On the week of what should have been the 37th Birthday for Amy Winehouse (all the cool kids were born in 1983) – I thought it was a fitting tribute to dedicate this weeks “New Tunes Tuesday” to one of the greatest musicians of my lifetime, and to one of the saddest stories resulting in the tragic loss of an incredible talent.
It’s difficult for me to pick a single song here – because I’m a huge fan of Amy Winehouse – it still saddens me to this day that we can’t witness her talent anymore. Amy had struggles in her life – mostly formed by her success, her family and her battles with alcohol and drugs – all of which seemed to go hand in hand for her, there was rarely one without the other – and it finally took its toll when she passed away in July 2011. The coroner reported a case of misadventure; Amy was found to have more than 5 times the legal limit of alcohol in her system, described as “fatal levels”.
Amy seems to have cast a memory for many people as a drunk, drug fuelled liability. Their memories (probably) consist of her Belgrade performance, where the press hounded her for being “drunk and out of control“. This was just a few weeks before she passed away – and it’s difficult to even comprehend the situation that she must have been in.
There’s an incredible documentary, “Amy“, which talks about her life, the success she had (and rightly so), and the struggles and influences in her life that ultimately ended in her tragic passing. I’d recommend you find it, and watch it, and appreciate Amy Winehouse for the talent that she was, and not the girl who was having her daemons publicly broadcast at every turn.
So, I’ve gone for one of my all time favourite songs from Amy Winehouse – “Take The Box” – It’s another song that casts my mind back to really good times in my life, and for that, I’m sharing it this week with you all.
It’s also a live performance, and I can’t encourage you enough to hit youtube and watch other live performances – because despite the image portrayed, Amy was just an incredible, incredible talent.
Amy Winehouse, Take The Box
I’ve a list of artists that I want to share with you on these weekly posts – and this won’t be the first artist that I share who sadly took their own life either from misadventure, or suicide (two very different terms), the likes of Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, to name but a few. So talented, and so misunderstood by people at the time – it seems we only really appreciate a raw talent when it’s too late.
If you’re a fan of Amy Winehouse why not check out artists such as Lianne La Havas, Erykah Badu and Aretha Franklin.
You can also follow our New Tunes Tuesday playlist on Spotify, if you wanted a playlist of all the tracks we add over the coming weeks, or check out previous new tunes Tuesday posts.
If you find yourself struggling, please, reach out and talk to someone. September saw World Suicide prevention day (10th) – and simply highlights the importance of understanding your feelings, and taking care of your own wellbeing and Mental Health. If you’re in need of someone to talk to immediately, please check out the lists of immediate help sources over at Dadvengers (which is not just for dads, or parents, these points of contact are for everyone)