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By Thiago Mattos
TheSequitur.com Contributor
Aug. 20, 2007  Amy Winehouse performs at the Eurockéennes in Belfort, Territoire de Belfort, France on 29 June 2007. Photo from Wikipedia.
Amy Winehouse has been noticed because of her last album, Back to Black, and also because of her lifestyle, which seems to read straight from the rock ’n’ roll suicidal primer book. But hopefully, not for long.
The British singer, who has been featured frequently in the tabloids due to her seeming obsession with consciousness-altering chemicals, once again turned into a headline after spending three days allegedly mixing vodka, whiskey, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine (a veterinary anesthetic) and heroin. The aptly surnamed Winehouse entered into a hospital a couple of weeks ago in London after collapsing from a suspected overdose, followed up by spending her days recovering in a £3,000-a-night Four Seasons Hotel in the town of Hook, U.K. with medical assistance. From the looks of it, it seems that the overdose made Winehouse decide to reconsider saying no to ‘Rehab’.
From the looks of it, it seems that the overdose made Winehouse decide to reconsider saying no to ‘Rehab’.What follows is an exercise of volatile vacillation.
Winehouse appears to have been seriously threatened by her drug problems, leading her closer and closer to the edge. One of her most famous songs exposes her stubbornness in going to rehab: “No! No! No!,” insists the refrain, and that points out a big issue in her life. These issues obviously continue, as the press has been reporting conflicting accounts on whether or not she actually is institutionalized.
For the time being, she straddles the line between seeking help and sinking deeper in her self-destructive habits.In the past, she has refused treatment or medication for her obvious disorder. With such a fantastic second album and what seems to be a hopeful future in modern music, it is a shame that Winehouse seemed to be following the path of the late, great, drug-riddled musicians who also passed away far before their time. For the time being, she straddles the line between seeking help and sinking deeper in her self-destructive habits.
Winehouse, in a very spontaneous way, is able to mix her influences of hip hop, jazz and soul with desperate lyrics about love, betrayal and suffering, all in an incredibly natural and sincere way. As if she were one of the Sirens, one who sees her gets enchanted; one who hears her falls in love. But it is about time to stop with the problematic lifestyle.What we can do as fans of good music and the great artists is show how much we do care for the We sincerely hope that you can make the right decision and change the lyrics, Amy: “Yes! Yes! Yes!”welfare of those we admire. If Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix or John Bonham were still alive, creating music, would the face of music as a whole be completely transformed today? Perhaps not, but there is no doubt their absence left an artistic vacuum that can only be filled by a particular genius. Questions like that are the kind of inquiries for which Winehouse should seek answers. For a very gifted musician with her entire life ahead of her, we would all be at a loss if she went the way of Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin or even Karen Carpenter. Change the lyrics, Amy: “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
[TheSun No. 1, IOL, TheSun No. 2]
Thiago Mattos, a TheSequitur.com Editorial Board member-at-large, writes about Brazilian and world issues in his blog, Sangue de Barata, and is a founding member of Poesia & Cia, a Brazilian alternative magazine.
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