Avril Lavigne burst onto the scene in 2002 at just 17 years old with her debut album “Let Go.” The record spawned the hit singles “Complicated,” “Sk8er Boi,” and “I’m With You.”

She would go on to release one hit album after another, becoming an icon of the pop punk genre.

Lavigne’s confessional and upfront songwriting has inspired many of the artists who came after her, including Taylor Swift.

Swift has become known for writing deeply personal lyrics about her life.

From her relationships to fame to her family, Swift covers many topics in her songs with brutal honesty.

While Swift has been open about her love for Lavigne, some fans wondered if she was particularly inspired by one of Lavigne’s biggest hits in one of her famous music videos.

Fans Point Out The Similarities Between The ‘Girlfriend’ And ‘You Belong With Me’ Videos

In 2007, Avril Lavigne released her single “Girlfriend,” the first of which to be released from her highly-anticipated third album, “The Best Damn Thing.”

The song became Lavigne’s first US number one, peaking atop the Billboard 200 chart.

Lavinge discussed the song’s process during an interview with Glamour.

“So Dr. Luke played the chords for ‘Girlfriend’ and it just flew out of my mouth,” she recalled. “I sang, hey, hey/you, you. We wrote that chorus as I had my bag on about to walk out in, like, two minutes. He laid the guitar down, wrote the beat with his electric drum, and I ran in and laid down a scratch vocal. And I thought, ‘Oh my God,’ this song’s going to be huge. It was just one of those moments that don’t happen a lot. It is really magical.”

The song describes someone who has a crush on someone in a relationship. However, Lavigne said the song wasn’t meant to be taken so seriously, as she told Pop Matters in 2007.

“It was just a joke and we were laughing and we’re like, ‘This is funny,’” Lavigne said. “It’s so out there.”

In 2008, Taylor Swift released her album “Fearless,” which included the hit “You Belong With Me.” Like Lavigne’s “Girlfriend,” Swift’s track details crushing on someone who is in a relationship.

“This song is basically about wanting someone who is with this girl who doesn’t appreciate him at all,” Swift explained. “Basically like ‘girl-next-door-itis.’ You like this guy who you have for your whole life, and you know him better than she does but somehow the popular girl gets the guy every time.”

In the song’s video, Swift plays the role of both the girl who is crushing on the guy and his girlfriend. In the YouTube comments section, many pointed out the similarities to Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” video. In Lavigne’s video, she also plays both roles.

• Someone wrote, “this is like the pop punk version of ‘you belong with me.'”
• However, another person corrected them, writing, “Why does everyone forget this song was way before ‘you belong with me’ so you belong with me is a country version of this.”
• “‘You belong with me’ is literally the next song that autoplayed after this one,” another person wrote.
• Another fan commented, “this came out before taylor’s song. wonder if she got the mv idea from here.”
• There was one person who pointed out a key difference in both videos, writing, “Except in that video, the popular girl was abusive and the nerdy Taylor was the good girl who wins the boyfriend. In this video it’s similar to the latter but the mean girl wins and the boyfriend was terrible.”

Taylor Swift Brought Avril Lavigne On Stage During The ‘1989’ Tour And Performed ‘Complicated’

In May 2014, Avril Lavigne went viral on social media when pictures from a meet and greet in Brazil showed her standing very far from fans. It got even more attention when it was revealed that the fans spent around $400 to meet Lavigne and get a picture with her.

There were rumors Lavigne imposed a “no touching” rule, which she later explained.

“I do touch my fans,” Lavigne told KiSS 92.5 in Canada . “My fans are very frisky, actually. In some countries where we’ve had security breaches, it’s a little delicate because of things that have happened with stuff I probably shouldn’t get into.”

Lavigne wasn’t kidding, either. In 2011, a fan in Brazil stormed the stage during her concert tour stop in the country. This is most likely the reason fans were standing so far away from Lavigne in the pictures.

Whether intentional or not, Lavigne developed a reputation as someone who keeps their distance from fans.

The meme featured pictures of Lavigne, Kanye West, Britney Spears, and Katy Perry. While they all seemed distant or disinterested in their fans, Swift was shown to be very affectionate towards her own fans.

This was picked up by people on Twitter and Lavigne felt the need to comment on the comparison.

“Comparison is judging and judging a person does not define who they are it defines who you are,” Lavigne wrote. “We all love our fans.”

She added, “So let’s keep it all about the love and stay positive.”

It seems like Swift agreed with these sentiments, because she invited Lavigne to perform with her shortly afterward. During the August 2015 San Diego stop of her “1989” tour, Swift brought Lavigne on stage and the two performed “Complicated” together.

Lavigne reacted to the moment on social media, writing, “Such a Pleasure to perform ‘Complicated’ tonight with Taylor Swift on her #1989 world tour! She ROCKS. She is a Doll. Thank you Taylor for having me up on stage and thank you San Diego.”

Taylor Swift Sent Avril Flowers To Congratulate Her On Her 2022 Album ‘Love Sux’

In 2022, Lavigne released an album titled “Love Sux,” which marked a return to her pop punk roots. It also marked the 20th anniversary of her debut album, “Let Go,” which was released in 2002.

The album was produced by Travis Barker’s DTA Records.

During an appearance on People’s Every Day podcast, Lavigne recalled a sweet gift she received from Swift. Swift sent Lavigne a bouquet which included pink, peach and white flowers, as well as a note.

“Avril, Been dancing around my kitchen to your fabulous new album!!” Swift wrote. “It’s AMAZING, like you.”

She signed the note, “Your forever fan, Taylor.”

“She said she’s, like, loving the songs and listening to them, and, I mean, she’s amazing,” Lavigne said.

“I joined her up on stage, I don’t know, four years ago during one of her tours, we sang ‘Complicated’ together, and she had told me she was a huge fan,” Lavigne said, recalling her guest appearance on the “1989” tour.

Lavigne was clearly happy to receive the love from Swift, adding, “That meant so much to me. She’s an incredible artist and songwriter, she’s such a sweet person and has accomplished so much.”

Lavigne also said it means a lot to receive support from another female artist.

“From one woman in the music industry to another showing that support … it means a lot,” Lavigne said. “It totally made my day.”

When reflecting on her debut album, Lavigne said she “can’t believe” it had been 20 years since its release. She said that she is “still having just as much fun now” as she did when she burst onto the music scene at 17 years old. Lavigne also said she is “grateful to have such an incredible, supportive, passionate fan base.”

Lavigne also showed some love to artists like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, who have also cited her as an influence. According to Lavigne, “it means so much” to have fans in a new generation of artists.

“I really admire them and how hard they work and how amazing their songwriting is, how strong their songwriting is,” Lavigne said about Rodrigo and Eilish. “It’s very sincere, and they also just have their own individual styles and vibe and stick to it.”

Lavigne went on to point out how she “had to fight very hard” in order to release the music she was passionate about when she was younger.

“I was just so young; everyone was throwing songs at me,” she remembered. “I was fighting and standing up for myself and pushing to write my songs and have the style and production to be what it was.”

Besides reflecting on her past, Lavigne was equally passionate about her latest music.

“It does have a strong message of like self-empowerment, self-love, self-worth,” Lavigne said of her latest album. “The whole album is really also just about being able to laugh at the crazy ride that love takes you on.”