Avril A Thief?.. Maybe..

There has been much allegations towards Avril Lavigne in the last few days accusing her of stealing songs or at least not giving credit where credit is due. I don't want to wade into the argument for either side, but I thought I would post the songs for comparison. The question is regarding Avril's hit, Girlfriend which according to songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer, the song sounds suspiciously like the Rubinoos 1979 song, I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend. I don't think the songs sound that much alike except the Rubinoos chorus is, "Hey, hey, you, you, I wanna be your boyfriend" while Avril's is a similar, "Hey, hey, you, you, I don't like your girlfriend. Is this any different than the Rolling Stones, "Hey, hey, you, you get off of my cloud, get off of my cloud", okay, maybe I'm stretching things here, you decide. I think the only crime Avril Lavigne is committing is producing badly overproduced canned teeny pop. Her teams of writer's, producers, stylists are creating an image that is calculated, non-spontaneous, but apparently very marketable.

The other allegation is from that talented "songwriter", Chantel Kraviazuk (and writer of many songs on her Best Damn Thing disc) who claims Lavigne stole one of her songs, Contagious that she said she gave to her two years ago then appeared on her CD not credited to her. The Winnipeg native vowed, "Never work with her again". Despite her clean-cut holier than thou let's help the starving in Africa-image, I always thought of Kraviazuk as arrogant and self-satisfying, a spoiled rich girl who has had everything given to her. She's much Burton Cummings where she wants everyone to know that she's giving back to the community, but it's more a ego-driven thing and I think she's consciencely looking for some kind of humanitarian prize (or having something named after her) for her efforts. Kraviazuk went on to say she won't go after Lavigne in court, "I won't do that. I'll just tell you. Art should not be subjected to that kind of controversy. Art should be pure. In my head it is, anyway." If she truly thinks art should be pure why is Chantel part the big music industry machine and supplying songs for the Lavigne corporation. Looks like some of that L’Oréal’s Garnier Nutrisse hair dye (that she flogs on TV ads) has sunk too deep into her brain.

AVRIL LAVIGNE- Girlfriend mp3
RUBINOOS- I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend mp3
ROLLING STONES- Get Off Of My Cloud mp3