Monday, July 25, 2011

A flame

For us she was a flame. Daughter of a cab driver. Voice of a soul siren. Heart of a lonesome poet. Amy Winehouse came into our collective consciousness a blaze of behemoth beehives and tawdry tattoos. But once we heard that voice we knew, we knew we’d been given a gift. That delicious ache, that raw nerve, that naked vulnerability. She was at once something so fresh yet so familiar. True talent always is.

Her troubles were no secret, those that kept her off the stage and in the tabloids. But we never really knew her demons, those that drove her to wring beauty out of pain. Or those deeper ones that took her away from us all too soon. So much written about her during her life was almost cautionary – my own words included. Still others mocked her mercilessly as the punchline to her own life. Those who make sport of others suffering found an easy target. Yet when it happened, somehow, it still felt like a shock to me. And, Jesus, was I gutted.

Gone at 27, that supposedly haunted age for our golden gods of music. Jimi. Janis. Jim. Kurt. And now Amy. Those who burned too hot and too fast and are now forever subject to the task-tsking of history. But this is no time for I told you so’s. Such talent. Such talent, gone.

I feel so much for the people who loved her and the people who tried to help. But I also feel a profound loss for all of us. It’s selfish, so selfish. But, my God, the music we're missing. The songs. The sass. The slur of unapologetic humanity. We won’t be able to see what would come next. What wonders awaited. What she would woo us with, all over again. Not too long ago, I told a friend I felt like I had been waiting for a new Amy Winehouse album my entire life. That it will never come seems incomprehensible. Cruel, even. Though I supposed we should be thankful that we had her at all. And, for her voice, there will be no final frame. It lives on forever. Find peace, darling bird. Thank you for the music.

26 comments:

  1. From someone who's cried all weekend over the loss... thank you.

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  2. Anonymous2:58 AM

    What cuts me up the most about this tragic loss of a young life is that, at the end of the day, she was someone's daughter.

    RIP Amy. Condolences to her family.

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  3. Anonymous3:22 AM

    thank you, amy, and may you find peace.

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  4. Anonymous3:29 AM

    I remember your blog that said we wait for the day we wake up with the news "she is gone". So easily said but so right,And the the trite gruesome words that expound she is just one of the "27 club". Have we lost ourselves here when we can let go of lights in our society, when we cavalierly allow these losses to happen. Without these lights are we a little bit more cheapened anf the really sad thing is i wonder if we FULLY realise the loss to our humanity.
    How much beauty can we afford to lose?

    Lynne Hand





    '

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  5. will do indeed miss her voice...
    her music...
    her talent...
    her weirdness...

    I never cared much about her personal life even tho its often been on front page of magazines... not my house not my business... however... her family cared about her nd they will be the ones to miss her most !
    Her music was pure love ! her music IS pure love !

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  6. I was unaware of this news until I read this post this morning. It is a very sad thing to start your morning off to. She was a truly gifted talent and I mourn the loss of a life that brought so much comfort to some people. I know that there will be plenty of people who will miss her and her music but my heart goes out to her family who like us waited for the morning where they find out "she is gone".

    Amy may you rest in peace and know that you will be missed by many!

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  7. Anonymous4:14 AM

    Thank you for finding those lovely words while I still struggle with speechlessness.

    Amy, thank you so much for your wonderful music! You changed the music world and certainly my own.
    I hope you finally found peace!

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  8. so very, very sad.

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  9. Anonymous5:43 AM

    Thank-you DS, thank-you. This tragic, needless death has highlighted the very ugly side of human nature. I'll no longer frequent a site I did several times a day due to the callousness & vitriol aimed at this poor lost soul.

    Compassion costs nothing.

    Thanks for the music Amy, it will live forever. Peace x

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  10. Dorothy,
    Yours is the obituary that has meant the most.
    It's spoken the truth.
    Amy was a wonder of nature, a wonderful talent, and a horrible waste.
    I'll miss her, though I didn't know her. I'm sad she'll make no more music.
    Thanks DS, for not trivializing this awful event
    Xxx

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  11. As usual, so well said. Feeling very selfish that "we" lost her, but saddest for her family and friends who knew this day would eventually come.
    RIP Amy. No more pain.

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  12. What a tragedy. I too felt compelled to write a post in remembrance. Amy is very much missed. The outpouring of love that she didn't have enough of during her too short life is flooding over the internet now, overwhelming the minority of cruel voices that belittled her. I favourited her song "Back to Black" on her Vevo YouTube channel too.

    Thank you for posting the lovely song and the tribute to her. She will be missed.

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  13. Anonymous9:36 AM

    Another self involved drug addict lost to self indulgence.

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  14. This news took me instantly back to the time I learned of Janis Joplin's death. I was an ardent fan and it felt so tragic.

    I felt that pang again when I heard of Ms. Winehouse's passing.

    Condolences to her family.

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  15. I hope that all who feel like they can safely snark about "self-indulgence" with the protection of anonymity aren't so callous that they wouldn't offer support to a relative or close friend who was suffering with addiction. Amy's illness was as vicious and treatment-resistant as any other. May she rest in peace.

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  16. ... This. Just... this.

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  17. Anonymous1:48 PM

    Russell Brand wrote a nice piece as well, and I heard there is new music coming out soon.

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  18. Lucretialive2:23 PM

    A(my)men... what a woman.
    May she find the life she lost and live it happily forever after

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  19. Anonymous3:18 PM

    Thank you so much for posting this, seriously. I'm so sick of signing on-line and reading all these hateful comments about her deserving it or being a whore or whatever. It's so fucked up and so wrong. Somebody DIED. Somebody that was not only an amazingly talented singer, but who was genuinely a good person before her addiction got the best of her. It makes me so angry how cruel people can be in a time like this, so thank you. Thank you for this beautiful tribute towards one of the finest singers that ever graced us with her voice.

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  20. tlsintx4:31 PM

    I remember the very first time I heard her sing.
    Farewell dear girl. I'm so sorry.
    Thank you Snarker.

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  21. Anonymous6:13 PM

    That was the most beautful reaction I have heard.. Thank you

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  22. Victoria T8:13 PM

    I'm still crying...! Thank you, Dorothy, for a beautiful, heartfelt piece.

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  23. Ang7159:57 PM

    Beautiful words for something so heartbreaking. From you, I would expect nothing less, Ms. Snarker.

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  24. Anonymous1:48 AM

    Thank you. It hadn't sunk in yet, not really, but your words made it real for me. I was never a fan but I respected her music and her person. Thank you for your words. Tears, finally.

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  25. Anonymous9:09 AM

    Over the weekend, my girlfriend and I made a tribute to Amy. My girlfriend sings a medley of Amy's songs and I mixed it up. My girlfriend is a huge fan and I was just beginning to get to know her work in the past year. In the process of making this, I began to further appreciate Amy's work and also, be further at a loss over those battling demons such as addiction. All I can hope for is more honesty, compassion, and just general caring. All life is special and my aunt lost the battle a few years ago but somehow Amy's youth and talent makes it more tragic.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWDepjYOZxw

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  26. Thanks so much for your beautiful words regarding Amy. I was sickened to hear of her tragic death and more sickened by the heartless potshots on the internet about her passing. She will be missed, such a lovely, talented, beautiful, wounded woman. It really broke my heart.
    Thanks again.
    RIP Amy Winehouse

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