The Reason Why I "Smile"

Hey Everybody,

     So just for today I'm taking a break from Taylor Swift to switch on over to Avril Lavigne. Avril is a 28 year old Canadian artist who was first famous for her songs "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi". She now has four studio albums and a total of 17 singles. "Smile" is one of my overall favorites, though.
     So, as always, click here for lyrics. The first verse talks about how Avril is a sort of wild and free spirit and that this guy flies with her. And then the two pre-chorus parts are basically saying that she fell in love the moment they met. The chorus is my favorite part. She is so in love with this person that he has become the only thing in her life that makes her truly happy. The next line makes you think that maybe she got out of a relationship a while a go and she was pretty sad for a while but that this guy- this one person- made her happy again. He turned her whole world around and made everything make sense again. and suddenly he's all she needs. And needing someone is a kind of complicated issue. Because sometimes needing someone to feel okay is normal and sometimes it's not. But it depends on the case really. Because you can need someone in your life without needing them in a negative way- like needing them to stay put together. Now, the second verse is mostly about showing how they kind of just live life by the moment and do crazy things.And the rest of the song goes back to the chorus and the lines "You know that I'm a crazy b****, I do what I want when I feel like it. All I wanna do is lose control."
    

      This song is kind of simple compared to others I have done. But I love that it's this awesome punk pop song that is a tribute to someone you love- someone who makes you smile. And another thing I love about this is the idea of letting yourself lose control with someone. Love unconditionally and uncontrollably and love the people who bring a smile to your face. That's what I think this song is saying. I think we need to do this more. We also need to smile more and just be happy. So many people let so many things get them down. Sometimes you can't help it. But when you can, try to push out the bad and just smile about something.

     I think the music video helps to bring this message out.The video begins in a white room. She shakes a can of spray paint, and sprays a smiling face on the camera with x's for eyes. She then decorates the walls around her with The Black Star Tour posters, and various miscellaneous words and designs (some of which are "smile"). She plugs a red electric guitar into an amplifier, and begins to sing the first verse. She makes her way outside into New York City. She walks over to people looking upset or distressed, and takes a piece of a broken heart represented by glass lying by them. When she takes the piece, they begin to smile. The video switches between those locations;the white room and in the city, the same theme recurring throughout the duration of the video. The director has said this about Avril's role in this video:

"Avril's serving as an unseen muse in the brokenness of life, and she sees the broken scattered remnants of hearts around the city, displayed by glass, and removes those pieces from people's lives [...] causing them to feel as though there's hope again."

—Shane Drake (director), Smile (Behind the Scenes)

 I think it's a really awesome message and I hope you like the song and can appreciate it as much as I do.

Love and happiness to all,
-Autumn the Music Girl