"He Wasn't" | ||||||||
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Single by Avril Lavigne | ||||||||
from the album Under My Skin | ||||||||
Released | March 28, 2005 | |||||||
Format | CD single | |||||||
Recorded | 2003–2004 Whitecoat Sound, (Malibu, California); The Boat, (Los Angeles, California) |
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Genre | ||||||||
Length | 2:59 | |||||||
Label | Arista, RCA | |||||||
Writer(s) | Avril Lavigne Chantal Kreviazuk |
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Producer(s) | Raine Maida | |||||||
Avril Lavigne singles chronology | ||||||||
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"He Wasn't" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, released as the fourth and final single from her second album, Under My Skin (2004). It was not released in the United States; instead, "Fall to Pieces" was released. The song was released in Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom. Beforehand, it was a released as a third single in Japan in June 2004. It was written and produced by Lavigne and Chantal Kreviazuk. Allmusic highlighted the song as one of the most significative post-grunge songs of all time.
"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" 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?".
"He Wasn't" was criticized for the shallowness of the lyrics. Sal Cinquemani of Slant magazine described the song as a "crappy faux-punk tune", mostly because of the lyrical content. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly 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 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."