Music Monday #19: Let Go by Avril Lavigne

Continuing on from my previous post, 2002 also saw the release of 'Let Go' by Avril Lavigne, another album that I was introduced to by the same friend who introduced me to Good Charlotte.  There was punk and punk pop theme that ran through her music collection something that I fell in love with right off the bat.  The only song on the album that I had heard of prior to receiving it as a gift was 'Sk8er Boi' which I loved at the time of its release but never piqued my interest enough to actually follow Avril's career - it was something I listened to when it came on but not something I sought out.

The album itself went further the opening track 'Losing Grip' struck a chord for much of the same reasons that Good Charlotte had resonated with me, the feeling of internal struggle and slipping away from certainty into a maelstrom of emotions.  'I'm With You', 'Tomorrow', and 'My World' only reinforced this narrative, with 'Complicated' also striking a chord with me in respect of the minefield of emotions involved in hooking up with closeted gay guys and the quasi-relationships that evolved from them, again themes that would be revisited with Kelly Osbourne another artist who is sometimes referred to as punk although the definition of punk is in itself contentious something I learned pretty quickly that lots of people had very different opinions of what it is, what it was, and what it should be.  Personally I preferred to focus on the music itself and whether it had any affect on me rather than the label attached to it, the latter was only really useful when searching for new music, something which at the time was still limited to record shops and music curated by friends and family.

I love conspiracy theories and whilst music is the focus of these posts I can't mention this album without mentioning the conspiracy theories attached to it.  If you've never followed Avril's career or if you have never come across discussions about her work online you might be oblivious to these theories.  Avril is an artist like many who has experimented in her music journey exploring different vocal styling and themes, this however has led to contention from some fans who can't accept that artists are dynamic and their works are static.  That's not to completely discount the theory however I don't give it much weight. 

The theory goes that 'Let Go' as an album had such a distinctive sound that Avril would depart from with a high degree of divergence later in her career because she died after recording the album.  This theory goes further to say that 'Melissa' took her place.  The exact identity of Melissa is argued by different people who advocate this theory but a recurring theory posits that Melissa was a backing vocalist for Avril who looked a bit like her, and was specifically chosen to provide backing vocals because their voices were similar.  This in itself is not that far fetched, Britney Spears for example has employed backing vocalists, most notably Myah Marie who sounds very similar to her, this in itself has also led to conspiracy theories that some of Britney's singles are in fact Myah's vocals not Britney but that's a controversy for another post.  The relevant point to make here is that backing vocalists are often chosen for their similar vocal sound and style so it's not impossible that Avril did have a backing vocalist who sounded a lot like her - that's the problem with most conspiracy theories there is always some element of truth to them that grounds them in reality and makes them hard to conclusively dismiss.

Nevertheless, the themes of the 'Let Go' album do reflect a darker mentality that Avril later emerged from when she pursued more pop oriented musical styles, these themes however led to speculation about how far into darkness Avril went during that time in her life.  Some speculate that she retreated from public appearances and that pressure from her record company etc led to her backing vocalist allegedly taking her place in future recordings, some go further and speculate that Avril committed suicide and this was never made public knowledge - there are varying accounts from people who claim to have personally known Avril at this time and some interviews with family members that imply at the very least that there was a disparity between what the public knew at the time and what was going on in private - this could all be a red herring however and could allude to health struggles that Avril didn't want to make public and still hasn't if that is the case. 

Regardless, there was a time when Avril largely disappeared from the public eye with only a few select appearance made before her eventual return with new music having experienced what most people would refer to as a "glow up" whether that was just coming of age, change in lifestyle, change in mentality, a new stylist, or even surgery, all serving as possible explanations but the one that festered was the assertion that this Avril wasn't "Avril" and in fact Melissa had taken her place.  This fire has only been fed with fuel with her portrayal in the media, specifically in regards to uniquely identifiable marks.  Avril has a number of tattoos and physical characteristics which appear to move and change on her body and remain inconsistent throughout her media presence, but again this can be attributed to airbrushing, photoshopping, and general distortion of reality that happens in the media with anyone famous, it doesn't necessarily mean the theory is true. 

Ultimately the only people who would know if this theory is actually true would be Avril's family, Avril herself, and 'Melissa' if she exists.  Either way I like her music before and after her transition between states whatever the transformation was that happened between the two predominant styles I still relate to her and her music. 

In a metaphorical sense, I am not the same person I was 10 years ago and I hope 10 years from now I am not the person I am in this moment, I hope that I can achieve growth and personal development in that time.  I know that versions of me from 10 year intervals age 10, 20, and 30, likely wouldn't see eye to eye, would disagree on a lot, and wouldn't want to listen to each other's point of view because who you are in that moment is the sum total of all experience you have lived up until that point and wisdom and virtues imparted from one to the other will be rejected because wisdom is knowledge plus experience and without the experience necessary to accept that knowledge the wisdom cannot be imparted.  That is the reality of the lives we lead, I can espouse my entire life story here for you to read and tell you what I have learned but you're not going to accept a word of it unless it can be combined with the experience you have in your life up until this point.  Or to put it another way you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.