of the song was released in 2009 and is a parody of the original "Girlfriend" video, with band members Ali playing the "Bad Avril" and Matty playing the good one.

Charts

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from The Best Damn Thing liner notes.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

! scope="row" rowspan="3" | Japan
! scope="row" rowspan="2" | United States
! colspan="3"| Summaries