Although we personally relished Avril Lavigne’s ruthless turn as a devil-horned guest judge on American Idol last night (what can we say, we like a bold and brash personality), the Canadian pop tart’s tunes are still up for debate. Surfacing today is “Alice (Underground),” written by Avril and produced by Butch Walker for the Almost Alice soundtrack. Does it have more to say than 3OH!3′s lyrically incompetent contribution to the rock-lite compilation album? Take a jump down the rabbit hole and find out:
[wpaudio url="http://idolator.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Avril_Lavigne_-_Alice_Underground.mp3" text="Avril Lavigne - Alice (Underground)"]
The last time we contemplated the “inspired by” soundtrack to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, we expressed the hope that Avril’s single would do away with the playground taunting 3OH!3 (and Avril herself) are typically fond of. Although “Alice (Underground),” Avril’s first single since 2008′s “The Best Damn Thing”, isn’t the second coming of Leonard Cohen (not like we were expecting that on this album anyway), we’re happy to say the lyrics carry genuine sentiment and are much easier to swallow than “Follow me, fa la la la la la.”
“When the world’s crashing down, when I fall and hit the ground, I will turn myself around, don’t you try to stop me, I won’t cry,” sings Avril, and we’re sure many of her younger fans will resonate with those words of encouragement in their stressful teenage lives. (Either that, or they can wrap themselves up in an Abbey Dawn devil hoodie for protection from the outside world.) So lyrics? We give them a B+. Not too shabby.
As for the song itself, it starts with a slow, melodic build that creates some Wonderland-esque imagery. But the biggest problem with the song is that Lavigne, trying to come off like Amy Lee, is constantly screeching while attempting to hit those high notes. It’s difficult to enjoy a song while you’re wincing during the chorus. We’re sure Paramore’s Hayley Williams could knock this one out of the park, but alas, it’s Avril’s song. So why didn’t she write it with her own voice in mind?
After being dissapointed by the first two songs off the album, we’re beginning to wonder if any other artist can save this soundtrack. Robert Smith, can you please be our savior show all these youngin’s how it’s done?
The Best Damn Thing was released in 2007. A five-second Google search would've revealed that, fucktard.
for the record… Avril wrote this song in it's ENTIRETY… Butch Walker just produced it. don't blame the producer for the lyrics….
sorry guys, but i have to agree with some things… her voice… and this song…… together… well…. i really like her, but that's not the kind of music she can sing.
Avril Lavigne went on a girls-only trip to Las Vegas. The 'Girlfriend’ singer who filed for divorce from her estranged husband Deryck Whibley in October 2009 recently whisked away some of her closest female friends for a five-day break in 'Sin City’ to party and have fun.
This is a great song!!! I love how it sounds. Something new and different.
I liked the song and I think it fits the movie perfectly.
@ Miker1986: the SINGLE “The Best Damn Thing is the fourth and final single from Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne's third studio album The Best Damn Thing. It was first released on June 13, 2008.”
Lrn 2 read, fucktard.
This song is not awesome, she sounds awful and a 12 year old could write these lyrics!
what up pepoles
poop pie is good
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I have to agree. When I first heard the song I was thinking Amy Lee should have sung this song. The first part of the song was pleasant….. but after that it was just screaming. A little too “Punk” for Alice In Wonderland…. maybe that's why the song isn't played until the very end.
I completely agree. The song starts out pretty good, and then it just gets annoying. She hits one note and refuses to go any higher, which results in one extremely aggravating length of song where she basically screams “AAAAAAAAHHH” several times.
She hits those high notes in a way to express her feelings of anxiety like alice would have going through such a sureal experience. I can feel her pain and all I want to do is comfort her (Avril)
I love that song! you probably dont know what youre talking about, wacked up freak!!!
by the way, I have a close friend of mine that is 12 and she wants to be a singer! don’t give me problems to deal with!
anyways the song is AMAZING! Listen to it everyday! in my top 5 fave songs
oh and by the way the first 1 comments were for 1fanMJ:(
I’m glad you guys are leaving good comments…because yeah…this review is RIDICULOUS. it made me mad. the song is incredible and avril NAILS those notes. she doesn’t “screech” them “in an attempt to hit them”. DUH. she has PIPES and she belts that out with no autotune or anything. seriously. this person is dumb.
You have become used to autotune pop by the sound of things. This is a song obviously close to the performers heart and sung with actual feeling and NOT autotuned which(to me) gives it such a more intense vibe. Its good to hear someone singing for once rather than electronics doing it for them so to speak.