Avril Lavigne
Album: Under My Skin
Song: Don't Tell Me
Reviewed by: Krystal Burns
The Band
The Canadian “punk princess” made herself known in 2002 with the release of her debut album Let Go. Like Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne was driven towards stardom from an early age. She sang gospel at church and country at the fairs until her talent was discovered. She began recording her first album in LA when she was only 16. Over 14 million albums sold, and Avril was nominated for 8 Grammy Awards. Yet despite her catchy romantic lyrics, she insists she’s not about pop. Famous for her I-don’t-care attitude and image, Avril is the trendiest rock star on the market.
The Music
Avril began recording Under My Skin soon after she returned from her world tour promoting Let Go. She co-wrote all the songs with fellow Canadian singer Chantal Kreviazuk in just two weeks. These tracks seem to be more positive, as they reflect her growth and maturity of the last two years. But not to fear, the skater-chick hasn’t lost any bite. Other songs on the new album include “Who knows” and “Take Me Away.”
The Song
“Don’t Tell Me” is a great song in a sense that it gives women a strong, defiant voice against all the media and music that depicts them as alien sex objects who are easily manipulated with cheesy lines and cheap flowers. The song encourages girls not to give in to pressure to have sex. Avril says of this song, “I'm a hopeless romantic, and surprisingly old-fashioned. That's why I wrote a song about not giving it up to just any guy.”
The first verse gives a context for the rest of the song, which seems to have stemmed from a hurtful experience. “You wiped my tears, got rid of all my fears, why did you have to go? / Guess it wasn’t enough to take up some of my love, guys are so hard to trust…” Although it’s not entirely clear, it appears that she might have given it away once before, only to be burned because the relationship didn’t work out. The song is primarily an angry reaction against that rejection, which has taught her to be more careful.
The chorus is simple and blunt.
Did you think that I was gonna give it up to you, this time
Did you think it was something I was gonna do, and cry
Don't try to tell me what to do, don't try to tell me what to say
You're better off that way
And in case you aren’t entirely sure what “it” refers to, it doesn’t take much imagination with hints like the one in this line. “Don't think that your charm and the fact that your arm is now around my neck / Will get you into my pants, I'll have to kick your [beep] and make you never forget…” Again, Avril making her point that she won’t give in to boy pressure.
While the overall idea of the song is good, we need to be careful not to go crazy by awarding the song or the artist virtues that aren’t expressed in this song. In other words, this song is NOT preaching against pre-marital sex in any way. It’s about a girl saying no to a boy—not a girl saying no to all boys until she is married. Huge difference. Lets not be deceived into thinking that it’s okay to have sex with someone as long as he/she is really special. Who even came up with that theory? The Bible is clear again and again that sex outside of marriage is wrong (Matt. 19:9, 1 Corinthians 10:8, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6). Furthermore, while Avril’s point is noteworthy, her angst and tone throughout the song are debatably over the top. The anger and hardness are particularly obvious in the video as she throws things around and waves her arms up and down. God tells us to “get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger” (Ephesians 4:31). Some may argue she has good reason to be upset. And while righteous anger has its place, we need to be careful that we don’t sin in our anger (Ephesians 4:26).
So What Do You Think?
1. Is it ever okay to be angry? If so, when? (see Ephesians 4:25-32,
Mark 11:15-17)
2. How can we be angry without sinning?
3. Why do you think this song is so popular?
4. Some critics have called Avril a fake rocker, since she claims to
play guitar and skateboard but is rarely seen doing either for an extended
period of time. What do you think makes a rock star?