Amy Winehouse RIP

[I-H-F]

I'm sure we all knew about her private life through the papers and such, but she did have an unique voice.

I wasn't a big fan, but I did like the song 'Back To Black'. My favourite though was 'Love Is A Losing Game'. Had she recorded more like that one, I would have definitely been into her music more.

RIP

[Elliot Kane]

I was never a fan, but it's always very sad when anyone loses their life needlessly - and especially so when that person is so young.

RIP.

[Jeff]

Yes an untimely death but it appears one she largely brought on herself.

[Simba]

Not being rude or anything, though it is sad and life is so precious and valuable to be lost at such a young age, the fact that they were responsible for it, makes it an 'expected' event, or something that would happen 'eventually'. I just hope youngsters these days realize the value of life and don't go into many malpractices...

[stevemacdonald]

Here in the USA Amy Winehouse was mainly known for the "Rehab" song, which makes her kind of a one hit wonder to us. Even with an armload of Grammy Awards she failed to make a big splash this side of the Atlantic. All the self-destruction that went on.... we've seen that too many times before, so maybe some fatigue is on display when you see us shrugging her demise off as just another sad, sad case.

[martindn]

Aug 4, 2011 10:35:34 GMT Jeff said:

Yes an untimely death but it appears one she largely brought on herself.

She has enormous sympathy from me, although I was never a fan of her music. This is what fame and fortune can do to someone who has talent, but is not emotionally and spiritually stable enough to cope with the pressures of a career in the cutthroat music industry. It isn't pretty is it?

There are many sad stories, Janis Joplin, Syd Barratt, and even our lovely, sensible, self-controlled Hayley came close. It seems nobody in the business is immune to those pressures. And I don't think anyone who hasn't been there can understand. I certainly don't.

Martin D

[Elliot Kane]

I agree with Martin.

***

I think Steve has a point, too, when he says a lot of people either haven't heard of her at all or barely heard of her in many places around the world. I know I don't put messages of condolence in threads for people I've never even heard of. It's just too awkward.

I didn't take the lack of responses in this thread as a lack of compassion, so much as very few people here really having any great idea of who she was.

***

Simba,

It was indeed a very expected and highly predicted event. But doesn't that make it MORE sad, in a way? That so many saw it coming, yet none could in any way prevent it?

[postscript]

Hi everyone.

That is life. There is great moral argument about our collective national resources being squandered pointlessly on people suffering self-inflicted injuries due to their chosen life-styles.

Amy may well have paid for medical attention privately but it is still a resource when others are queuing;
Her addiction is arguably an illness but she was knowledgeable to know that starting her habits opened the door to an inevitable journey;
In the early stages at least the alcoholic is sober and coherent at the time he takes his first drink, he has chosen his road;
In Africa thousands die sufferingly who are innocent and young;
Thousands died in the Japanese tsunami;
To quote John Donne (I think it is Devotions XVII) "Every man's death diminishes me for I am a part of mankind... No man is an island... Send not to know for whom the bell tolls it tolls for thee."
Most questionably of all, should we condemn Judas? Without Judas there would not be the betrayal of Christ and no crucifiction or Christian religion?
The Lord moves in mysterious ways and maybe her and her family's and friends' agonies are also their comfort, over time, that her example may have dissuaded many, comforted others and therein lies her redemption?

Just thoughts on a human tragedy. In one way or an other we are all sinners seeking salvation but not always knowing that is what we seek and need,

Peter S.

[fusilier23]

I think you dignify this too much with your sentiments, Peter. Your heart is in the right place, no question of that. However, the fact is that Amy chose her path, chose not to veer from it, and in the end it destroyed her. Drugs kill, that's well-known. Unfortunately, once you get hooked getting unhooked is very hard without very conscious effort. Amy chose not to exert that effort.

The child who dies today in the Sudan didn't choose to starve, he just had the bad luck to be born in an area where food is hard to come by. The patient who dies from pancreatic cancer today didn't bring it on himself, either it ran in his family or his cells went crazy for reasons not known. The soldier or the cop who takes a bullet today, or the fireman who gets crushed by a collapsing wall tonight might have known the risks, but maybe it was the best he could do jobwise, and he died protecting his fellow man.

Amy had none of these issues. She was wealthy, she was talented, and she was famous. She had the wherewithal to alleviate some of these problems, actually, if only financially. No one put the cup to her lips or the needle in her arm, she chose to do it, and in the end it killed her. Forgive me if I don't mourn for her any more than I mourn for the drunk who wraps his car around a utility pole or for the junkie who is found in an abandoned building with a needle in his arm. I don't give two cents about them as long as they don't take any of the rest of us down with them. The one thing I hope happens is that Amy answers to her Maker not only for her destructive lifestyle, but for squandering the talent she was blessed with, for from whom much is given to, much is expected.

[tireman]

Aug 5, 2011 17:27:10 GMT fusilier23 said:

I think you dignify this too much with your sentiments, Peter. Your heart is in the right place, no question of that. However, the fact is that Amy chose her path, chose not to veer from it, and in the end it destroyed her. Drugs kill, that's well-known. Unfortunately, once you get hooked getting unhooked is very hard without very conscious effort. Amy chose not to exert that effort.

The child who dies today in the Sudan didn't choose to starve, he just had the bad luck to be born in an area where food is hard to come by. The patient who dies from pancreatic cancer today didn't bring it on himself, either it ran in his family or his cells went crazy for reasons not known. The soldier or the cop who takes a bullet today, or the fireman who gets crushed by a collapsing wall tonight might have known the risks, but maybe it was the best he could do jobwise, and he died protecting his fellow man.

Amy had none of these issues. She was wealthy, she was talented, and she was famous. She had the wherewithal to alleviate some of these problems, actually, if only financially. No one put the cup to her lips or the needle in her arm, she chose to do it, and in the end it killed her. Forgive me if I don't mourn for her any more than I mourn for the drunk who wraps his car around a utility pole or for the junkie who is found in an abandoned building with a needle in his arm. I don't give two cents about them as long as they don't take any of the rest of us down with them. The one thing I hope happens is that Amy answers to her Maker not only for her destructive lifestyle, but for squandering the talent she was blessed with, for from whom much is given to, much is expected.

I find it very judgmental to vilify Ms Winehouse based on newspaper accounts of her life. I never heard her sing ; but also I never knew what was the cause of her bizarre behavior. Who knows what devils she was fighting in her mind. Most people that behave as she did are looking for acceptance or maybe only attention. Whatever the case I find no logical reason to come to such judgmental opinions on a fellow human being.
Larry

[Jeff]

I'll just say there's a tribute to her on BBC2 tonight at 10.35pm (but I'll probably listen to Nigel Kennedy on the Proms). I tend to agree with Fusilier. If you don't mind I'll reserve my greatest sympathy for those taken early through no fault of their own and I was listening to one such person last night : Eva Cassidy.

[Dave]

I have edited some posts in this thread that referred to what some people think was a presumptuous and perhaps insensitive comment (now removed).

Please try to make sure everyone that any further comments are unlikely to offend. Thanks!

Dave

[Elliot Kane]

I agree with Larry. None of us know what demons consumed Amy, nor why. Even what seems like 'the perfect life' from the outside may be nothing of the kind, if we only knew.

[nicola]

Life is grey; not black or white.

I felt no real sympathy for drug users, but listening to Sarah McLachlan's 'Angel' made me understand it a bit better. If people use drugs, there tends to be underlying reasons. I'm sure each and every one of us have been in so much mental pain and turmoil that we've wanted to shut our minds down to get away from it. I believe you should have strength and courage in those times, and not to turn to substance abuse, but some people are stronger than others - I'm not going to stand up on a balcony and look down on those not as fortunate as me. I don't know what it's like to be anyone else.

[fusilier23]

Thanks to Jeff for backing me, and I agree that what happened to Eva Cassidy (early death from melanoma) was a much bigger tragedy than this. No, we can't read minds and we don't know what anyone's personal demons are, but we can see what they do, and in the end that's the only thing that matters. It's not everyone's responsibility to "understand" everyone else, but it is everyone's responsibility to manage their personal demons and problems so they don't impact others, that's what living in a society is all about.