When You're Gone (Avril Lavigne song)

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“When You're Gone”
Single by Avril Lavigne from the album The Best Damn Thing
Released	June 19, 2007 (see release dates below)
Format	CD single
Genre	Pop rock, Power ballad
Length	4:00
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Avril Lavigne, Butch Walker
Producer	Butch Walker
Certification	Gold (ARIA),Gold (RIAA)
Avril Lavigne singles chronology
"Girlfriend" (2007) "When You're Gone" (2007) "Hot" (2007)

"When You're Gone" is a song by Avril Lavigne, and is the third single from her 2007 album, The Best Damn Thing.^[1] It was released in Japan on June 20, 2007, coupled with the track "Girlfriend" (Japanese version).^[2]

Contents 1 Background 2 Chart performance and promotion 2.1 Music video 3 Track listings 4 Charts 5 Release dates 6 References

[edit] Background

Lavigne has said the song "is about being with someone you love, and you have to say goodbye, and all the little things you miss about them". The song may have been inspired by Lavigne's husband, Deryck Whibley, although in an interview in Northern Ireland with The Belfast Telegraph she did not confirm this.^[3] According to her, she did not intend the song to be a love song, but she was writing a slow song and the process brought out "all that emotional stuff" in her. "It's not cheesy, because I wrote it", she said. "If I was older, a professional writer coming up with all that, that would be lame."^[4]

Billboard magazine describes the song as "a power ballad with a piano and synth introduction".^[5] Composer Rob Mathes orchestrated the song with genuine string section, although the brief opening note, before the piano came in, was on a synthesizer.

[edit] Chart performance and promotion

Before its release as a single in the United States, "When You're Gone" reached number ninety on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number seventy-seven on the Billboard Pop 100, in the Billboard issue dated May 5, 2007. "When You're Gone" debuted at number thirty-two on UK Singles Chart, and peaked at number three. The single has also done well on the charts in Canada. On the Latvian European Hit Radio Top 40 airplay chart, it reached number-one; on the Costa Rican station Los 40 Principales, the song was also a number-one hit. On the 9th of November, "When You're Gone" also reached number one on the Argentinian Top 40 Chart after 15 weeks, making it one of Avril Lavigne's longest enduring hits that could achieve a #1 spot. When you're gone also became the first and nearly only English performed song so far that could reach the Number 1 of the Argentinian Top 40 Chart in 2007, as before the song topped the charts in November, no song could make it .

The song was used in the second season finale of the MTV show The Hills, playing during the climatic "moving out" scene between former best friends Lauren and Heidi. It was also used in the series 7 finale of 2 pints of lager and a packet of crisps. Lavigne performed the song on June 15, 2007 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.^[6] There is an acoustic version of the song on the deluxe edition of The Best Damn Thing on the iTunes Store. It is very different from the album version and was produced by Dr. Luke.

[edit] Music video

The video was directed by Marc Klasfeld, who is most well-known from his works of director for Sum 41's music videos. Lavigne reportedly came up with the concept for the video.^{[citation needed]} It features a young pregnant woman whose husband is away fighting in the war, an elderly man whose wife has recently passed away, and a teenage couple who are forbidden by the girl's parents to be together (presumably because the boy is a "punk"- type, and both the girl and her mother seem to fit into the "preppy" look). The video portrays three relationships in different age groups but in the same situation. Lavigne said that the video is very personal. A heart with "A+D" written inside of it can be seen numerous times in the video (most notably on the tree stump), and it is likely that it may stand for "Avril + Deryck".

Portions of the video were filmed at California State University, Northridge's Botanic Garden.^[7] The video was premiered on MuchMusic in Canada on June 6, 2007 during the 5pm broadcast of MuchOnDemand.^{[citation needed]} It was premiered on TRL on June 21. On August 22, it reached the #1 spot for the first time. The video reached #1 on MuchMusic in Canada on August 24. Avril later performed the song on the Late Show with David Letterman on September 6. The video has been watched over 20 million times on YouTube.^[8]

[edit] Track listings

Japanese single CD "When You're Gone" (album version) "When You're Gone" (instrumental) "Girlfriend" (Japanese version) UK CD 1 "When You're Gone" (album version) "Girlfriend" (Dr. Luke remix feat. Lil' Mama) UK CD 2/Australian single "When You're Gone" – 3:57 "Girlfriend" (Dr. Luke remix) – 3:25 "Girlfriend" (Submarines' Time Warp 66 mix) – 3:12 "When You're Gone" (video) – 4:08 [edit] Charts Chart (2007)[9] Peak position Argentinian Singles Chart[10] 1 Australian ARIA Singles Chart 4 Austrian Singles Chart[11] 10 Belgian Ultratop 50 (Flanders)[12] 36 Belgian Ultratop (under 50) (Wallonia) 2 Brazilian Hot 100[13] 6 Bulgarian Airplay Chart 20 Canadian Hot 100[14] 8 Chile Top 100 Airplay Chart[15] 5 Colombian Top 100[16] 46 Czech Airplay Chart[17] 3 Danish Single Chart[18] 13 Euro 200[19] 6 French Singles Chart 17 Finland Top 20 Chart[20] 10 Indonesian Single Top [21] 1 Irish Singles Chart 4 Italy Top 50 Singles Chart 4 Chart (2007)[22] Peak position Japanese (Osaka Hot 100)[23] 7 Lithuania Airplay Top 40[24] 1 México Top 100 Single Chart[25] 65 New Zealand RIANZ 26 Paraguay Singles Chart[26] 4 Polish National Top 50[27] 20 Portuguese Single Chart[28] 1 Spain Los 40 Principales 11 Sweden Official Chart[29] 8 Switzerland Singles Chart 14 Taiwan ICRT Top 10[30] 2 UK Singles Chart[31] 3 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 24 U.S. Billboard Pop 100 16 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 37 U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Airplay 10 U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs 17 U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 9 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 30 U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks 10 United World Chart 6 Venezuelan Singles Chart[32] 2 Preceded by "Me Enamora" by Juanes Argentina Top 40 number-one song November 9, 2007 Succeeded by "Flor Negra" by Los Tipitos Preceded by "Umbrella" by Rihanna United World Chart number one single August 18, 2007 Succeeded by "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie

[edit] Release dates

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

"When You're Gone" was released in a number of countries over a two-month period.

Region	Date
United States	June 19, 2007
Japan	June 20, 2007
Latin America	June 22, 2007
Belgium	June 29, 2007
Germany
Netherlands	July 2, 2007
United Kingdom
Italy	July 6, 2007
Taiwan	July 15, 2007
Australia	July 28, 2007

[edit] References

v • d • e Avril Lavigne Studio albums Let Go · Under My Skin · The Best Damn Thing EPs Angus Drive · Live Acoustic · Control Room DVDs My World · Live at Budokan · Live in Toronto Singles "Complicated" · "Sk8er Boi" · "I'm with You" · "Losing Grip" · "Mobile" · "Take Me Away" · "Don't Tell Me" · "My Happy Ending" · "Nobody's Home" · "He Wasn't" · "Fall to Pieces" · "Keep Holding On" · "Girlfriend" · "When You're Gone" · "Hot" · "The Best Damn Thing" Other songs "Things I'll Never Say" · "I Don't Give" · "I Always Get What I Want" · "Innocence" Related articles Awards and nominations · Deryck Whibley · Discography · Tours