What does Complicated mean?

Avril Lavigne: Complicated Meaning

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Album cover for Complicated album cover

Song Released: 2002


Complicated Lyrics

Uh huh, life's like this
Uh huh, uh huh, that's the way it is
Cause life's like this
Uh huh, uh huh that's the way it is

Chill out whatcha yelling' for?
Laid back it's all been done before
And if you could only let it be
you will see
I...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Nov 25th 2007 !⃝

    Avril is trying to tell a friend to stop trying to be 'cool', acting like an idiot, wearing the crappy clothes. She wants her friend to be him/herself again. The friend is obviously not listening (you can tell by the lyrics,"and if, you could only let it be, you would see"). I can totally relate to this because when I was in middle school one of my friends acted like that.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    pennybee22
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    Sep 26th 2008 !⃝

    This is about the teenage world out there. Everyone, well almost everyone, is trying to fit in. Face it, in high school nobody wants to be different, it's scary. So this song is about a girl who is trying to be someone she is not, and letting her friend down by doing that. Something we need to realize is that our friends are OUR friends, not friends with the someone you WANT to be, but with who you are know. Therefore, if you try to become someone else, you're bound to let them down. Obviously, Avril has dlet with this just like everyone else has.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Apr 9th 2011 !⃝

    Dont try to fit in be who you are stand out and don't make life so complicated :)

    -istillmissyouxx-.

  4. anonymous
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    Apr 11th 2023 !⃝

    I made the mistake of assuming this is about a boy, but obviously it could be about a friend of any gender.
    As a female in my teens, I had always thought it was about a lover who is really cool when they are alone together but then he switches it up and acts like a whole different person when they are in front of people. I guess I saw it that way because I'd been through a similar situation with a guy who basically wanted to date in secret because he was too "cool" and popular to date someone who was considered a "loser." He was fun and we would have great times together when he was being laid-back, while we were alone. Then around his "friends" or at school, he would act like a jerk and seemed to be so fake with everybody.
    I do agree with the other translation - this could be about a friend, guy or girl, who basically does the same thing I just described. We've almost all had that friend who starts to drift away when they suddenly start to fit in with the "popular kids" group, or any another clique. Eventually wearing the preppy, name brand clothes that they always told you they didn't care for. Sometimes even going as far as to make fun of YOU, their supposed "best-friend," with their new "cooler" friends. It hurts and looks foolish, just in the same way Avril sings about it.
    Sorry to anyone who has gone through this OR anyone who is currently going through it! You're better off without them anyway ~

  5. anonymous
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    Jun 30th 2019 !⃝

    I love that song that had some pop and the song is about that someone is being complicated. But when I’m being mean I’m being crazy I would make some silly noises to make people happy. I’m blessed this song to that my fans wanted but nick wanted to write about it. I’m emailing with them and what they up to. Then it makes me happy.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  6. anonymous
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    Mar 23rd 2019 !⃝

    I think that Avril has a friend who is trying to fit in but in order to do that, acts different, and Avril is sick of it as she misses the old him (well, I think it's a him). Yeah. That's basically it.

  7. anonymous
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    Dec 13th 2018 !⃝

    I really love that song complicated is not to by my side. Absolutely not cool.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  8. anonymous
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    Oct 1st 2018 !⃝

    It could be that she is so in love with this guy who denies his feelings and just be friends with her and she is so lost in the love and her gut feel that it shouldnt be complicated at all. They can be a couple. They can go out and just love.

  9. anonymous
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    Jul 14th 2018 !⃝

    I think the complicated means if someone could take care of the mess, they will say. “Complicated!” Because Christian is not bossy pants. He’s sweet, and very charming guy! Because he’s a great friend.

  10. anonymous
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    Nov 21st 2016 !⃝

    Be contented and thankful for all you have now.You just really need to be positive and be yourself all the time :)

  11. anonymous
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    Aug 10th 2015 !⃝

    Team Matrix wrote that song for her, she didn't like it but she's thankful for the success it brought her

  12. anonymous
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    Dec 31st 2013 !⃝

    The Grammy nominated single “Complicated” is about one of Avril Lavigne’s strong beliefs about life- you should be yourself all the time. The song has influenced many teenagers and kids to be true to your selves. Many of us are not true to ourselves because we doubt if the society will accept us. In th This was not written about anyone in particular, according to Lavigne. She says, "It's basically about life, people being fake, and relationships."is song Avril tells the listener to present themselves the way they are but in an acceptable way.

    The song starts with her saying “life’s like this”, which means life is the way it is. Then, she says “chill out what you yellin’ for? Lay back it is all been done before. And if you could only let it be, you will see.”

    Later in the song, she says she likes him the way he is. She sees the changes and wants him to never change and be himself all the time. “I like you the way you are. And if you are driving in your car and you are talking to me one on one but you’ve become…”

    After that, the song continues from the last verse with Lavigne explains something that has happened to many of us. She explains that her friend is two-faced; he behaves differently with her unlike how he behaves with others. “Somebody else ‘round everyone else. You’re watching your back like you can’t relax. You’re tryin’ to be cool but you look like a fool to me”.

    In the chorus, as Lavigne sings “I see the way you’re acting like you’re somebody else, gets me frustrated” she explains how much hates the way he appreciates the ‘fake’ him than the real him because everyone else is doing it and everyone thinks it is ‘cool’. Lavigne thinks he makes things complicated by doing this.

  13. anonymous
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    Jun 10th 2013 !⃝

    my interpretation is that shes dating this guy that acts different around his freinds and yeh

  14. WeLiketoComment
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    May 9th 2013 !⃝

    Its about her friend who is a try hard and she wants him to just be himself but he doesn't want to admit he's being... well, not himself. Someone else. He acts like himself around her because her feels comfortable around her- (they're probably close friends) and then his other friends are probably not so close because he keeps trying to impress them so they obviously don't like him for who he is.
    WOW- in depth hey?
    love you guys
    -
    ME! ;p

  15. anonymous
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    Apr 20th 2013 !⃝

    It's about a girl wanting the boy to stop acting like someone else and don't be preppy

  16. anonymous
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    Jan 13th 2013 !⃝

    I have a friend who has completely changed throughout the course of middle school. He used to be a sweet little kid and now he's tough, and he acts like someone that he isn't. He was super sweet last year and this year it is all about how he acts, it's all about him pretending to be someone that I know he isn't. Whenever I listen to this song I think about people changing. I also think that this song is about friends will start to be mean or ignore just because they are trying to be cool, even if you can see right through their act or if you know them better than anyone else does. You feel mixed up and everything is so "complicated."

  17. Nelly
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    Sep 1st 2012 !⃝

    This song says that you should love yourself for who you are instead of thinking that someone else is better than you. You should be yourself where ever you are and don't complain for not being like someone who is better than you.you won't be able to enjoy yourself when you are pretending. you will just make your mind and life complicated. after ups and downs that are the result of faking,you'll just prefer to be yourself.

  18. anonymous
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    Jul 21st 2012 !⃝

    In 2002, Avril talked about Complicated, she said she was “fed up with they way people act and how life is and how life gets really frustrating… …people sometimes bother me how their not real and how their just like putting on a face and being two faced and acting like they’re someone else…” and has had it with guys, boyfriends, and girl friends when your just with them it’s really cool and you connect; but when they’re with friends or another friend they treat you totally different and are a different person. She also said “I was just really sick of all that stuff and just needed to write about it, needed to get it out and um think it’s something a song that people could really relate to, cause like this life is just full of situations where you just like get really frustrated.”

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