My Happy Ending by Avril Lavigne

First impression: Is this song about what I think it's about? [quietly giggles with anticipation]

The song begins with moaning and Avril lamenting her inability to get a happy ending. She then asks to talk it over, saying "it's not like we're dead/was it something i did/was it something i said?" Avril obviously was much to forward when asking for a happy ending and scared off the person massaging her. Much like a stray cat, you must be slow and meticulous when requesting a happy ending. You must flirt with the subject, eventually getting what you want. Quickly thinking on her feet, though, Avril successfully covers her bases and rectifies the situation, not wanting to lose out on a happy ending.

She says "Don't leave me hanging," with the meaning of that being obvious for a male singer, but slightly disturbing for a female. I think, though, that she is using the term "hanging" metaphorically, like a woman saying "you're breaking my balls." She then says she is in a city that is dead, and she obviously just wants a little something to liven it up a bit. She says she is "held up so high/on such a breakable thread." This could be a reference to the fact that she is high up on a massage table which is held by ropes, but this is a weird image. Most massage parlors use the new invention of the four-legged table, which offers more stability than the older, rope-based tables. This parlor is obviously not quite up to snuff.

Lavigne then laments the fact that she thought she had a connection with the masseuse. It was meant to be, she says, it was supposed to be, she says, but they lost it. It comes to a head (pun intended) when she says "all this time you were pretending/so much for my happy ending." Lavigne fell so deeply in lust that she thought the masseuse actually cared about her, when really it was just for the money. She is probably the type of person who falls in love with strippers, too.

The song then takes a psychological turn, as Lavigne talks about the life/relationship she has imagined between her and her special massage-buddy. She laments that the masseuse's friends (who Lavigne has never met) think she is difficult. She is obviously projecting her own insecurities onto the situation. She then makes it the friends' fault, saying that they don't even know her. This is a great strategic move on her part. Blame the friends for never meeting her, even though they have no need to and in fact have no idea she exists.

Driving the point home, Lavigne finishes this fire-filled rant with this dagger: "It's nice to know that you were there/Thanks for acting like you cared/And making me feel like I was the only one." She obviously feels betrayed by the fact that the masseuse has other clients. She thanks the masseuse for the comfort she felt during the time they shared, but wishes it could be more. Her heart longs to be with this man who has touched her so tenderly, but alas, her Canadian-ness has turned away yet another lover.

In an ode to the post-massage release, Lavigne strikes upon the deep problems with becoming too close with your masseuse too quickly. Relationships need time to grow naturally. It's not fair to think that paying someone to rub you with oil and then (hopefully) finish the job will result in anymore connection than a one night stand. Lavigne is lucky. She rushed too fast into the relationship and didn't even get a happy ending. In the end, though, it is for the best. That must pleasure would have only resulted in even more pain. The scars will heal much more quickly this way.