I admit I never even knew who Amy Winehouse was when she was alive. How sad for me. But with all the publicity of her death, I went back and listened to Rehab and Back to Black and other songs and became enraptured with her music. She was an incredible singer with an amazing voice who sang from her soul. Her voice was bold, in your face, raw, and painful. And the photos of her from slim to emaciated, from confident and smiling to tense and afraid to the final video of her last concert breaks my heart. She was a young woman who had not found a way out of her addictions and time ran out before she had a plan.
I was also intrigued and slightly disgusted by all her tattoos, an art quite like graffiti - placing images where they don't belong (in my puritanical mind.) So this post is a tribute to Amy Winehouse and her tattoos.
I found a website that sells temporary tattoos of all the ones that Amy had.
http://www.tattoofashion.com/acatalog/Amy_Winehouse.html
They have a combo pack of her most prominent tattoos.
1. Amy's Girl
2. Daddy's Horseshoe
3. Cynthia
4. Fan Girl
5. Lightening Bolt
6. Love Hearts
7. Feather
8. Never Clip My Wings
9. Hello Sailor
10. Blakes
Online, I found a tattoo shop in Lancashire, UK that specializes in tattoo graffiti. So now I am learning about another type of graffiti after trying to come to grips with the kind on the wall. Now there is graffiti of the body as well.
http://www.skingraffititattoos.co.uk/
Last night I dreamed that I had tattoos on both arms with my name wrapped around my forearm in a black script like graffiti. In my dream, I had fallen asleep and woken up with the tattoos and was frantic to have them removed but couldn't figure out how. This is a dream worth interpreting.
Some info on dream interpretations ....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_interpretation
In conclusion, I would like to express my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Amy Winehouse. Having been around addiction for a good part of my life, I really feel for those that remain behind. Some people just never get it before it is too late. Her story reminds me of another great singer, Billie Holiday. She has always been my favorite.
Some info on Billie ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday
All the publicity focused on what Amy did, instead of why she did it. She was not comfortable in this world and I hope she can find peace in the next. Hopefully she will be remembered around the world not for how she lived, but the gifts she left us here on Earth.
http://www.amywinehouse.com/
and
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/07/amy-winehouse-an-appreciation.html
Added July 30th .....
great article from Russell Brand on Amy
http://www.russellbrand.tv/2011/07/for-amy/
Addiction is such an insidious thing. I went back and did a lot of research on Amy's life and it appears that she really has not been happy in this world a long time. Too bad she just never had the opportunity to spend some quality time i rehab, months and months. Think of the years it takes to get there. I keep hearing her say she doesn't have the time to go to rehab. I've heard that one before. RIP, Amy.
ReplyDeleteMy brother is in AA and NA and what I found out when I went to Alanon is that all the things our family did to try to "help" him actually hurt him. We thought by trying to fix things, take him in when he had no food or job, being patient, waiting would work ... but it didn't. It took years of therapy and Alanon for our family to do a real intervention and to realize we would not help him anymore. Helping was actually hurting. I thank God and Alanon for the lessons. To rid myself of the urge to help, my therapist explained we do all those helping things not for the addict but for ourselves, to stop the pain of seeing him that way. Once I realized my helping was only to help me and not him, I could stop doing it.
ReplyDeleteI never knew who Amy was, either, except for hearing her name mentioned at award shows. It's a tragic end. I learned a lot about her from your information. RIP, Amy.
ReplyDeleteMy sister was an addict until she died. So much of what passes for good information is just so wrong. Now the father of Amy Winehouse is saying she should have stopped alcohol slowly. That is rubbish. If someone has a severe alcohol addiction, the person must be monitored by a hospital or doctor and given medications to detox, but never given alcohol. I shudder to think of all the drunks who will follow this advice and never quit. Good post, Luh.
ReplyDeleteWe have all had someone we know and love that has an addiction problem. I do relate, Heather and Sarah. Jeanne, thank you for your comment. RIP, Amy, I am listening to Frank now on the CD player. She said she called the CD Frank for two reasons ... 1st, her love of Frank Sinatra and 2nd, she always wanted a one word album, frank (like honest)
ReplyDeleteListening to Frank over the last few days, I realize that I did remember Stronger than Me. Amy's voice then reminded me a bit of Minnie Riperton. Stronger than Me is a wonderful song.
ReplyDelete