text: Critical reception "When You're Gone" has received mixed reviews from music critics.  Alex Nunn wrote that Avril hasn't lost her sense in ballads with this song. Stylus was mixed calling the song "turgid and humdrum," but "taken at times by an exhilarating slickness."  Dave Donnely was mixed to positive: "Ballad and expected next single 'When You're Gone' may be the best of the bunch, though it's superficially like any number of pop-rock ballads, with contemplative lyrics lending the album a little bit of emotional depth. The theme, separation from a lover, is universal, and the lyrics simple: "I always needed time on my own/I never thought I'd need you there when I cried/And the days feel like years when I'm alone/And the bed where you lie is made up on your side." PopMatters stated that this song tries to match "I'm With You" but it fails. On a more negative note, Darryl Sterdan of JAM! described the song as "a standard piano-and-strings weeper" and went on to tell the reader to skip-it.  In an AOL Radio listener's poll, "When You're Gone" was voted Lavigne's eighth best song.
  Accolades
  Chart performance
  Before its release as a single in the United States, "When You're Gone" reached number ninety on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 77 on the Billboard Pop 100, in the Billboard issue dated 5 May 2007. The song later re-entered the charts and peaked at numbers 24 and 16, respectively. It did well on the charts in Canada, where it reached number eight. As of September 2015, "When You're Gone" has sold 1,290,000 digital copies in the United States.