He Wasn't
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"He Wasn't" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter
Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...
, released as the fourth and final single from her second studio album, '' Under My Skin'' (2004). The song was written and produced by Lavigne and
Chantal Kreviazuk Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk (; born May 18, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist. Born in Winnipeg, she played music from a young age before signing with Columbia Records in the 1990s. Her debut studio album, ''Under These ...
. It was not released in the United States; instead, " Fall to Pieces" was released. "He Wasn't" was issued in Australia, Europe, and the United Kingdom and received airplay on Canadian radio.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
highlighted the song as one of the most significant
post-grunge Post-grunge is a derivative of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox and Collective So ...
songs of all time.


Song meaning

"He Wasn't" is about an unsuccessful relationship between Lavigne and a man who appears to be treating her badly, such as not even opening the door to her. The song is a fast and up-beat take on the boyfriend "not being good enough" as opposed to Lavigne's slower paced songs from '' Under My Skin'' on the same matter. On a documentary of the making of the "
My Happy Ending "My Happy Ending" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, written by herself and Butch Walker for her second studio album, '' Under My Skin'' (2004). Structurally, the song is written in 4/4 style and has a repeated hook in both ...
" music video, "He Wasn't" plays in the background and Lavigne jokes, "'He wasn't what I wanted'...is that a theme on my record?". Chantal Kreviazuk described the song as "a super-fun, punk, screw-you-to-boys song".


Critical reception

"He Wasn't" was criticized for the shallowness of the lyrics. Sal Cinquemani of ''
Slant Slant can refer to: Bias *Bias or other non-objectivity in journalism, politics, academia or other fields Technical * Slant range, in telecommunications, the line-of-sight distance between two points which are not at the same level * Slant d ...
'' magazine described the song as a "crappy faux-
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
tune", mostly because of the lyrical content. David Browne of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' described the song as a "bratty kiss-off" and labelled it "boardroom-approved mall punk" noting that it sounded similar to songs on Lavigne's first album, ''Let Go''. However, "He Wasn't" has also been praised for its loud, catchy nature; Stephen Thomas Erlewine of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
describes the song as "the fastest, loudest, catchiest, and best song here, and the one closest to the spirit and sound of '' Let Go''". He also highlighted the song as a 'track pick' in a review of the album, ''Under My Skin''. Rolling Stone was positive "The album's best song, a raucous three-minute sprint called "He Wasn't," has a pretty vacant opening line ("There's not much going on today/I'm really bored") and a simple yet ambiguous chorus: "He wouldn't even open up the door/He never made me feel like I was special." but "The words are full of contempt and self-pity, but she sings them like she doesn't really care." Yahoo Music! wrote: ""He Wasn't" maintains this theme (broken relationship) with a dashing, Clash-style chorus that chastises this young man for not opening doors. Jeez, young women these days - one minute they're wearing stack-heeled DMs and fairy queen ra-ra skirts and the next they give you hell for not acting like your dad."


Accolades


Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, "He Wasn't" debuted at number 23 and spent four weeks on the chart. In Australia, it debuted at number 25 and spent six weeks on the chart.


Music video


Background

The music video was directed by American duo
the Malloys The Malloys is the working name of music video and film directors and brothers Emmett Malloy and Brendan Malloy. They have been with Superprime Films since 2010. Videography *"Holiday" by Vampire Weekend (2010) *" Love Dealer" by Esmée Dente ...
in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
on December 13, 2004. The production duo previously worked on the music video for Lavigne's " Complicated" (2002). Members of Lavigne's backing band, including
Evan Taubenfeld Evan David Taubenfeld (born June 27, 1983) is an American singer and musician, best known for being Avril Lavigne's lead guitarist, music director and frequent collaborator. Taubenfeld's debut album, '' Welcome to the Blacklist Club'', was rele ...
, are featured in the music video. During the shooting of the music video when the pink slime came out, Lavigne tells that days later her hair was still pink and she needed to redye it because during the next days she was scheduled to have a photoshoot with ''Cosmopolitan'' and her hair was looking really messy and all pink.


Synopsis

The video features Lavigne singing and her band playing instruments in the background. There are scenes where she dances around wearing white gloves, a pink skirt, and holding a
magic wand A wand is a thin, light-weight rod that is held with one hand, and is traditionally made of wood, but may also be made of other materials, such as metal or plastic. Long versions of wands are often styled in forms of staves or sceptres, which c ...
(she is portraying a
fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...
), and other scenes where she is wearing devil horns on her head (she is portraying the
devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...
). It turns out that Lavigne and her band are at a video shoot, and later get into a
food fight A food fight is a form of chaotic collective behavior, in which foodstuffs are thrown at others in the manner of projectiles. These projectiles are not made nor meant to harm others, but to simply ignite a fight filled with spontaneous food t ...
, much to the dismay of the directors - who are played by Lavigne and the band, all dressed up in wigs and suits. Avril then rebels and smashes her guitar into the camera lens, and then into the paper wall, where pink paint splashes out. The video ends with the band dancing and Lavigne doing the
splits A split (commonly referred to as splits or the splits) is a physical position in which the legs are in line with each other and extended in opposite directions. Splits are commonly performed in various athletic activities, including dance, figu ...
.


Live performances

The song was performed during the
Bonez Tour Canadian recording artist Avril Lavigne has completed six concert tours beginning with the Try to Shut Me Up Tour in 2002–03. This was followed by the 13-month Bonez Tour in 2004–05 and The Best Damn World Tour in 2008. Her ongoing Love Sux ...
(2004-2005) as the opening song of the concert tour. "He Wasn't" has subsequently been included on Lavigne's
the Best Damn World Tour The Best Damn Tour was the third concert tour by Canadian recording artist, Avril Lavigne. Supporting her third studio album, ''The Best Damn Thing'' (2007), the tour played over 100 concerts in North America, Europe and Asia. The trek was record ...
(2008), Black Star Tour (2011-2012),
the Avril Lavigne Tour The Avril Lavigne Tour was the fifth concert tour by Canadian recording artist Avril Lavigne. The tour was supporting her fifth studio album, ''Avril Lavigne'' (2013). Beginning December 2013, the tour played over 78 concerts in America and Asia. ...
(2013-2014), and
Head Above Water Tour The Head Above Water Tour was the sixth concert tour by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. Launched in support of her sixth studio album, ''Head Above Water (album), Head Above Water'' (2019), the tour began on September 14, 2019 in Seattl ...
(2019).


Track listings and formats

* UK CD # "He Wasn't" – 2:59 # "He Wasn't" (live version) – 3:16 # "He Wasn't" (video)  # "Video Diary" * Australian CD # "He Wasn't" – 2:59 # "He Wasn't" (live full band performance) – 3:13 # "He Wasn't" (live acoustic version) – 3:16 # "He Wasn't" (video) * French CD # "He Wasn't" – 2:59 # "He Wasn't" (live acoustic version) – 3:16


Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel are adapted from the "He Wasn't" CD single liner notes. Studios * Recorded at Whitecoat Sound (Malibu) and The Boat (Los Angeles) Personnel *
Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...
– writing, lead vocals *
Chantal Kreviazuk Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk (; born May 18, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, composer, and pianist. Born in Winnipeg, she played music from a young age before signing with Columbia Records in the 1990s. Her debut studio album, ''Under These ...
– writing *
Phil X Theofilos Xenidis (born March 10, 1966), better known as Phil X, is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Since 2013, he has played lead guitar with Bon Jovi and officially replaced former lead guitarist Richie Sambora in 2016. Career Early ...
– guitar *
Mike Elizondo Mike Elizondo (born October 22, 1972) is an American producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. A protege of Dr. Dre, Elizondo has worked with 50 Cent, Eminem, Carrie Underwood, Fiona Apple, Mastodon, Ry Cooder, Skylar Grey, Twenty ...
– bass * Bill Lefler – drums * Brian Garcia – percussion,
recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...
, digital editing *
Raine Maida Raine Maida (born Michael Anthony Maida; February 18, 1970)
– Ourladypeace.cc. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
is a C ...
– producer *
Danny Kalb Daniel Ira Kalb (September 9, 1942 – November 19, 2022) was an American blues guitarist and vocalist. He was an original member of the 1960s group the Blues Project. Life and career Kalb was a protégé of Dave Van Ronk and became a solo perfor ...
– recording assistance * Bob Boyd – recording assistance *
Jason Lader Jason Lader is an American record producer, audio engineer, and mixer from New York. He is also known for playing bass guitar, keyboards, piano, guitar, and as a programmer. He was a member of the band Furslide, and has since worked with Howard B ...
– digital editing *
Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...
mixing * Femio Hernandez – mixing assistance


Charts


Release history


References

{{Authority control 2004 songs 2005 singles Arista Records singles Avril Lavigne songs Music videos directed by The Malloys RCA Records singles Songs written by Avril Lavigne Songs written by Chantal Kreviazuk Sony BMG singles