With a newish job and a return to decent paychecks, I have recently been able to pick up a lot of new and old music that had been cluttering my "Must Buy" list...the new Bees, the new Queens of the Stone Age, the new Bjork...you get the picture. But with the 4th of July and that aforementioned job, listening and reviewing that music has proven difficult...
Over the weekend however my girlfriend and I took a little trip and I said "bring along some of your music."
She looked at me in stunned silence. "Are you sure?" she asked as if I had just asked her to cut the green wire while defusing a car bomb.
"Yeah, sure" I said remembering the numerous times that we have jokingly said that she shares the same musical tastes as teenage girls and lesbians. She selected the new Avirl Lavigne CD "The Best Damn Thing" and we listened to it in its entirety while on the road.
Ms. Lavigne is facing some legal troubles currently with her hit single "Girlfriend" which is without the doubt the best pop song since Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone." Legal troubles aside, the album flow nicely from there and you might confuse these middle songs as something from other Avril records.
But things hit the apex (I say this with all sincerity) when Avril starts rapping on "I Don't Have To Try:"
I'm the one I'm the one who knows the dance
I'm the one I'm the one who's got the prance
I'm the one I'm the one who wears the pants
I wear the pants!
I'm the one who tells you what to do
You're the one you're the one if I let you
I'm the one I'm the one who wears the pants
I wear the pants!
Is "I Wear the Pants" to go down with "I'm The Decider" as another ridiculous thing said by a person of cultural power? I don't think so! I've taken to shout "I wear the pants" whenever Laura and I differ on anything from pizza toping to which movie to rent...let's just say it doesn't usually go as well as it should.
The concluding track is "Keep Holding On" from the Eragon movie soundtrack and is more singable than anything by Spoon, Slint, or Grizzly Bear.
Overall, however, I am left conflicted and I think I will forever be, based on this clip from The View:
How can I respect a woman who clearly hates education? It is one thing to leave school to get a job to support yourself or a family but to leave school and not continue an education because it gets in the way of your stardom is terribly disappointing.
Avril Lavigne -- The Best Damn Thing Review: Ronald Reagan
Avril Lavigne As A Person Review: Warren G. Harding
