Blogocentric Formulations

Here's to Never Growing Up

"Barrel of Monkeys" 
Day 1





"Here's to Never Growing Up"
by Avril Lavigne
from Avril Lavigne (2013)

For this challenge, I wanted to pick an artist that I haven't often featured in my Soundtrackers entries, which meant that a lot of my go-to favorite artists with a discography large enough to support ten song picks (Taylor Swift, The Band CAMINO, etc.) were off the table. I almost went with Linkin Park because I had picked them for my ill-fated "Musicology Anthology"  entry this year that never got off the ground, but then I really thought about artists that I've been listening to a lot recently and for some reason Avril Lavigne popped into my head.

I used to listen to her music a lot in college (Let Go, Under My Skin, and The Best Damn Thing were all released either during my college years or in my early-to-mid twenties shortly after), and then I kind of lost track of her until a song from a 2019 album caught my attention a few years ago. Then I didn't think much about her again until earlier this year when a song from her 2022 album found its way onto my Spotify playlist and I decided to take a trip back through her discography. I was really surprised to find that she's now released seven studio albums in the past twenty years.

This was the song I wanted to pick first for the "Barrel of Monkeys"  challenge because it perfectly encapsulates what I really love about her as an artist, which is that she's unapologetically pop-punk and doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. The whole "I'll never grow up" vibe is something that's easy to claim and sing about in your twenties, but when you're still doing it twenty years later, it has a bit more cache to it. I like the fact that, while she has evolved as an artist, it doesn't matter if you're listening to a song off her 2002 album or her 2022 album; the sound is the same and she knows who she is as an artist.

I think I have a particular affinity for this song right now, too, because I'm in the middle of one of those adulting seasons where there's so much to do, so many responsibilities to fulfill, and where life just doesn't seem like much more than repetitive not-very-fun tasks that you have to do because you, you know, an adult with tiny humans that rely on you to provide for them. There's something I deeply empathize with about looking back on your earlier years when your biggest priority in the world was having carefree fun with your friends.

I'm really excited for this Barrel of Monkeys challenge this year, and especially to a deeper dive on Avril Lavigne's discography. I plan to take a look at songs both old and new, ones that I listened to on repeat between classes in college two decades ago, and ones that I've discovered and been listening to a lot this year after a period of rediscovery. Thanks for joining me.


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