Tue 26 Aug, 2008
Amy Winehouse may be a train wreck, tabloid queen but her talent is real. It bothers me to no end that she is more infamous than she is famous. Her voice is brassy and rich, raw and emotive.
It wasn’t "Rehab" or "Back to Black" that made me a fan of Winehouse’s music, it was hearing songs from Frank when her voice was more harmonious as opposed to the dissonant tinge she too on with Back to Black. But I digress…
When I finally decided to really sit down and listen to Amy Winehouse, one of the first songs to catch my attention was "Tears Dry on Their Own." I found the peppy rhythm and arrangement juxtaposed with the sullen lyrics fascinating.
The chorus was especially despondent and up-beat as she describes the sun going down on her world as her love walks away. Amy’s voice is defiant and the background singers go "oh-la-la-la" as she sings:
He walks away
The sun goes down
He takes the day, but I am gone
And in your way
Is this blue shade
My tears dry on their own
Its almost as if she wants to be nonchalant about the affair, but her heart and brain have not come to an agreement. She tries to talk some sense into herself but to no avail:
I don’t understand
Why do I stress the man
When there’s so many bigger things at hand
We could have never had it all
We had to hit a wall
So this is inevitable withdrawalEven if I stop wanting you
And perspective pushes through
I’ll be some next man’s other woman soon
I cannot play myself again
I should just be my own best friend
But I fucked myself in the head with stupid men
And back to the happy "oh-la-la-las" as Amy laments that she and her lover are history and the sun has set on their triste. The song ends suddenly as Amy declares agonizingly that her tears dried on their own.
Sels says:
As much as a trainwreck Amy Winehouse is she still has talent. I hope she gets herself together and stop being her own worse enemy. “Tears Dry On Their Own” is one of my favorites from Back To Black. I love how sad the song really is to the more uptempo beat. You get caught up in the rhythm and then all of a sudden the meaning of the words hit you. Winehouse is deep, I’ll give her that much.