(Of course you’ll never see this, but I’m still writing in a personal way…and meaning it too.)
I will always be grateful to you for the beautiful song that was born from your own suffering heart, that brought comfort to me in my own pains (due to the awful illness we both know only too well). You inspired my soul (and many others) and helped me find the words to ask “God [to] keep my HEAD ABOVE WATER” when I was drowning.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
And thanks, too, for so much amazing music you have given us!
Don’t forget that great restless heart in you that wants “forever,” that longs to “taste” the “beautiful…permanent ‘no way’!” calling out from the depths of everything. You have a tremendous heart, Avril—a heart that wants to touch the stars, that yearns for the presence of an “innocence” that is “brilliant,” that trusts a mysterious “someone” to “take [you] by the hand, take [you] somewhere new.”
You’ve been having fun being a rock star in these recent years of good health—with the Lyme disease treated and in remission—but you’ve also shared in song that there are times when the “body’s achin” and you “don’t feel alright on the inside.” Sometimes you “can’t take it, take it, take it” and you “can’t fake it” and “it’s like [you’re] running from an avalanche…”
“Whoa-ho-ho, whoa-ho-hooooo.”
Whoa-ho-ho, indeed! You always have those simple words or bending vowels (“Don’t let me drow-ie-ow-ow-n!” - for “drown”) to just “drive it home.” Yeah, I’ve felt something like those aches, that overbearing weakness, and those capricious avalanches that look like they’re going to wipe me out. I’ve often felt like that! It’s so terribly lonely, so full of a “crying out” that seems to go “unheard” by anyone around us. I believe in the God who hears this cry, but it can still be so hard…
When an artist can make a beautiful thing (a song) out of her own suffering, then especially those of us who have suffering like this in our own lives are astonished and deeply moved. The beauty is like a sign that our cry is being heard. It brings a touch of comfort to us in the midst of our afflictions. We are grateful beyond words. We will never forget you.
Avril, you have a voice that can speak deep down in people’s souls. I hope and pray that you will use that voice for many years to come. You have proven that rock’n roll can be fun, and also that it can be powerful as a way of communicating compassion—of doing works of mercy.
Happy Birthday, Avril! God bless you!!!!
