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Fascinating, rebellious, a lover of drugs and alcohol. No, this is not the portrait of a punk rocker yelling out their anger to the world with a raspy voice. It is rather a soul singer with a splendid voice and a punk rocker lifestyle.
Amy Winehouse was born in England to a family of jazz musicians and spent her adolescence in London's Southgate district. She grew up listening to various musical genres and received her first guitar at the age of thirteen. At sixteen, she debuted as a professional singer for Island/Universal. As early as 2004, critics took notice of her, granting her flattering reviews that, however, did not translate into equally significant sales.
Two years later, after a period of depression likely due to drug abuse and eating disorders, she returns to the scene with many pounds less, many more tattoos, and a new album destined this time to win over not just the critics, but the public as well.
"Back to Black." Eleven tracks ranging from the fifties atmospheres that come alive in "Me And Mr. Jones" and "Wake Up Alone" to ballads like "Love Is a Losing Game" (really beautiful) and some black incursions (as the album title suggests). A mix of Jazz, Blues, R & B, and Soul songs written and performed by one of the most sensual voices I have had the chance to hear in recent years.
The final result is delightful, an album that never bores and proves incredibly original despite its numerous nods to her "masters." This "Back to Black" would sound current on fifties' gramophones, yet it sounds just as current on 2007 CD players where sonic clarity sweeps away crackles and pops, and suggestive verses give way to more explicit lyrics. Some songs are so well-crafted that they feel immediately familiar, leading one to ask: "Where have I heard this before?"
Apart from being pleasantly surprised by the quality of the tracks, you might also be disoriented upon discovering that this splendid voice with a slightly guttural timbre belongs not to a big black singer but to a slender 24-year-old girl of Jewish origin.
It may not be one of those albums we’ll remember forever, but the fact remains that it's impossible to remain indifferent in front of a high-quality product like this, especially in an era where only the image matters (something many of her peers know well).
This girl born in '83 relied on her talent and was right.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Rehab (03:34)
They tried to make me go to rehab but I said no, no, no
Yes I been black but when I come back you'll know, know, know
I ain’t got the time
And if my daddy thinks I’m fine
Just tried to make me go to rehab but I won’t go, go, go
I’d rather be at home with Ray
I ain’t got seventy days
'Cause there’s nothing, nothing you can teach me
That I can’t learn from Mr. Hathaway
I didn’t get a lot in class
But I know it don’t come in a shot glass
They tried to make me go to rehab but I said no, no, no
Yes I been black but when I come back you'll know, know know
I ain’t got the time
And if my daddy thinks I’m fine
Just tried to make me go to rehab but I won’t go, go, go
The man said why you think you here?
I said I got no idea
I’m gonna, I'm gonna lose my baby
So I always keep a bottle near
He said I just think you’re depressed
This me, yeah baby, and the rest
They tried to make me go to rehab but I said no, no, no
Yes I been black but when I come back you'll know, know know
I don’t ever want to drink again
I just, ooh I just need a friend
I’m not gonna spend ten weeks
And have everyone think I'm on the mend
And it’s not just my pride
It’s just 'til these tears have dried
They tried to make me go to rehab but I said no, no, no
Yes I been black but when I come back you'll know, know know
I ain’t got the time
And if my daddy thinks I’m fine
Just tried to make me go to rehab but I won’t go, go, go
02 You Know I'm No Good (04:17)
Meet you downstairs in the bar and heard
Your rolled up sleeves and your skull t-shirt
You say, "What did you do it with him today?"
And sniff me out like I was Tanqueray
Cause you're my fella, my guy
Hand me your Stella and fly
By the time I'm out the door
You tear me down like Roger Moore
I cheated myself
Like I knew I would
I told you, I was trouble
You know that I'm no good
Upstairs in bed with my ex boy, He’s in the place but I can't get joy
Thinking of you in the final throes, This is when my buzzer goes
Run out to meet you, chips and Pita; You say "When we're married" cause you're not bitter
There'll be none of him no more, I cried for you on the kitchen floor
[Chorus]
Sweet reunion, Jamaica and Spain; We're like how we were again
I'm in the tub, You on the seat; Lick your lips as I soak my feet
Then you notice little carpet burn, My stomach drops and my guts churn
You shrug and it's the worst to truly stuck the knife in first
I cheated myself like I knew I would
I told you I was trouble, you know that I'm no good
I cheated myself, like I knew I would
I told you I was trouble, yeah, You know that I'm no good
04 Just Friends (03:13)
When will we get the time to be just friends?
It's never safe for us,
Not even in the evening cause I've been drinking
Not in the morning when your shit works,
It's always dangerous
When everybody's sleeping and I've been thinking,
Can we be alone
Can we be alone
When will we get, the time to be, just friends
When will we get, the time to be, just friends
And no I'm not ashamed,
But the guilt will kill you,
If she don't first
I'll never love you like her
Thought we need to find a time to just do this shit together
For it gets worse,
I want to touch you,
But that just hurts
When will we get, the time to be, just friends
When will we get, the time to be just friends, just friends
When will we get, the time to be, just friends
When will we get, the time to be, just friends
05 Back to Black (04:01)
He left no time to regret
Kept his dick wet
With his same old safe bet
Me and my head high
And my tears dry
Get on without my guy
You went back to what you knew
So far removed from all that we went through
And I tread a troubled track
My odds are stacked
I'll go back to black
We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to
I go back to earth
I love you much
It's not enough
You love blow and I love puff
And life is like a pipe
And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside
We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to
We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to
Black, black, black, black, black, black, black
I go back to
I go back to
We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to
We only said good-bye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to black
06 Love Is a Losing Game (02:35)
For you I was a flame
Love is a losing game
Five story fire as you came
Love is a losing game
One I wish I never played
Oh, what a mess we made
And now the final frame
Love is a losing game
Played out by the band
Love is a losing hand
More than I could stand
Love is a losing hand
Self professed profound
Till the chips were down
Know you’re a gambling man
Love is a losing hand
Though I battle blind
Love is a fate resigned
Memories mar my mind
Love is a fate resigned
Over futile odds
And laughed at by the Gods
And now the final frame
Love is a losing game
07 Tears Dry on Their Own (03:06)
All I can ever be to you is a darkness that we knew
And this regret I got accustomed to
Once it was so right
When we were at our height
Waiting for you in the hotel at night
I knew I hadn't met my match
But every moment we could snatch
I don’t know why I got so attached
It’s my responsibility
You don’t owe nothing to me
But to walk away I have no capacity
He walks away the sun goes down
He takes the day but I’m grown
And in your way
In this blue shade
My tears dry on their own
I don’t understand
Why do I stress a man
When there’s so many bigger things at hand
We could've never had it all
We had to hit a wall
So this is inevitable withdrawal
Even if I stop wanting you
and perspective pushes true
I’ll be some next man’s other woman soon
I cannot play my self again
Should just be my own best friend.
Not fuck myself in the head with stupid men
He walks away the sun goes down
He takes the day but I’m grown
And in your way
In this blue shade
My tears dry on their own
So we are history,
Your shadow covers me
The sky above ablaze
He walks away the sun goes down
He takes the day but I’m grown
And in your way
In this blue shade
My tears dry on their own
I wish I could say no regrets
And no emotional debt
Cause as we kiss goodbye the sun sets
So we are history
A shadow covers me
The sky above ablaze
That only lovers see
He walks away the sun goes down
He takes the day but I’m grown
And in your way
My blue shade
My tears dry on their own
He walks away the sun goes down
He takes the day but I am grown
And in your way
My deep shade
My tears dry on their own
He walks away the sun goes down
He takes the day but I'm grown
And in your way
My deep shade
My tears dry
08 Wake Up Alone (03:42)
It's okay in the day I'm staying busy
Tied up enough so I don't have to wonder: Where is he ?
Got so sick of crying
So just lately
When I catch myself I do a 180
I stay up clean the house
At least I'm not drinking
Run around just so I don't have to think about thinking
That silent sense of content
That everyone gets
Just disappears soon as the sun sets
This face in my dreams seizes my guts
He floods me with dread
Soaked in soul
He swims in my eyes by the bed
Pour myself over him
Moon spilling in
And I wake up alone
If I was my heart
I'd rather be restless
The second I stop the sleep catches up and I'm breathless
This ache in my chest
As my day is done now
The dark covers me and I cannot run now
My blood running cold
I stand before him
It's all I can do to assure him
When he comes to me
I drip for him tonight
Drowning in me we bathe under blue light
His face in my dreams seizes my guts
He floods me with dread
Soaked in soul
He swims in my eyes by the bed
Pour myself over him
Moon spilling in
And I wake up alone
And I wake up alone
And I wake up alone
And I wake up alone
09 Some Unholy War (02:22)
If my man was fighting
Some unholy war
I would be behind him
Straight shook up beside him
With strength he didn't know
It's you I'm fighting for
He can't lose with me in tow
I refuse to let him go
At his side and drunk on pride
We wait for the blow
We put it in writing
But who you writing for
Just us on kitchen floor
Justice done,
Reciting my stomach standing still
Like you're reading my will
He still stands in spite of what his scars say
I'll battle till this bitter finale
Just me, my dignity and this guitar case
Yes my man is fighting some unholy war
And I will stand beside you
Who you fighting for
B - I would have died too
I'd of liked to
If my man was fighting
Some unholy war
If my man was fighting
10 He Can Only Hold Her (02:48)
He can only hold her for so long
The lights are on, but no one's home
She's so vacant, her soul is taken
He thinks, "What she's running from?"
How can he have her heart
When it got stole
So he tries to pacify her
Cause what's inside her never dies
Even if she's content in his warmth
She is pained with urgency
Searching kisses, the man she misses
The man that he longs to be
Now, how can he have her heart
When it got stole
So he tries to pacify her
Cause what's inside her never dies
So he tries to pacify her
Cause what's inside her, it never dies, woah
So he tries to pacify her
But what's inside her never dies
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Other reviews
By azzo
The songs are all predictable, devoid of any originality, heard at least a thousand times coming out of Arnold’s jukebox.
Perfect stuff for Radio Deejay at ten in the morning.
By Deviljin
Artists like Amy Winehouse are a mirror of this society driven by appearances, and the success she obtained is normal, given the mentality of today’s youth.
I find her voice too excessive to the point of being ridiculous in some parts, and don’t tell me she has a unique tone and is innovative.
