A memoir of the late singer Amy Winehouse’s diaries, notes, photos, poems and lyrics from her youth has just been published in the UK, providing a vivid picture of the female artist, The Guardian reported.
It has been 12 years since the bright star of the British jazz scene passed away, but her music and melodies are still present and inherited by many artists. From Lana Del Rey, Sam Smith, Lady Gaga to Bruno Mars, Adele… all acknowledge Amy Winehouse as the “pioneer” to enter the door of their music.
Amy Winehouse and her new work
Amy Winehouse Foundation and Amazon
Before her death, Winehouse had achieved many of the honors she would have loved to have as a young woman. She was famous, successful and respected not only by her peers but also by the artists who had inspired her from the beginning. Missy Elliott and Timbaland were keen to work with her, and the late Tony Bennett compared her to the legendary Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday.
A perfectionist who hated looking back, the artist’s notes tell us more about an individual who was always private and kept her personal life private.
In the preface to In Her Words, Amy’s parents wrote of her as an extremely serious artist who guarded her work closely and only released it when she saw it was complete and as well-processed as possible.
The collection also includes candid photos, notes about herself, to-do lists, unfinished song lyrics, school essays, and childhood photos…
Her parents have revealed that Winehouse accidentally killed her pet hamster. There are also “mind maps” about friendships she made at school, as well as lyrics to a superhero cat named Buff Cat.
One of Amy Winehouse’s childhood drawings
Amy Winehouse Foundation
Amy Winehouse’s wishes
In the first part, readers also see her dream as a very normal young girl, when she wants to own a house next to the beach in Miami, 300 pairs of shoes, beautiful hair…
She also seems to love being an actress more than a songwriter. She revealed that she wants to work with Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi and “make a movie where I look really ugly”. However, she also wishes to collaborate with the world’s top producers like Timbaland or artists full of personality like Missy Elliott.
Amy Winehouse as a child and a card to her parents
Amy Winehouse Foundation
This is a somewhat innocent work by a relatively young and naive Amy. So since her debut album Frank was released in 2003, the notes have gradually decreased and she has entered adulthood.
Images play a big role here. Winehouse often captions her family photos, or draws portraits of herself with her hair down and imagining herself as a “waffle waitress”.
It can be said that her diary does not include thoughts, but only the trivial things from the life around her. There are also lyrics to the songs Tears Dry on Their Own and Love Is a Losing Game from the extremely famous album Back to Black (2006), written in neat, feminine handwriting.
The book also contains teenage doubts about whether she deserved to be bullied, or whether she should only smoke after meals. It also chronicles her weight loss and subsequent bulimia, which left her physically frail while battling the addictions that would end her life.
It is unclear how Winehouse will feel about these things when they come to light, although the proceeds from the book will go to her charity Amy’s Place.
The book has already received mixed reactions, as previous documentaries have shown that her parents’ lack of empathy led to her tragedy. It has also caused some resistance, as no one wants to publish a teenage diary, even if it is moderately edited.
On the other hand, it does not accurately reflect her situation. Instead of highlighting the music industry’s failure to protect vulnerable artists, it’s all about the singer’s own ambiguity, impulsiveness, and self-destruction.
