Sk8er Boi
Encyclopedia
"Sk8er Boi" is a song by Avril Lavigne
, and is the second single
from her debut album, Let Go
(2002). It was written by Avril Lavigne and The Matrix
(Scott Spock, Lauren Christy
, and Graham Edwards), and produced by The Matrix. Released in 2002, the single reached number ten on the United States Billboard Hot 100
(becoming Lavigne's second top ten single there), number eight in the United Kingdom, number three in Australia, number thirteen in Canada and number one in Spain, becoming one of her most successful songs to date.
, directed by Francis Lawrence
, begins with a man in the alley of a city with a pile of spray paint on the ground. The video continues with posters that have a star on them advertising a concert Lavigne hosts. The posters say "7th & Spring Noon" (indicating the intersection where and when the impromptu concert is to take place, a real intersection of these street names exists in downtown Los Angeles
, where the video was filmed). Multiple people are seen spreading the posters around a city. The video then shows Avril and her band driving modified vehicles to the intersection, where they then cut off traffic. Then two associates throw power cables to the musicians below to power their instruments. A crowd then grows, bringing police to the scene. At the end of the video, Lavigne crashes her guitar into the car windscreen and a helicopter appears overhead.
While singing, Lavigne wears a T-shirt with the logo for Wilkesboro
Elementary School, a North Carolina
elementary school. After the video was released, the school was flooded with so many requests for the T-shirts that they were able to buy computers with the extra revenue from T-shirt sales.
The video was considered the third 'Best music video of the decade' in the UK by BT Vision
.
magazine labelled the lyrics to "Sk8er Boi" as "endearingly naive".
In an AOL Radio
listener's poll, "Sk8er Boi" was voted Lavigne's fourth best song.
group Cascada
recorded a dance cover of the song for the European and Japanese editions of their 2007 album Perfect Day
. A cover version of the song by Angela Michael appears in the video game Elite Beat Agents
for the Nintendo DS
. The song is also included in SingStar Pop, a PlayStation 2
game and another cover version is featured in Rock Revolution
by Konami
.
"Sk8er Boi" is featured in the television series Cold Case (Season 3, "The Promise", October 2, 2005).
In 2003, Paramount Pictures
optioned the song for adaptation into a feature film. As of April 2008, the film has apparently been abandoned or is in development hell
.
Also in 2003, Australian sketch show Big Bite did a sendup of Sk8er Boi that was called 'It's just the sales boy'.
This song was used in a montage of funny rollerskates and skateboard clips in an edition of America's Funniest Home Videos
.
In 2008, a cover version of the song was featured in the video game Rock Revolution.
In 2008, HBO included the song in the episode "Get Some" of the miniseries Generation Kill. The song is sung by Cpl. Josh Ray Person as he is urinating in the desert.
The song is referenced in Comedian Rob Paravonian
's Pachelbel Rant.
In 2011 Irish pop punk band TheElement covered this song at their shows in Europe.
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
, and is the second single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from her debut album, Let Go
Let Go (Avril Lavigne album)
Let Go is the debut album by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, released on June 4, 2002. For a year after signing a record deal with Arista, Lavigne struggled due to conflicts in musical direction. Lavigne relocated to Los Angeles, California, and recorded there her earlier materials for...
(2002). It was written by Avril Lavigne and The Matrix
The Matrix (music producer)
The Matrix is an American pop music writing and production team, consisting of Lauren Christy, Graham Edwards and Scott Spock.-Background:Before her involvement in The Matrix, Lauren Christy had moderate success as a singer-songwriter, releasing two albums under Mercury Records in the mid-1990s,...
(Scott Spock, Lauren Christy
Lauren Christy
Lauren Christy is an English singer-songwriter and music producer.-Early life and education:Christy was born in London, England. She studied at the Bush Davies Ballet School as a child, before she decided to become a musical artist.-Music career:...
, and Graham Edwards), and produced by The Matrix. Released in 2002, the single reached number ten on the United States Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
(becoming Lavigne's second top ten single there), number eight in the United Kingdom, number three in Australia, number thirteen in Canada and number one in Spain, becoming one of her most successful songs to date.
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, directed by Francis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence is an American music video and film director.-Life and career:Lawrence was born in Vienna, Austria. His father is a physicist who taught at California State University, Northridge and his mother is V.P. Technology at a PR agency. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of three...
, begins with a man in the alley of a city with a pile of spray paint on the ground. The video continues with posters that have a star on them advertising a concert Lavigne hosts. The posters say "7th & Spring Noon" (indicating the intersection where and when the impromptu concert is to take place, a real intersection of these street names exists in downtown Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where the video was filmed). Multiple people are seen spreading the posters around a city. The video then shows Avril and her band driving modified vehicles to the intersection, where they then cut off traffic. Then two associates throw power cables to the musicians below to power their instruments. A crowd then grows, bringing police to the scene. At the end of the video, Lavigne crashes her guitar into the car windscreen and a helicopter appears overhead.
While singing, Lavigne wears a T-shirt with the logo for Wilkesboro
Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Wilkesboro is a town in and the county seat of Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,159 at the 2000 census, and it is the second largest municipality in the county. The 2010 Census listed the town's population at 3,044. The town is located along the south bank of the...
Elementary School, a North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
elementary school. After the video was released, the school was flooded with so many requests for the T-shirts that they were able to buy computers with the extra revenue from T-shirt sales.
The video was considered the third 'Best music video of the decade' in the UK by BT Vision
BT Vision
BT Vision is a hybrid IPTV-digital terrestrial television service provided by BT Group in the United Kingdom which was launched in December 2006...
.
Reception
In a review for the album Let Go, Christina Saraceno of Allmusic called "Sk8er Boi" a "terrific power pop bounce", highlighting the song as a "track pick". However she noted the lyrics show Lavigne's shortcomings as a writer. John Perry of BlenderBlender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
magazine labelled the lyrics to "Sk8er Boi" as "endearingly naive".
In an AOL Radio
AOL Radio
AOL Radio powered by Slacker, , is an online radio service available only in the United States.- Roots :...
listener's poll, "Sk8er Boi" was voted Lavigne's fourth best song.
Cover versions and appearances in other media
The compilation album A Japanese Tribute to Avril Lavigne features a cover version of "Sk8er Boi". EurodanceEurodance
Eurodance is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s or early 1990s primarily in Europe. It combines many elements from House, Techno, Hi-NRG and especially Italo-Disco...
group Cascada
Cascada
Cascada is a German Eurodance act most famous for their hit singles "Everytime We Touch", "What Hurts the Most", and "Evacuate the Dancefloor"...
recorded a dance cover of the song for the European and Japanese editions of their 2007 album Perfect Day
Perfect Day (Cascada album)
Perfect Day is the second studio album released by German eurodance group Cascada. The entire album was produced by the two disc jockeys from Cascada, Yanou and DJ Manian. Like it's predecessor, the album is comprised heavily of up-tempo eurodance tracks, many of which are cover songs...
. A cover version of the song by Angela Michael appears in the video game Elite Beat Agents
Elite Beat Agents
Elite Beat Agents is a music video game developed by iNiS and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It was first released in North America, and has since been released in Europe and South Korea . It is the spiritual sequel to Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, a Japanese rhythm game...
for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. The song is also included in SingStar Pop, a PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
game and another cover version is featured in Rock Revolution
Rock Revolution
Rock Revolution is a music video game developed by Zoë Mode and HB Studios and published by Konami. It was first revealed on May 15, 2008, and released on October 15, 2008 for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360...
by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
.
"Sk8er Boi" is featured in the television series Cold Case (Season 3, "The Promise", October 2, 2005).
In 2003, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
optioned the song for adaptation into a feature film. As of April 2008, the film has apparently been abandoned or is in development hell
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
.
Also in 2003, Australian sketch show Big Bite did a sendup of Sk8er Boi that was called 'It's just the sales boy'.
This song was used in a montage of funny rollerskates and skateboard clips in an edition of America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from incidents, accidents and mishaps...
.
In 2008, a cover version of the song was featured in the video game Rock Revolution.
In 2008, HBO included the song in the episode "Get Some" of the miniseries Generation Kill. The song is sung by Cpl. Josh Ray Person as he is urinating in the desert.
The song is referenced in Comedian Rob Paravonian
Rob Paravonian
Rob Paravonian is a comedian, best known for his "Pachelbel Rant" which parodies the use of the chord progression from Pachelbel's Canon in many popular songs.-Music:...
's Pachelbel Rant.
In 2011 Irish pop punk band TheElement covered this song at their shows in Europe.
Track listings
Charts
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
3 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 7 |
| Belgian Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... (Dutch) |
7 |
| Belgian Ultratop 50 (French) | 23 |
| Canadian BDS Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, better known as BDS, is a service that tracks monitored radio, television and internet airplay of songs based on the number of spins and detections... Airplay Chart |
1 |
| Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
3 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 11 |
| European Hot 100 Singles | 3 |
| French Singles Chart | 28 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
18 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
1 |
| Italian Singles Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
8 |
| Mexican Singles Chart AMPROFON Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas is a non-profit organization integrated by multinational and national record companies in Mexico. Established on April 3, 1963, it groups phonographic companies that represent more than 70 percent of the market in Mexico... |
5 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... Singles Chart |
2 |
| Netherlands Mega Single Top 100 Mega Single Top 100 The Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales and legal downloads and composed by MegaCharts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Dutch Top 40 and the Mega Top 50. The difference is that these charts also include airplay data.The list is... |
11 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
14 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 12 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
17 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
8 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
10 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40 | 1 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2002) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
38 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
165 |
| Chart (2003) | Position |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
86 |
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
52 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
160 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|
| United States | Platinum |
Awards
| Year | Awards ceremony | Award | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Grammy Awards | Best Female Rock Vocal Performance | |
| Socan Awards | Best Pop Song | ||
| MTV Video Music Awards MTV Video Music Awards An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos... |
Best Pop Video | ||
| MuchMusic Video Awards MuchMusic Video Awards The MuchMusic Video Awards are annual awards presented by the Canadian music video channel MuchMusic to honour the year's best music videos.... |
People's Choice | ||
| Teen Choice Awards Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with... |
Choice Music Single | ||
| Juno Awards | Juno Fan Choice | ||
| MuchMusic Video Awards MuchMusic Video Awards The MuchMusic Video Awards are annual awards presented by the Canadian music video channel MuchMusic to honour the year's best music videos.... |
Best international video by a Canadian | ||
| Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, also known as the KCAs or Kids Choice Awards, is an annual awards show that airs on the Nickelodeon cable channel, which airs live and is usually held and telecast live on a... |
Favorite Song |
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Arista Records Arista Records Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records... |
CD, digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
|
| Australia | Sony BMG | ||
| Europe |