Here's To Never Growing Up

Album: Avril Lavigne (2013)
Charted: 14 20
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Avril enlisted her fiancé, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, to help her pen this song. Other credited writers include Dave Hodges, Martin Johnson, J.Kash, and Serban Ghenea.
  • The song was produced by Martin Johnson who is the frontman of pop-punk band Boys Like Girls, and has previously helmed tracks for the likes of Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Good Charlotte.
  • This marked Lavigne's first release since she signed with L.A. Reid's Epic Records in 2011. "It's really exciting for me, because L.A. Reid signed me," she told MTV News about working with her longtime mentor again. "He met me when I was 15, and he signed me on the spot. We did my first album together, and it was really successful and then what happens in the record industry, you know, changes are made. We didn't get to work together, and I was so bummed out, 'cause I never had that connection with anyone ever again, like, my whole career at the record company."

    Lavigne told Billboard magazine that Reid loved this song as soon as he heard it. "He came into the studio and I played him a bunch of tracks, and when 'Here's To Never Growing Up' came on, he stood up and was applauding," she recalled. "I wanted it to be the single, and I didn't say anything to him -- I just played him all the music, and he was excited about this one. I wanted to write something that was a feel-good song, a summer song."
  • Lavigne told Los Angeles radio personality Ryan Seacrest about the song: "It's a pop-rock tune," she said. "And it's just about being young, having fun, being present, living in the moment and that's what I love to do. This is one of the newer tunes [we recorded]. It was me and four dudes and I wanted to write something really fun, like a summer song."
  • Lavigne kicks off the song with the line "Singing Radiohead at the top of our lungs." She told Billboard magazine she is talking about the English band's hit single "Creep."
  • Lavigne admitted to MTV News that she can't take credit for the high school prom-themed visual. "I had my own concept for this video," she said. "And then last minute, we changed it because the director [Robert Hales] came up with a concept and the concept was just 'prom'. And that was really it.

    "I thought, 'that's an awesome idea, 'cause we can dress up, the band can be in cool tuxedos.' That was way more fun than I anticipated," she added.
  • At the 2:06 mark on the video, we see Lavigne donning her signature "Complicated" look (white tie, board shorts and white tank top). She then skateboards through an empty high school hallway, as a visual homage to the clip for her 2002 breakthrough single.
  • The song finds Avril reminding her fans that it's OK to be forever youthful. "It's pop-rock, up-tempo. It's a fun song," she told MTV News. "It's about wanting to be young forever. Doesn't matter what age you are; it's all about your spirit, state of mind. And I know I certainly don't want to grow up."
  • L.A. Reid decided to lead Avril's fifth album with this song as soon as he heard it. "It felt good when I was recording it in the booth when I was singing it. I performed it at 11 o'clock at night and we were in this huge rush ... so the producer stayed in the studio and pulled an all-nighter," Lavigne explained to MTV News. "And when I came back in the next day I heard it. I was like, 'That sounds like a single, I think this is it.' And when we played it for L.A., immediately he was like, 'This is it. OK, let's go; let's put it out.' I'm like, 'What do you mean? I'm not done with my record.'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Hardy

HardySongwriter Interviews

The country hitmaker talks about his debut album, A Rock, and how a nursery rhyme inspired his hit single "One Beer."

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)Songwriter Interviews

Mike Rutherford talks about the "Silent Running" storyline and "Land Of Confusion" in the age of Trump.

Supertramp founder Roger Hodgson

Supertramp founder Roger HodgsonSongwriter Interviews

Roger tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including "Give a Little Bit," "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song."

Macabre Mother Goose: The Dark Side of Children's Songs

Macabre Mother Goose: The Dark Side of Children's SongsSong Writing

"London Bridge," "Ring Around the Rosie" and "It's Raining, It's Pouring" are just a few examples of shockingly morbid children's songs.

Superman in Song

Superman in SongSong Writing

Not everyone can be a superhero, but that hasn't stopped generations of musicians from trying to be Superman.

Janis Ian

Janis IanSongwriter Interviews

One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.