I still love Amy Winehouse.
I'll always love Amy Winehouse.
It's been hard for me to listen to people rant about how she "had it coming". Okay, yeah, she had problems. Big ones. But why don't you examine your own life, remember all the skeletons in your closet, think about how your problems are NOT broadcast to the whole world all the time and just shut up about it (I don't mean "you" specifically, just "you" generally).
Granted, her life was whack, and I don't condone excessive substance abuse. In spite of all that, "by their fruits ye shall know them", and dang could that girl make music. Maybe you've only heard "Rehab", but even that song illustrates how good she was at what she did.
It's groovy and infectious. It's got soul. And, if you're anything like me, it moves you, you know? It's really unlike anything else out there. It's jazz and pop and r&b and soul all rolled into one. Lady Gaga wishes she could make music like that (she did a pretty good job on her first album, but the second one is cheap and unoriginal).
Maybe there's some spot deep down inside me that just itches for 60's music and Amy Winehouse was able to hit that spot. I don't know. Take her song "Tears Dry on Their Own", for example.
Maybe there's some spot deep down inside me that just itches for 60's music and Amy Winehouse was able to hit that spot. I don't know. Take her song "Tears Dry on Their Own", for example.
It's classic Winehouse sound. But perhaps you were expecting to hear this song instead:
It's funny, because I'm generally a sucker for someone with a good voice (see this post), but I don't feel like Amy really had a "good" voice. But she had such a distinctive sound, a kind of raw and gritty quality to her voice that really got me hooked. When I hear her singing it's just a natural sound for me - like I'm just talking with an old friend. Maybe I'm also just a sucker for a deeper voice, I don't know.
(Amy's not actually in this video, but it's her singing):
All I know is that Amy Winehouse made killer music. She had a rough life and in a way it's sort of comforting to know that her troubles are over. It's a shame that we won't get to hear any more music from her. May she rest in peace.
I'll leave you with a live version of what is probably my favorite Amy Winehouse song, "He Can Only Hold Her", in a mash-up with Lauryn Hill's "Doo-Wop (That Thing)":
"So he tries to pacify her, but what's inside her never dies"
amen sister friend, amen.
ReplyDeletecheck this article out, it made me feel happy in the face of mourning amy winehouse:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2011/07/27/138723250/10-soul-songs-that-let-the-light-in?sc=nl&cc=mn-20110728
There aren't words to describe how totally rad that article was. Also, you are rad. I like that you comment on my blog :)
ReplyDeleteIn fairness, Gaga's first two albums were really great and this most recent one (her third) is cheap and unoriginal.
ReplyDelete