Amy Winehouse

I don't really know how to word this in a fancy way, but I find it interesting that a person who made soul music that felt like a modern/classic fusion is so belovedly missed when their style hasn't been mimicked in any way since they've left us. Soul music (at least in America) is no more popular today, we have no pop stars making anything similar in tone, but it feels like we miss her, and that sound, and it feels like a movie like this affirms that in some way.

Like, if someone who didn't know who Amy Winehouse was sees the film and then listens to her music and then learns about who she was and then what she did, how are they supposed to feel? Sad that they weren't around to see someone they never knew? How can she really even be gone if we constantly have the ability to watch videos on YouTube and listen to her music? Shes left us but left behind a phantom in a way.

edit: This seems bitchily worded in hindsight lol mb.

On July 23, 2011, Amy Winehouse passed away in her Camden home in London. She was only 27 years old. In those 27 years, she delivered 2 excellent albums that define her artistry. Frank and Back to Black are the only albums Amy released in her lifetime.

Frank is the debut album that showed that Amy was not a product of her time. In a time where pop, rock, and rap were the go-to genres for up-and-coming artists, Amy took a different approach. By crafting an album with a mixture of jazz and hip hop, Amy was a unique artist with her sound. "Stronger Than Me", "Take the Box", "You Sent Me Flying", "October Song", and "Mr. Magic (Through the Smoke)" are the highlights from Frank. It was clear Amy was destined for great success in her music career. No one, not even Amy could've imagined the monumental success her follow-up album would bring.

Back to Black would be the album that would catapult Amy's career to an unprecedented level. Amy would introduce a sound that would define the sound of the mid to late 2000s. The 60s girl group sound was prominent throughout the album with blends of ska, R&B, and soul. Once again, Amy took a different approach both musically and aesthetically. Her signature beehive hair and tattoos were a significant departure from the polished image of artists in the mid-2000s. The themes of heartbreak, depression, and substances are present lyrically. It's a dark album that is masked behind an upbeat sound. This is clearly heard on the title track, "You Know I'm No Good", "Tears Dry On Their Own", "He Can Only Hold Her", and infamously, "Rehab". Every song on this album is a highlight. Amy was truly at her best but it was derived from horrible circumstances that affected her personally. This would get worse in the midst of the success of Back to Black.

Amy was subjected to nonstop media scrutiny. Her personal life was an open door for tabloids to invade and ridicule. It is disgusting to see how she was treated and humiliated during her time when she was alive. Now, the tone has changed to nonstop praises from the same media platforms that openly publicized her flaws.

The first time I heard of Amy was when I returned from a trip to Ecuador in August 2011. In my cousin's coffee table, there was a magazine that was remembering Amy. Her image captivated me. I recall seeing the cover of Back to Black in music stores but never got around to listening until a year after Amy's death. It was there that I wanted to know more about Amy. I was shocked to see how badly she was treated in the media. She was in a vulnerable position surrounded by people who never had her best interest. I always wondered what Amy would be doing if she was alive today. I believe by now we would've gotten more music from her. It would've been amazing to hear an album that was a mix between her two albums. She could've gone with a new sound. The possibilities are endless. I can wholeheartedly say that Amy defined my high school years for me. Specifically, sophomore and junior year. I hope Amy is at peace but it is still hard to believe that one of my favorite singer-songwriters is no longer here to witness a new generation of fans adore her and her music.

Rest in peace, Amy, you deserved better in this world but you will always be loved.

This Sub doesn't let you post something unless you have at least 200 words. And I'm not sure I need that many because the title covered everything I wanted to ask about. You can ignore this part of the post because it isn't really adding to my question at all, and is just here to meet the minimum requirements. Thank you for your consideration, I hope you enjoy the remainder of your day. And I hope that this is enough.

Nope that was only 80. So now I'm thinking it probably only asked for 200 characters. And I'm definitely over 200 so I think I'll give it a shot.

On the other hand, have already been rejected twice and I wonder if it'll ban me or something if I get rejected again for trying to post a comment that is too short and what the auto mod considers to be not well thought out. But then again, there's also the chance that my posts are actually getting rejected because they're referring to mental illness and this post doesn't want to acknowledge that even though music seems like a pretty good way for our people to express their struggles with it. Anyway, I don't want to get into that. I just wanted to get to 200. And I think I'm there.

It's hard to believe: this July, it will have been 10 years since Amy Winehouse died in her home of alcohol poisoning. I think it's fair to say that I and many fellow Brits feel a sense of guilt over this: she was young and a drug addict, but rather than receiving sympathy she became the nation's running joke. The most talented British vocalist since the 1960s, and we let the tabloids chew her up and spit her out. Of course, Amy was also a victim of herself: she had a taste for awful men; she let herself fall into the drink. But the spotlight was unnecessarily cruel to someone so young.

The discography she left behind is pitifully thin: two studio albums (w/extras) plus one posthumous. Obviously the latter can be discounted: have any of those scrapped together post-tragedy albums ever been good? Frank is trickier to dismiss, but it's still more "interesting" than accomplished. "You Sent Me Flying" and "Fuck Me Pumps" are two gems buried amongst the clutter, but on the whole Frank is directionless and occasionally quite nasty.

And then there's Back to Black: a masterpiece that ranks amongst the greatest albums of the 2000s.

The most obvious and vital change since Frank is the arrival of Mark Ronson as a producer. He described Winehouse as his "musical soulmate" after her death, and it's hard to dispute: Back to Black is by far the finest project either artist has worked on. Him having found her sound in a fresh and organic take on contemporary R&B (and Salaam Remi having followed suit), Amy was now able to come into herself as an artist.

Her secret was the same as Kurt Cobain's and Dusty Springfield's: she felt emotion so deeply that they bled into the music. "Rehab" paints a portrait of a woman who feels heartbreak so intensely that she has to numb it with drink. "You Know That I'm No Good" is punctuated by the complex guilt and self-loathing of the cheater. All the love songs here feel real, as if Amy had been through a break-up on the same day that she was off to the studio. The apex comes with the one-two knock out of the title track and "Love is a Losing Game". The former sounds as much 1959 as it does 2006. The latter sounds eternal.

Fifteen years later, and two songs could trick you into thinking that Amy was going to be alright in the end: the cathartic "Tears Dry on Their Own" ("I should just be my own best friend/Not fuck myself in the head with stupid men") and the jubilant "Addicted" (better to get high than drink yourself to death). They make me wonder what she could have achieved if she'd been given the time to mature: she definitely sounds like a woman with at least a couple more great albums in her. But in light of tragic circumstance, switch instead to BTB's worthy bonus disc, featuring her beautifully mellow take on "Valerie" and other nearly-as-superb covers. It ends with a demo of "Love is a Losing Game" that's almost too painful (the recording ends with Amy nonchalantly asking "Is that alright?").

For all Back to Black's influence, no-one since has sounded like Amy. She was a rebel with a heart of gold, a genius who packed more soul into her recordings than any of her successors. We can only hope that the world will be kinder to next singer of her calibre.

On 23 July 2011, . She passed away at her Camden home seven years ago today.

So, let's celebrate her life, her soul and her music. Share your favourite Amy songs, videos and stories below.

May her legacy live on forever. 🌹