oh, but amy, you were so good: a review
Certain things fly across my radar and I get a visceral reaction. The release of “Amy” immediately captured my attention and I put it high on the list of things to do. From a style standpoint alone, the girl owned it. The bold winged eyeliner, bright lip color, piercings, tattoos and iconic hair along with her name plate necklace scripted “Amy Jade”. I could do an entire article on her style alone (see link at the end of this post) but it is ultimately the music that defines the artist.
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Amy Winehouse had that undeniable “it” factor that lived in her soul. Like other tragic musicians that met an untimely death tied to self destruction ~ Jim Morrison, Elvis, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Whitney Houston ~ the success was more than her own vulnerability could handle. I wanted to know more than what I was left with from media accounts on what took her on this path. No one’s life should be wrapped up into such a neat package of drugs and alcohol.
With an ability to go deep into the pain of love and loss creating prose that bridges an old soul’s wisdom with poignant cultural references of youth, Amy Winehouse was mastering the art of self expression.
I wish I could say no regrets,
And no emotional debts,
And as we kiss goodbye the sun sets,
So we are history,
The shadow covers me,
The sky above a blaze that only lovers see,
He walks away,
The sun goes down,
He takes the day but I’m grown,
And it’s ok,
In this blue shade,
My tears dry on their own.
Lyrics from Amy Winehouse ~ Tears Dry on Their Own
Amy used music to survive. Without it she said she’d go crazy and had sympathy for those who struggle with depression and an inability to find a release from the suffering. Her poetic lyrics are a lingering and ironic gift. The price she paid for fame involved an industry and people she loved that wanted nothing more than to keep her in that pain for their own self-serving interests and money. Yet, somewhere in there was just a girl growing up in a broken home that escaped into the world too young and her success became her downfall – as she herself predicted.
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With one child in camp and the other off on a sleepover, I suggested to my husband that we go see this documentary. Some necessary information was in order for Mark to agree that this is how we should spend our evening. I love the challenge of negotiations, especially when I win! Two reviews, one of which was from The Guardian, and he acquiesced. So often my husband and I are looking for a family cinema event and Amy did not meet the criteria. A heady documentary film may not have been what Mark was looking for initially but he thought it was well worth the experience. Left with not only plenty to discuss and reflect upon, neither of us will ever hear Amy’s music the same way. The story of her life is threaded into the prose and once you have a greater understanding of what prompted these songs, the new perspective offers another dimension to the music.
The filming and editing was superb as well. Watching the lyrics unfold before you on screen as the Amy’s raspy voice trip along with her own distinct inflections offer someone like myself who never saw her in concert, equally entertained in a very different way. So much music is processed and to see Winehouse in a studio where the instrumentals are muted and listen only to her voice, was indeed intoxicating. The story is told with accounts from her childhood friends, original manager, producers, Tony Bennett, and reels of footage from both awards shows, home movies, and interviews. No doubt, many people prefer not to watch a tale of self destruction, but I needed to not only honor my love of her music but empathize with Amy Winehouse if only for a couple of hours.
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This isn’t my first article on Amy. The first one I wrote was about a dress I requested from Kirribilla (while working at Hysteria) upon learning that Amy Winehouse wore it in concert. Perhaps I’m just another Anglophile who identifies with the struggles of insecurity and the fragility of the human spirit, but regardless, Amy Winehouse was a true artist and her story is much more than her tragic death.
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