She’s Like So Whatever…

On March 5th Avril Lavigne kicks off her two-month-long tour, named in true Avril fashion, “The Best Damn Tour.”

If you don’t recognize her name, don’t worry… your kids do. Or you might have heard her lyrics in the checkout line at Wall Mart:

She’s like so whatever
You can do so much better
I think we should get together now
And that’s what everyone’s talking about

Hey hey, you you
I don’t like your girlfriend…

Or, maybe you heard the “unedited” version that hides in the “Favorites” section of many of our kids’ iPods with these lyrics:

Don’t pretend
I think you know
I’m damn precious
And hell yeah
I’m the mother f***ing princess
I can tell you like me too
And you know I’m right…

Avril has been on my mind lately. I was just reminded of her when I heard her mentioned in our recent podcast– Episode #11 about women in ministry– Danette, Brandon and I commented about Lavigne and some of her recent choices. We like her spunk, and she’s really talented. But like most celebs of late, she seems to be ignoring the fact that children (yes, literally children) everywhere look up to her as a role model.

She doesn’t seem to mind that bad press. Last Summer she opened the door to more criticism when she showed up “almost topless” on the cover of Blender Magazine (a shot of her topless with a banner blocking her chest saying, “Hell Yeah, I’m Hot!”). MTV news interviewed her in this May article for the truth behind the cover:

Lavigne has certainly come a long way since her innocent days as punk princess of the mall. In recent months, she’s been known to spit on and flip off paparazzi. She’s also bragged about booze-soaked nights — “I wrote ‘Girlfriend’ when I was drunk,” she told us back in February. And now she’s taking it all off?

The blogosphere is abuzz this week over the June cover image for Blender magazine, in which the singer appears to be naked from the waist up. What really lies beneath that strategically placed headline?

Truth be told, Lavigne revealed to us before taking the stage last night, the photo shoot was a little more innocent than you think. “Actually, I’m not topless on the cover,” she said. “I was wearing a tube top, and they just kind of put a banner on top of it.”

Anyone who looked the popular music magazine would probably argue otherwise.

Her tour is catalysted by the success of her recent album, “The Best Damn Thing” which debuted at the number 1 slot on the ‘Billboard 200’ album charts, an album that included the #1 hit “Girlfriend.”

Keep your eyes on Avril… our kids are.