Only Amy Winehouse could write the kind of lyrics she did. They were packed full of personality and powerful emotion. As evidence of that claim, check out the lyrics below. They are quintessentially Winehouse.
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3 Quintessential Amy Winehouse Lyrics
1. He walks away / The sun goes down / He takes the day, but I’m grown (I’m grown) / And in your way / In this blue shade / My tears dry on their own (“Tears Dry On Their Own”)
Many of Winehouse‘s lyrics are melancholic. She often sang about heartbreak and the lonelier sides of life. But, another throughline is her insistence (or ability) to deal with her problems on her own. In the lines above, she sang about drying her own tears. It’s still a sad song, but there is an edge of powerful self-confidence.
2. No, you ain’t worth guest list / Plus one of all them girls you kiss (all them girls) / You can’t keep lying to yourself like this (to yourself) / Can’t believe you played yourself like this (“Me & Mr Jones”)
Winehouse was never afraid to speak her mind. She wore her anger on her sleeve and let it flow out of her on “Me & Mr Jones.” She pulls no punches in these lyrics, telling off whomever the subject is at great length. Take the above lines as evidence of Winehouse’s fire.
3. ‘Cause there’s nothing / There’s nothing you can teach me / That I can’t learn from Mr. Hathaway (“Rehab”)
We couldn’t make this list without including some lyrics from Winehouse’s signature song, “Rehab.” The song helped catapult Winehouse into international stardom and, ironically, foreshadowed her fate. In the lines above, Winehouse explained her reasoning for not going to rehab by highlighting the musical and life lessons of fellow singer, Donny Hathaway.
Given her soul flare, it could be said that Winehouse took musical queues from Hathaway. Moreover, the “Love, Love, Love” singer died young from suicide. In another interpretation of these lines, Winehouse could have been using Hathaway’s story as a cautionary tale.
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