Amy Winehouse and the way we think of her death.

[Lewis]

I was little, and my grand parents on my dads side hated it because my mom and the rest of them were OT only and they wanted me to believe in Jesus, and I was their first grand kid. So there was a tug of war.

 

[Danus]

My problem with this whole thing, is that I'm angry at her and some of society as well.

My anger steams not from a seance of superiority, or personal strength or control, but from my compassion and concern for her and others who battle addiction, but most of all the truth, and how society seems willing to sweep that truth under the rug in a case like this.

People where leaving vodka along with flowers at her home. This woman was serious a drug addict. Her father said about her; "Amy was about one thing and that was love."

Now don't get me wrong, these are nice words and all, but they are not really true. Amy Winehouse was about Amy Winehouse.

A fan was quoted as saying; "It's sad that the most creative artist have to suffer like this, but that's just how it is and that's where they get their inspiration." ......WHAT? I can copy quote after quote of empty, pointless comments quoted in the news from people associated with this woman about what an inspiration and great person she was, and how the world has lost a great artist and performer. She was talented, but she was not even a great performer in the end. She could not even walk on stage.

The world lost a lost soul who had a serious problem that the world helped her facilitate by giving her a stage, and little concern, in my opinion. I think there are people who would rather remember only what they liked about Amy Winehouse, and not what they didn't, or refuse to see, and people are willing to just say nice things about her to feel better about looking away from the truth about her.

It's not a stretch to think that in her state she literally killed her self valuing the attention and press she knew would come of it over her very own life, or the concerns of her friends and family. It's not a stretch to think that killing herself was all she felt she had to offer. It was to be her final great act to which she knew she could live up to and the world would accept, and not boo her for it.

The AP says, "The singer is expected to top the British charts when they come out on Sunday following a huge surge in demand for "Back to Black" and her debut album, "Frank", released in 2003." .....this is the truth. Amy was a wasted drug addict and the fans, and the press ate it up. The only thing her recording label had to worry about was whether or not she could get through a show. Her death was actually the best business move she could have made. they won't say this, but they think it.

She was not about love. She was about getting high and staying high. She should not be admired or idolized, and what gets me is that no one closest to her has yet to speak the truth about her. Why? because there is more money to be made off of her.

 

[Christ_empowered]

Danus has a point. As a Christian, I see situation as a result of sin and self-love. I don't mean that harshly--I used to be a pill popper myself--I'm just saying: Amy Winehouse loved Amy Winehouse into an early grave.

 

[Lewis]

Danus wrote
I suspect, to some degree, that she did this as a way to seal and immortalize her own image.

I don't agree and I don't like that comment at all.:angry:rant

 

[Danus]

I don't agree and I don't like that comment at all.:angry:rant

:bounceball Well ok. It's still America where I live.

 

[Lewis]

:bounceball Well ok. It's still America where I live.

Great

 

[Danus]

Great

fine then

 

[Lewis]

That was a very unfair statement that you made Danus.

 

[Danus]

That was a very unfair statement that you made Danus.

Which one and how?

 

[handy]

Do I feel bad for the woman, yes. As I do for others who get sucked into the whirlwind and find they can't handle it.

But...who is at fault here?

I think the answer lies in this picture:
View attachment 2053

It's small, so if some don't have the ability to enlarge it, I'll describe it to you...Amy's impromptu "shrine"...with folks walking by in grief and respect...state leaders get this, only theirs is more organized and at great cathedrals or capital buildings...and theirs usually doesn't last as long...Amy died 3 days ago...this picture is from today.

There is a little girl looking at the "tributes" set in honor of this person.

And yes, some of those tributes, clearly seen, are beer bottles and vodka bottles.

What is that little girl learning? How about our youth...her fans...other troubled young stars who feel it all slipping away but know they can be immortalized if they join this:

View attachment 2054

Truly, what are we teaching our kids, our youth about what is truly important...what will get you "immortalized" by the adults in their lives.

Oh, btw...maybe those young fans out there can be given this:
View attachment 2055

I wish I could say that I'm joking about this...but I'm not, there is a website where one can buy clothing "immortalizing" Amy on tees and even a baby onesie for $19.39 (little spendy for a onesie, but hey...Amy's name, birthdate and deathdate is on it).

So, we cry, we weep, we scratch our heads, line up for days to grieve her and wonder...why?

Why indeed?

 

[Lewis]

The T-shirt is the 27 club, those are the stars that died at the age of 27 and Amy has been added to them. Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Kurt Cobain. And as for the people leaving bottles of Vodka and beers, these people don't know any better, these people are lost.

The 27 club: the musicians who played fast and died young

Dying at the age of 27 has placed Amy Winehouse in a line-up of music greats who died tragically young.

Jimi Hendrix died in London in the early hours of September 18, 1970
Their premature deaths have often been associated with troubled lives and hard living, with a lot of physical abuse in between, usually involving drink or drugs, or both.

Jimi Hendrix died in London in the early hours of September 18, 1970. He had spent the previous evening at a party, and it was estimated that he died at some point after 3am. The official cause of death of this guitar great was asphyxiation on vomit. Although stories abound about his consumption of red wine and sleeping pills the autopsy found very little alcohol in his system, and mentioned only vomitted matter.

Often regarded as the greatest electric guitarist in musical history, the Hendrix legacy did not die with him.

Dying young is by no means the preserve of hard rock: bluesman Robert Johnson, who died on August 16, 1938, was another great musician whose talent was so marked by the time of his death at 27 that he has been cited - by Eric Clapton, no less - as "the most important blues singer that ever lived".

Johnson's death was not self-inflicted, and there are a number of differing accounts, but the likelihood is that he was poisoned with strychnine - by a lover's jealous husband.

Brian Jones, the guitarist with the Rolling Stones, drowned in a swimming pool in 1969. The coroner's report said it was "death by misadventure".
Janis Joplin died of a probable heroin overdose on October 4, 1970. Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors, and no stranger to controversy, died of "heart failure" in 1971. There was, however, no autopsy and questions remain over his death in a Paris apartment bathtub.
And Kurt Cobain, lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana, joined this unfortunate group in April 1994. He had committed suicide by shotgun. His body had been lying at his Lake Washington home for days. The coroner's report estimated that Cobain had died on April 5, 1994.

 

[Danus]

And we celibate this in our society. These people are immortalized? …..for this?

 

[Lewis]

I still listen to Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin, and the Doors, and the Rolling Stones. And I liked the artistic ability and soulfulness that Amy had, that girl could really sing. So what does that make me Danus ?

 

[Nick]

I still listen to Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin, and the Doors, and the Rolling Stones. And I liked the artistic ability and soulfulness that Amy had, that girl could really sing. So what does that make me Danus ?

I love Michael Jackson's music. It's just a shame his personal life wasn't as good.

 

[handy]

And we celibate this in our society. These people are immortalized? …..for this?

Yes, this is what is bothering me...

Not Amy personally, she had a sad life characterized by drug abuse and by people who preferred to bask in the reflection of stardom rather than do something about it.

I know, I know...people who are drug addicted and alcoholic must choose to overcome these issues themselves, no one can do it for them...

But, what if record companies, entertainment venues and agencies put it into the contracts of people that they must be clean of drugs or else be in violation of contract? Sports venues do this...Olympians must submit to drug testing. There are a lot of businesses that have mandatory drug testing.

What if these rock stars and even folks like Charlie Sheen knew that their whole career could be ruined if they failed a drug test?

What if the families and friends of these people...the people who supposedly love them, refuse to enable them in any way?

The thing is...as long as someone is making others rich...then no one wants to upset the gravy train.

And, why are drug addled, completely out of control people able to make themselves and lots of other people rich?

Because we as a society let them.

This industry is different than say a company like Ford, or the government...We directly pay them money to entertain us. And, just watching them on stage or screen isn't enough...We pay money to photographers to hound them whenever they step out of their homes...We'll even watch if they open their homes and allow us to see what kind of wrecks they are inside the house...Remember Anna Nicole Smith...how many tuned in to watch that poor drug addled woman stumble and bumble about her home?

The other day I had a talk with my kids about the TV shows "Teen Mom" and "1000 Ways to Die". In that talk, I compared our society to that of the Roman Coliseum days...people gathering together and even paying money to be entertained by someone's pain and suffering.

I honestly think we are heading down the same road the Romans did. The only reason why these people are in the news and get paid lots of money...is because we seek after them like a drug ourselves, not caring that in our quest to be entertained by them, we're killing them.

 

[jasoncran]

lewis not to be cruel, yes those man are talented and women. but perhaps some should if they are lead to pull away from this music if the singer is such a person.

would you pay for say amy to sing in a local bar and watch her drink yet knowing that she just had her blue chip?

while you and others cant be blamed for this directly, but your voice of protest or at least telling them to repent would do something.

 

[Lewis]

lewis not to be cruel, yes those man are talented and women. but perhaps some should if they are lead to pull away from this music if the singer is such a person.

would you pay for say amy to sing in a local bar and watch her drink yet knowing that she just had her blue chip?

while you and others cant be blamed for this directly, but your voice of protest or at least telling them to repent would do something.

Jason if I could I would have talked to her, I don't have to condone what she is doing, but her music is another thing. I felt so bad for her when she got booed out of Washington DC earlier this month, I saw the clip of her slurring words and having a hard time thinking on stage, it was really sad. People claim that she has been clean for a minute, when the tox test comeback we will see.

 

[Pard]

Perhaps their music skill could be considered "great" (I don't even suggest to know any of those artists well enough to judge their musical skills. That and I frankly don't think any of them were all that great) but surely their ability to reason (a far more important trait than music-oriented ones) was far from even "decent".

And it is very sad that society idolizes these types of people. Never thought of it before but I guess I'll add it to the long list of reasons that I prefer bluegrass and country to rock and pop.

 

[jasoncran]

cough country eh

google gary stuart dies of drug overdose and also johnny cash's bought with drugs and lets not forget the ever pusher of mj and toker extradionaire willie nelson.

my wife is country and has old records from the 50 and 60s and up to the 80s of real country singers. i know you what those persons are.

 

[Danus]

Jason if I could I would have talked to her, I don't have to condone what she is doing, but her music is another thing. I felt so bad for her when she got booed out of Washington DC earlier this month, I saw the clip of her slurring words and having a hard time thinking on stage, it was really sad. People claim that she has been clean for a minute, when the tox test comeback we will see.

Lewis, I think your confusing the issue a little.

I like all those musicians you mentioned as well. This is about how artist are allowed to destroy themselves like this and they are supported by their labels and fans. This is about the total image that is being perpetrated because of this.

If Amy drove a train, flew a plan, was a politician, or school teacher...or you name it, and was the best darn such person in her vocation, but had this same drug problem, she would not have lasted squat before getting help or booted out. But, because she was an artist, we say it's OK and she just couldn't help it.

We idolize these people (We being society) WHY? What are they really producing? Nothing really. Listen to the lyrics of the songs from the artist you mentioned. Is there any thing redeeming quality about them? NO. Most of it is just dark sad observations.

OK, I think there is room for that stuff as art, but so what! Yet we think their great and brilliant. We just like the pretty sounds they make the the clever way they put words together, and so what if they are drug addicts. The labels they work for are just the same. They are making money! They could care less. I'd be willing to bet you everything I have that Amy would agree.

There was another story today about how much music she left behind....OOOOHHH great news. That will bring a shinny penny to the table. Gee I just can't wait until I get to hear it. That's in the hearts and minds of her fans and label. That's what this is about.

Priscilla Presley says that one of Elvis's greatest fears was that people would forget him, but you know that's just the way this world really is. For you and me, it's more true.

But, for some people being remembered and known in some way is extremely important. It's how they make their living; and when they can't control that image, or live up to it because it's just a lie.....some of them don't see a way out.

Not all of them self destruct. Some realize it's just not that important, but those who just drop out are not held up by their record labels, or studios or fans. No one does tributes to the living artist that just said, forget this..... aaaaaaahhhhh but they sure do for the dead ones don't they?

These people in the "27 Club" ....or whatever, are not special beyond anyone else. There is nothing great about them that is anymore great of anyone else.