Sk8er Boi

Album

Let Go

Label

Arista Records

Genre

Power Pop

Composer(s)

Avril Lavigne;Lauren Christy;Scott Spock;Graham Edwards

Entered Chart

Sep 14, 2002

Peak Date

Nov 2, 2002

Released

9 September 2002

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Arista Album Cut

This is a story told from the singer's viewpoint about her rocker boyfriend and a girl he knew in high school who rejected him because he was a skateboarder and she was a snob. Five years later, the Sk8er Boi is famous and the girl who rejected him is living a boring, unfulfilled life, ruminating on a time when he was into her. The song is a metaphor about two people who are unlikely to be together when in all reality they should be a couple. Although their outside appearance differs, they have what it takes to be a great team, yet because the girl was too shallow to see what was inside the punk, she missed out on a great guy. This song proves that you should see beyond the outside appearance and get to know a person before judging them. >> Most of Avril's songs from this era were about real-life situations culled from her personal experience. In this song, it is apparent that the Sk8er Boi is in fact Avril herself, and she has merely swapped the gender to hide the fact that the Sk8er Boi's experience is hers. The Sk8er image is undoubtedly Avril's‚ and she certainly did rock up MTV. It is also likely that there was a boy in Napanee, Ontario who got a popular musical reminder that he missed his chance with the widely desired superstar - Avril. This was one of the songs Avril wrote with The Matrix, a songwriting trio who also worked on "Complicated," "I'm With You," and two other songs on the album. The Matrix started writing songs for other artists in 1999 when their manager asked them to write one for an Australian band, and they realized it was a great way for them to make a living. After Avril they went on to write hits for Jason Mraz, Liz Phair and Rihanna. Lavigne performed this at the 2003 Grammy awards, where she was nominated for five awards, including Best New Artist, but didn't win any. She and her band wore tuxedos to the show, where they watched Norah Jones win pretty much every award Avril was up for. Lavigne's hometown of Napanee, Ontario has banned skateboarding in its downtown area. This was Lavigne's second single, reaching its US chart peak in November 2002, three months after "Complicated" rose to #2. Her third single, "I'm With You," went to #4 and helped the album sell over 6 million copies in America at a time just before digital downloading took hold. This song helped frame Avril's image, which was that of a down-to-earth tomboy with a unique fashion sense. Avril did, indeed, hang out with a skateboard crowd in her younger years, and while never X Games material, could handle herself on a board (she is seen skateboarding in her video for "Complicated"). She offered an alternative to girly pop stars like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, who were clearly the products of marketing departments. How much of Avril's look was crafted by her handlers was up for debate, and that debate raged on the internet, which was still a nascent medium in 2002. Her supporters admired her authenticity and copied her look, which at the time was a tie and lots of bangles. As she got older, her look and sound matured, but she remained wildly popular long past this Sk8er Girl period. In 2003, Paramount Pictures jumped on this trend and bought the rights to the story of the Sk8er Boy to be adapted into a feature film. The concept was either abandoned or placed into development hell, as the film was never completed. >> In the video for her 2013 song "Rock N Roll," Avril makes reference to this song when he tells someone on the phone, "How much more obvious can I make it? He was a boy, she was a girl..."

He was a boy
She was a girl
Can I make it any more obvious?
He was a punk
She did ballet
What more can I say?
He wanted her
She'd never tell
Secretly she wanted him as well
But all of her friends
Stuck up their nose
They had a problem with his baggy clothes

He was a skater boy
She said, "See you later, boy"
He wasn't good enough for her
She had a pretty face
But her head was up in space
She needed to come back down to earth

Five years from now
She sits at home
Feeding the baby, she's all alone
She turns on TV
Guess who she sees
Skater boy rockin' up MTV
She calls up her friends
They already know
And they've all got tickets to see his show
She tags along
And stands in the crowd
Looks up at the man that she turned down

He was a skater boy
She said, "See you later, boy"
He wasn't good enough for her
Now he's a super star
Slammin' on his guitar
Does your pretty face see what he's worth?

He was a skater boy
She said, "See you later, boy"
He wasn't good enough for her
Now he's a super star
Slammin' on his guitar
Does your pretty face see what he's worth?

Sorry, girl, but you missed out
Well, tough, luck that boy's mine now
We are more than just good friends
This is how the story ends
Too bad that you couldn't see
See the man that boy could be
There is more that meets the eye
I see the soul that is inside

He's just a boy
And I'm just a girl
Can I make it any more obvious?
We are in love
Haven't you heard
How we rock each other's world

I'm with the skater boy
I said, "See you later, boy"
I'll be back stage after the show
I'll be at a studio
Singing the song we wrote
About a girl you used to know

I'm with the skater boy
I said, "See you later, boy"
I'll be back stage after the show
I'll be at a studio
Singing the song we wrote
About a girl you used to know