Avril Lavigne’s “Alice (Underground)” Is Far From The Best Damn Thing

Although we personally relished Avril Lavigne’s ruthless turn as a devil-horned guest judge on American Idol last night (what can we say, we like a bold and brash personality), the Canadian pop tart’s tunes are still up for debate. Surfacing today is “Alice (Underground),” written by Avril and produced by Butch Walker for the Almost Alice soundtrack. Does it have more to say than 3OH!3’s lyrically incompetent contribution to the rock-lite compilation album? Take a jump down the rabbit hole and find out: [wpaudio url=”//idolator.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Avril_Lavigne_-_Alice_Underground.mp3″ text=”Avril Lavigne – Alice (Underground)”]

The last time we contemplated the “inspired by” soundtrack to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, we expressed the hope that Avril’s single would do away with the playground taunting 3OH!3 (and Avril herself) are typically fond of. Although “Alice (Underground),” Avril’s first single since 2008’s “The Best Damn Thing”, isn’t the second coming of Leonard Cohen (not like we were expecting that on this album anyway), we’re happy to say the lyrics carry genuine sentiment and are much easier to swallow than “Follow me, fa la la la la la.”

“When the world’s crashing down, when I fall and hit the ground, I will turn myself around, don’t you try to stop me, I won’t cry,” sings Avril, and we’re sure many of her younger fans will resonate with those words of encouragement in their stressful teenage lives. (Either that, or they can wrap themselves up in an Abbey Dawn devil hoodie for protection from the outside world.) So lyrics? We give them a B+. Not too shabby.

As for the song itself, it starts with a slow, melodic build that creates some Wonderland-esque imagery. But the biggest problem with the song is that Lavigne, trying to come off like Amy Lee, is constantly screeching while attempting to hit those high notes. It’s difficult to enjoy a song while you’re wincing during the chorus. We’re sure Paramore’s Hayley Williams could knock this one out of the park, but alas, it’s Avril’s song. So why didn’t she write it with her own voice in mind?

After being dissapointed by the first two songs off the album, we’re beginning to wonder if any other artist can save this soundtrack. Robert Smith, can you please be our savior show all these youngin’s how it’s done?