Girlfriend (Avril Lavigne song)

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This article documents a current single.
Information is likely to change as the song remains on the charts.
"Girlfriend"
"Girlfriend" cover
Single by Avril Lavigne
from the album The Best Damn Thing
B-side(s) "Alone"
Released Flag of United States Flag of Canada February 7, 2007

Flag of Spain February 10, 2007
Flag of El Salvador February 28, 2007
Flag of Mexico March 1, 2007
Flag of Italy March 19, 2007
Flag of Japan March 21, 2007
Flag of Australia March 31, 2007
Flag of United Kingdom April 2, 2007
Flag of Republic of China April 3, 2007
Flag of Netherlands Flag of Sweden April 4, 2007
Format CD single
Genre Pop rock
Length 3:36
3:48 (full video)
Label RCA
Writer(s) Avril Lavigne, Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald
Producer(s) Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald
Chart positions
Avril Lavigne singles chronology
"Keep Holding On"
(2006)		 "Girlfriend"
(2007)		 "When You're Gone"
(2007)

"Girlfriend" is the lead single from Avril Lavigne's upcoming third album The Best Damn Thing. The song is described by Lavigne herself as being "fun, fast, hard, cocky and playful"[cite this quote] and was produced by Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald. Blender magazine described it as "the perfect pop-punk single."[cite this quote] The single contains the B-side "Alone".

Contents

[edit] Description

The song involves Lavigne proclaiming a crush on a man currently with another woman and features a stronger pop influence and more light-hearted lyrics than her earlier songs. This has polarised fans: some prefer her darker material and deplore "Girlfriend", but others support the change of direction.[weasel words] It has been noted for its similarity to the 1982 Toni Basil single "Mickey".

Seven additional versions of the song are available with the chorus sung in German, Japanese, Mandarin, Portugese, Italian, French and Spanish. In some of these versions she is criticized for her poor accents [1]. There is also an edited version for radio, because of explicit lyrics.

The song is in the video game Burnout Dominator.[1]

[edit] Release

The single was set for release on January 29, 2007, but was reportedly pushed back because of the success of Lavigne's previous single, "Keep Holding On",[citation needed] which was released as a radio-only promo for the film Eragon. "Girlfriend" premiered on Ottawa radio station Hot 89.9 on the morning of February 7, and was released on iTunes on February 23.

The single appeared and was available for download on iTunes on February 23, but was subsequently removed the following day. It was made available again on February 27. Because of digital download sales in excess of 122,000 the song debuted at number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, the highest debut of her career[2] and her highest U.S. chart peak since 2002's "I'm with You". On March 8, 2007, "Girlfriend" debuted at number one on the Swedish Singles chart Hitlistan on downloads alone. Its radio premiere was on March 10 on 102.3 in North America.

The single debuted at number seventy-three on the UK Singles Chart based on downloads alone (March 4). It was out of the chart the following week. It re-entered the chart two weeks after, at number three. On April 1, 2007, it climbed the charts to number two, her highest ever entry in the UK Singles Chart, again solely on download sales. The physical format was released on April 2, 2007.

[edit] Track listings

CD single (release date
April 2, 2007)
  1. "Girlfriend"
  2. "Alone"
Japanese CD maxi
  1. "Girlfriend" [radio edit]
  2. "Girlfriend" [instrumental]

[edit] Official versions

The chorus has been recorded in different languages, although the other parts of the song are only in English:

  1. "Girlfriend" (Spanish version)
  2. "Girlfriend" (Mandarin version)
  3. "Girlfriend" (Japanese version)
  4. "Girlfriend" (French version)
  5. "Girlfriend" (German version)
  6. "Girlfriend" (Italian version)
  7. "Girlfriend" (Portuguese version)

A Hindi version was intended to be made, but it proved too difficult for Lavigne to record.

[edit] Music video

The world premiere of the music video was announced to be on TRL and MuchOnDemand on February 26. However, it premiered in New Zealand on Music Station C4 on February 20. It was in heavy rotation on European music TV channel VIVA Polska from the February 23 as well.

The music video was filmed at Golf 'N' Stuff. It features two different versions of Lavigne: one with a nerdy persona, glasses and red hair, and one with a "rocker" persona and black hair. The black hair rocker and blonde hair girl represents Lavigne as herself; Lavigne fights over the man with the geeky red-haired girl and eventually gets the man in the end. Lavigne's boyfriend in the video is played by the model Bryan McMullin[3] and dresses similarly to the "rocker" Lavigne in the video. The video also features a blonde Lavigne singing in scenes not related to the main story.

[edit] Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 5
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 5
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[4] 3
Brazilian Singles Chart 7
Canadian BDS Airplay Chart 6
Chilean Singles Chart 33
Los 40 Principales Spain 21
Spanish Official Nielsen Airplay 18
Czech Airplay Chart 48
European Singles Chart 10
French Download Chart[5] 13
Irish Singles Chart[6] 1
Latin American Singles Chart[7] 64
Latvian Airplay Chart[8] 21
Malta Airplay Chart[9] 11
Mexican Singles Chart 67
Polish Singles Chart[10] 35
Swedish Singles Chart[11] 1
New Zealand Singles Chart[12] 3
Taiwanese Singles Chart 1
Los 40 Principales Chile 3
Belgium Official Ultratop 50[13] 30
UK Singles Chart[14] 2
United World Chart 4

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Burnout Dominator Soundtrack Explodes", IGN Music, February 23, 2007.
  2. ^ Jonathan Cohen, "Mims Remains 'Hot' At No. 1, Akon Stays Close", Billboard.com, March 8, 2007.
  3. ^ http://modelmayhem.com/member.php?id=186464 Modelmayhem.com
  4. ^ "Girlfriend Australian Top 50 singles chart position". ARIACharts.com. Retrieved April 8, 2007.
  5. ^ French Airplay Chart 25.03.07 to 31.03.07
  6. ^ ChartTrack.co.uk - Girlfriend hits number 1 on the Irish chart.
  7. ^ Ibero America Top 100
  8. ^ http://www.lanet.lv/news/airplay/2007/070401lv.html Lanet.lv
  9. ^ http://http://www.bay.com.mt/page.asp?p=16578&l=1
  10. ^ http://home.planet.nl/~laar2337/apc2/Hitlijsten/Polish-Top50.htm
  11. ^ Girlfriend Swedish peak position Swedishcharts.com
  12. ^ Girlfriend New Zealand peak position RIANZ
  13. ^ http://entertainment.skynet.be/index.html?l1=entertainment&l2=ultratop&l3=charts&chartid=4&new_lang=nl Entertainment.skynet.be
  14. ^ Girlfriend UK peak position UK.launch.yahoo.com
  • Sony BMG Music Entertainment. "Avril Lavigne Announces New Album + Single In Blog" [2].
  • MTV UK. "And she says her new album will be the Best Damn Thing you've seen..." [3].
  • Billboard. "New Avril Lavigne Album Due In April" [4].
  • Blender Magazine Online. "Shamelessly Anticipating Avril's New Album". January 18, 2007, 1:39:24 PM [5].
  • Billboard.com. "Avril Sets Date for Clap Happy New Album" [6].
  • Chile Top 40: [7]
  • [8]
 v • d • e Avril Lavigne
Discography
Studio albums: Let Go (2002) · Under My Skin (2004) · The Best Damn Thing (2007)
Singles: "Complicated" • "Sk8er Boi" • "I'm with You" • "Losing Grip" • "Don't Tell Me" • "My Happy Ending" • "Nobody's Home" • "He Wasn't" • "Fall to Pieces" • "Keep Holding On" • "Girlfriend" • "When You're Gone"
Related articles
Awards and nominations • Discography
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