A few weeks ago when I
saw Sam Smith perform "Tears Dry on Their Own" at Outside Lands, it
reminded me of how many hours and on several drives I listened to "Back to
Black". So over the weekend I was hella excited to watch "Amy",
a moving heartbreaking insight of the singer's life. The accounts from family
& friends reveal the tragedies and her non-sobering coping solutions when
dealing with fishbowl fame and male disappointments & opportunists. She once kicked it with
Mos Def and asked if he mind that she got high in which he responded,
"Amy, I don't mind you getting high, but I mind you getting high".
Its just too bad that shady males took advantage of Amy's desire for a loving
father daughter and inconvenient love, all for money and affording a drug
habit. Life can be a such a bitch.
As she sang her songs
during scenes, it showcased pieces of her poetry. When the lyrics flashed
on the big screen, it re-stunned me as I heard her unique ability to pen love
pains, "All I can ever be to you, is the darkness that we knew, and
this regret I've got accustomed to".What a fucking gangsta. So
pure and real the emotions she penned. Tony Bennett even mentioned that a real
Jazz singer only likes to perform to a small crowd. And from understanding the
experiences that Amy faced, that kind of intimate attention catches all the
sighs, the woes, the glossy iris, and the sincere vocals.
Being able to watch
"Amy" also reminded me of the same kind of love I have for Aaliyah as
August 25th marked her 14 year since her last breath. I LOVE Aaliyah.
She was real, polite, humble, herself, and had unique talent. And Amy Winehouse
embodied the same traits as an artist too. She didn't sell out her creativity
for corporate sponsors, and kept it 100. Like when she was
nominated for a Grammy for record of the year against Bey, Jay, RiRi and
Justin. She totally clowned when Justin's What Goes Around...Comes
Around was announced as a nominee as she mocked, "his record is
really named what goes around.
When the movie ended I
thought about her possibilities. If only her father gave a shit about Amy as
his daughter and really valued the love she desperately wanted from him. If
only her man loved her like the queen she was to him and didn't use her as his
financial pusha. And if only Tony Bennett were able to tell when he had the
chance that "Amy, you're too important to be doing this stuff", then
maybe she could've sang longer in a jazz club "just 'til these tears have
dried".
