Amy Winehouse
These are the singer’s five best-known hits
Amy Winehouse died on July 23, 2011.
© Paul Smith / Featureflash 2007 / ImageCollect
Amy Winehouse’s songs are still present ten years after her death. These are the stories behind their greatest hits.
July 23rd marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Amy Winehouse (1983-2011). Her unique voice makes the iconic singer unforgettable to this day. What makes their songs special: Usually there is a personal, sometimes tragic, story behind them, which is often about their love life. Five of her best known songs are “Back To Black”, “Rehab”, “You Know I’m No Good”, “Tears Dry On Their Own” and “Stronger Than Me”. What is behind the lyrics?
“Back To Black”
The best known song by Amy Winehouse is “Back To Black” (2007). It is about the end of the toxic relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil (39), with whom she was married from 2007 to 2009. The singer’s ex-husband himself admitted to introducing her to hard drugs like heroin and crack. The song tells that Fielder-Civil returned to his ex while Amy Winehouse suffered from severe lovesickness. “We just said ‘goodbye’ to each other. I’ve died a hundred times. You go back to her and I go back to the black,” says the chorus.
“Rehab”
Amy Winehouse had alcohol and drug problems. Her song “Rehab” (2006) is about her refusal to go to rehab. Nick Shymansky, who was her manager from 1999 to 2006, said in 2015 in an interview with “The Guardian” about the song: “The whole world is dancing to it and in reality she was writing about a decision that would lead to her death five years later.”
He argued with Winehouse about taking her to a clinic. When the two parted ways, Shymansky was “not only no longer her manager, she had also written this huge hit, which is undeniably brilliant, which completely mocked our friendship and what it needed”. “Rehab” marked the international breakthrough for Amy Winehouse – she won three Grammys for it.
“You Know I’m No Good”
“I cheated on myself like I knew I would. I told you I was in trouble. You know I’m no good.” This is the chorus of the song “You Know I’m No Good” (2007), which is about her own infidelity in her relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil. “You say: ‘When we are married …’ – because you are not bitter – ‘… it will no longer exist'”, she sings in the verse, among other things.
“Tears Dry On Their Own”
It’s also about a love affair: “I was with someone I couldn’t really be with and I knew it wouldn’t last,” Amy Winehouse once said of the song “Tears Dry On Their Own.” “(2006) in conversation with the” BBC “. “So we are history, your shadow covers me, the sky above is in flames,” she sings in the bridge.
“Stronger Than Me”
“Stronger Than Me” (2003) is also about love again – but this time to her ex-boyfriend Chris Taylor. It can be assumed that many of the songs on the singer’s first album, “Frank” (2003), deal with the on-off relationship between the two. In the song, Winehouse accuses him of not being “man enough” for her. In doing so, she sparked a debate about gender roles at the time. “You should be stronger than me,” she sings about. “Don’t you know you should be the man?” The lines “I always have to comfort you, (…) but that’s what you have to do” and “All I need is for my husband to live up to his role” show how the singer spoke of her role at the time Relationship thought.