"Smile" is a song by Canadian recording artist Avril Lavigne from her fourth studio album ''

Goodbye Lullaby ''Goodbye Lullaby'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. It was released on March 2, 2011 through RCA Records. Recording sessions for the album began in November 2008 and continued over a period of nearly two ...

'' (2011). It was co-written by Lavigne,

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (; born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
allmusic.com known profess ...

and Shellback and produced by Martin and Shellback. "Smile" was released on 11 April 2011 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

as the second single from the album to Australian radio stations and then on May 17 in the United States contemporary hit radio. Upon its release, the song received critical acclaim from music critics, who described the track as a "sassy and catchy pop song". It has charted inside the top-thirty on the

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and

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charts, in addition to being certified by the recording industry associations of Australia and the

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. A music video directed by

Shane Drake Shane C. Drake is an American music video director and producer originally from Redding, California. He has directed videos for many artists, including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Avril Lavigne, Trivium, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Panic! a ...

was filmed in April 2011 and released on 20 May. By November 2014, the music video had reached 100 million views on

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

Background

"Smile" was written by Lavigne along with its producers,

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (; born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
allmusic.com known profess ...

and Shellback. It was recorded at

Maratone Studios Maratone is a music production company, and started by two music producers and songwriters, Max Martin and Tom Talomaa. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, it was started in January 2001 after the closing of Cheiron Studios. Maratone moved in at Cosmos S ...

in Stockholm, Sweden. "Smile" pays tribute to the special someone who was able to win her heart and put a grin on her face. Backed up by a punchy drum rhythm and

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

s, Lavigne offers even more reasons why most normal guys would run in the other direction, then praises her guy for sticking around. Lavigne described the song as a "rocker", in which she "expresses her gratitude for special people in her life". Lavigne asked her fans via

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what the next single from ''

'' should be, giving the choices between "Push" and "Smile". Lavigne confirmed that "Smile" was to be the second single from the album though reports suggest Lavigne was fighting for a "Push" release. The singer's record label,

, announced that "Smile" will be sent out to

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radio in April, with the same expected to happen in other territories such as Canada, New Zealand, Asia, and the UK. She posted photos to her Twitter of the set of the music video, filmed on April 21, 2011. Due to the many uses of profanity in the song, different clean edits have been released. The official clean edit which is played on most radio stations replaces "Crazy bitch" with "Crazy chick", removes "Shit", and replaces "You're fucking crazy" with "You like it crazy". Another edit is the same, but instead of removing "You don't really give a shit", it is replaced with "You don't really give it up." Finally, the iTunes edit completely blanks out all profanity, as well as "Blacked out". Some radio stations and music channels also remove "What did you put in my drink?"

Composition

"Smile" is an up-tempo pop punk song, with a frenzied drum beats, electric guitars and acoustic guitars. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by

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, the song is written in the key of

F♯ minor F-sharp minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative major is A major and its parallel major is F-sharp major (or enharmonically G-flat major). T ...

and is set in

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...

of common time with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 100

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

. Lavigne's vocal range spans two octaves, from E₃ to F♯₅. The lyrics of "Smile" carry a message of infatuation, with Lavigne paying tribute to the special someone who was able to win her heart and put a grin on her face.

Critical reception

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' praised the song, commenting that " 'Smile,' avigneslings four-letter words through a tale of rock craziness and love at first sight." Allison Stewart of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' criticized the song for being lackluster and emotionless. She commented: " avigne'sheart isn't in it. Once a

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. (stylized as HOT TOPIC) is an American retail chain specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming ...

punk pioneer, she now sounds like a B-list Katy Perry who isn't having any fun." Andy Greenwald 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 cu ...

'' referred to the song as "sassy," commenting that "its talk of doctored drinks and blackout tattoos, restore Avril to her rightful place ahead of Katy Perry and

Ke$ha Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on America ...

." Marcus Gilmer of ''

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'' praised the "spunk" exhibited on the song, describing "Smile" as "dropping a litany of curse words

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asserting her right to be 'a crazy bitch' who does 'what I want when I feel like it.'" Margaret Wappler of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' praised the song, commenting that "Lavigne is at her best when she can balance the sugar and the spice." She described the song as "the little girl fantasizing in the quiet moments after a grown woman’s excesses." According to Jonathan Keefe of '' Slant Magazine'', "Lavigne refers to herself as a 'crazy bitch' on 'Smile,' trying to co-opt some of Ke$ha’s trashiness but never committing to it fully." Al Fox of

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Background

Composition

Critical reception

Chart performance

Music video

Background

Synopsis and reception

Live performances

Track listings and formats

Credits and personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

External links