When Amy Winehouse passed away, was such a shocking moment. I remember being in Skopelos, for my Summer holidays, sitting in the patio, when I watched the news on TV. Shock! Every time I think of that moment, I can’t help but remember all the things that crossed my mind. How talented she was, how young, but her demons damaged her. Maybe though, she became a legend and wrote such great music thanks to them.
I have discovered her, back in 2007, when some friend told me listen to that album, meaning “Back to Black”. And the album became the soundtrack of that year. My iPod was filled with all of the tracks of the girl with that amazing voice, and the pin-up girl style. And her love story, her drug issues, her love for her dad, may not have made her look like any of us, but everyone could see that she was a human, and not the star managers and marketeers would want her to be.
What everyone will remember her for though, is her music. We have picked our top-10 Amy Winehouse tracks. And sure you will find other lists, but this is our favorite!
#10. Wake Up Alone
The track was originally featured in “Back to Black”, but its original recording was also featured in the album “Lioness: Hidden Treasures”, which was released a few months after her death in December 2011. It describes a day in her life, where a woman has to stay occupied so as not to think. She wakes up alone, she cleans the house “at least I’m not drinking”. A day in Amy’s life!
#9. Our Day Will ComeThis was also featured in her last album. But like most of the tracks, it was a cover of the 1963 hit of Ruby & The Romantics, dating back in 1963. Interesting info is that the song was first recorded for Winehouse’s debut album “Frank” of 2003.
#8. Fuck Me Pumps
It was released as the fourth track of “Frank”. The term “fuck-me pumps” or “FMPs” is a slang expression for sexy women’s shoes, particularly those featuring bare heels. In the video Amy is wearing such a pair of shoes, criticising these kind of women, with whom she had definitely nothing in common.
#7. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?Originally recorded by The Shirelles, this song was listed in no.126 in Rolling Stone’ s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was recorded by Amy Winehouse in 2004, for the “Bridget Jones’ Diary” and featured in the “Lioness: Hidden Treasures”. One of the most heat-melting songs of Amy!
#6. Stronger than MeThis is how it all started. With “Stronger Than Me”. The video is like an omen of her relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil. Bars, drunk people, fights. She was so much more than that. But she the best example of the artist, whose music was describing her life. In every way.
#5. Valerie
In 2007, Mark Ronson released an album of cover versions with a retro-inspired sound, for which he joined forces with many artists. How could Amy not be present in her producer’s album? For Rolling Stone, it was her only “notable recording” after “Back To Black”.
#4. You Know I’m No Good
Released as the second single of “Back To Black”, Amy Winehouse states the obvious “You Know That I’m No Good”. The song made it to #2 of The Best Songs of 2007 list of Entertainment Weekly. The lyrics describe an on-and-off relationship of a woman, incapable of staying faithful to her man, no matter what.
#3. Rehab
For the most it’s her best. But this list is kind of personal. This song pretty much sums up the loves of her life, Ray (Charles), her daddy, her addictions and refer to her refusal to enter a rehabilitation clinic. It’s her signature song, but let us have our own opinion. You have to read though, what ROnson has said of how this song was created.
“I was walking down the street with Amy. We were in New York and we’d been working together for about a week and we were walking to some store. She wanted to buy a present for her boyfriend and she was telling me about a specific time in her life that was…. I feel bad, like, talking about a friend like this, but I think I’ve told this story enough times…. but she hit, like, a certain low and her dad came over to try and talk some sense into her. And she was like, “He tried to make me go to rehab and I was like, ‘Pfft, no no no.'” And the first thing I was like, “ding ding ding ding ding.” Like, I mean I’m supposed to be like, “How was that for you?” and all I’m like is, “We’ve got to go back to the studio.”
#2. Love Is A Losing Game
A song for all heart brokens. It was the last single released, while she was still alive. The whole song is a huge extended metaphor and references to love being a game pop up in almost every line.
“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”
#1. Back To Black
This song refers to another break-up of her and Blake Fielder-Civil. He had left her for an ex-girlfriend, and she just went “Back t Black”. Black could either refer to drinking and depression, but it is most likely to refer to heroin. Add to that that “Black” is the second most common street name for heroin in LA. The video shows the funeral of “The heart of Amy Winehouse”. Another song about the heart-brokens. Another signature Amy Winehouse song.
And let’s add to these, a live performance of Amy Winehouse with Paul Weller, performing “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”.
