POOR AMY WINEHOUSE! Caught piping crack by the sneaky Sun newspaper's undercover exposee team and now splashed over four million copies of that newspaper's front pages...I always found it difficult to credit that Amy, a self-avowed heroin and crack addict one minute could jet off on holiday to the Caribbean with hubby Blake Fielder-Civil the next and return home miraculously non-addicted. I just didn't believe it.
Her husband is a goodlooking if slightly spivvy-seeming guy and she obviously worships the very ground he walks on.
In fact, if you listen to Amy's CDs her weakness (long before drugs) always seems to have been men. Not just sexually; I mean that she appears to be one of those women who at first glance appears to be strong. Independent. Assertive. And yet her whole existence, her self-esteem and everything seems to be held not by herself, but in her man's hand. To me this is a real weakness.
When the story of Amy and Blake's excessive drug using hit the papers, the blame seemed to be passed to Blake by most of the press. I am not sure this is true, as Amy was heavy drinking for months before she got married to this guy.
But having been in a druggie relationship myself (how do you think my habit kicked off the ground?) I know how two people fixated on drugs can very easily use the other as their own excuse to use. That's why rehabs often "try to split couples up" ~ if you know about addiction you will hear this allegation time and again. It's done for a reason: unless you're unusually focused and strong, as I said, relationships where drugs have played a prominent role have an uncanny habit of returning to that situation...
Now, with her man in prison (accused of assault and attempting to "pervert the course of justice" ~ ie to bribe or otherwise nobble a witness in the forthcoming assault trial) and her British tour cancelled (because she "can't do it without her man") Amy's spinning out into an ever-decreasing spiral of drugs, drink and depravity.
Speaking as an addict who's seen it time and time again I'm long past the assumption that just because someone is using heroin (as she WAS) and crack (as she IS) they are "going to die". We're all going to die and some addicts can live a long long time. But having seen Amy's frailty, her weakness and her dependency ~ not just on alcoholic and chemical fixes but on her man and the flybynight "friends" who seem to fill her home, I must admit it's very sad. I see a woman with a rare talent who's doing all she can to mess up her career (cancelling live engagements ~ you can't do that! Those gigs represent birthdays, anniversaries etc you can't just walk out of a booking because you'd rather have a drink! Whatever happened to "the show must go on!"? To mess up her life. And yes, I hate to say this, but if you're a fan of Amy Winehouse, then try to appreciate her while she's still here ...
because I'm really not sure how long she's going to last...
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Today's screen:
Winehouse Smoking Crack
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Fascinating never-b4-found addict blog of the day:
MANTRAMINE ~ "the art of being" ...
I think Amy is an exceptionally talented woman who has been given the opportunity of a life time. It is an absolute shame that she can't take control of her life. By the same token, there are many great musicians who have suffered through drug abuse because it is part in parcel of the industry that they have been thrust into, as well as the limelight that they are standing in. It is WAY easier to become an addict when your entire existence is condusive to it. None the less, she is a young girl who can change things for herself, after all, it's never too late. Either she chooses to do that, or she chooses to let it all consume her and add her name to the long list of other fallen stars....RIP Janice, Hendrix etc etc etc...
ReplyDeletewhat i remember for myself was that when for a brief while i had money to buy whatever drugs i liked i pretty rapidly became sick and genuinely tired of them... but when money ran out and i found myself living week to week and hand to mouth the drugs were a perpetual "treat"... so actually rather paradoxically the rich probably get so much so soon and so in their faces when they DO get involved in this stuff they're actually at an advantage. Of having reason enough, quickly enough to genuinely come to a turning point ...
ReplyDelete(I mean Hollywood is FULL of ex-users. The rock-n-roll world even MORE so. I'm glad some of these people for their own sakes have managed to see some light. I don't want Amy to die and I wish she would put her energies into RECORDING some new songs not just revamping the old ones over and over on stage!)
She's pushing the self destruct button very hard.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't it reinforce your desire to pack it all in Gleds? I do hope so. x
Hi Gledwood.
ReplyDeleteWould Amy still have her incredible talent if it wasn`t fuelled by drugs ? Many of the greatest writers and musicians have only been able to write and perform, with the help of drink and drugs !
Di. xx
An incredible talent indeed, so much of what youve written especially with regard to her self esteem and her weakness, but at the same time it seems to add to the passion and feeling when she sings. I hope she finds her way and if this is to be her way I fear the worst for her.
ReplyDeleteBy the way I love the new avatar :)
All those pictures are just too sweet...awwwww!!
So much of what youve written hits the mark I meant to say, half asleep here.
ReplyDeleteInteresting and honest post, Gledwood. I admit that I enjoy her music, but it makes me feel as if I am supporting her habit, and I don't. Having seen a close friend widowed in her late 20s, (he was a heroin addict) and what became of her with severe mental illness, I remain divided on Amy.
ReplyDeleteBut then artists are known to create under the influence.
thats an interesting point about the advantages for rich and celebrity users.
ReplyDeleteso once again the advantaged get the advantages....
you're right, she has a rare talent - a bit like Pete Doherty (bit of a matching pair, those two) - you can't help wondering where it will all end.
Yes it's sad and you write about it well... Im a musician too as you know and for a while i wrote better music because of Oxy. those days are so far behind me that it's a blur of unresolved conflicts and cravings and the everprescent feeling that i had been broken by the only guy i'd loved who was a shithead fuckhead asshole... i wrote a beautiful book but what have i done since then? some things but mostly feel like falling. I understand the temptation. Also some people arent ready for the limelight.. the masses look at you and unless you have scrutinized your every inside angle they have an edge over you they know you better than you know yourself, how frightening to be young and unexperienced and read about yourself in a magazine and have them be more right about you then you are about yourself but have the words floating around in your head before your self-discoveries make it honest
ReplyDeleteI don't think that girl will be around much longer!
ReplyDeleteAkelamalu: it's very sad to watch I think she could do so much more. For one thing she should be RECORDING new songs ~ fans want new stuff not a 4 year wait. She should NOT be cancelling on ppl; as I said those concerts represent birthdays/anniversaries etc it is so disrespectful not to bother showing... I don't know why but I get the feeling that not only is she brittle but may be in genuine danger I hope she DOESN't die but it wouldn't surprise me if she did... And what a crying shame that would be...
ReplyDeleteTrubes: I think it's in spite not because. Her songs seemed to be written when she was just drinking and puffing grass etc
Audrey: I think she has an amazing way of interpreting songs it's a shame she really ought to record some new ones ... also put out CDs/downloads of live stuff and favourites by others... also what a voice! It would be such a shame to lose her
Bemused:
Bemused: I don't know that drugs are helping her creativity at all... I know what you mean about funding her habit; then again you could extend that to funding the amoral lifestyles of so many others in the entertainment world who aren't necessarily into drugs but seem to be into a host of other things!
ReplyDeleteLettuce: I think Amy's a LOT better than Pete Doherty though!
Have to say Doherty seems quite a sensitive soul when interviewed on TV/radio. What a shame he got tarred by that "can't help himself for idiocy" ~ busted for drugs, driving licence-free etc etc silly boy
Ivy: actually I think you have a point... by extention: the pressures of fame. They probably ARE contributing a lot to her drugs situation... and the more the press hammer on at her... put it this way unless she changes her mind they're not helping her. They're just going to make her more furtive, less trusting and more paranoid...
Preposterous: I'm with you there... well I HOPE she will but wouldn't be shocked if she wasn't... poor Amy!
She's in quite a bit of trouble.
ReplyDeleteA completely different subject...what do you think of the Life on Mars photos in the newspaper?
ReplyDeleteRx
Gledwood, this is a briliant piece. You should send it to a newspaper - maybe the Sun? But whatever, it's a really insightful, serious and thought-provoking post.
ReplyDeleteHi Gleds ~~ Another good post, but what a shame about Amy. A waste of her talent unless she gets help.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments about people needing advice and help and cannot get it. Australia is a large country and we can have floods and fires in different area and drought is common
all over. The inland areas (the outback) is dry and although I don't know a lot about stations, I know they feed their sheep and cattle hay and grain.
The dairy industry and the fruit industry both use a lot of irrigation, but some crops grown well without irrigation The cities
around the coastline are usually nice and green with great gardens
. I have never been to Morocco but
I don't think we would be as dry as that. Take care, my friend, Thanks for the stars. Best Wishes, Merle.
I'd have found it more shocking to see her sipping sparkling water and reading a gardening magazine quite frankly. I mean, she lives in the addiction abyss, we all know that, so how shocking can visual confirmation of this be? It would be as shocking as seeing Britney Spear's vagina for the 100th time again.
ReplyDeleteNessa: she's in more trouble today... aparently Metropolitan Police have asked to see the tapes for themselves ...
ReplyDeleteRuth: I haven't heard of that I have to go look those Mars pixx up...
Liz: O you mean as a letter? I might do that... (as an article I imagine they would say "all positions for the job of columnist are filled!")
Merle: thanks for answering all that... I hadn't thought cows and sheep would eat dry feed I suppose they must do... I always think of them grazing on emerald green fields you see! As for Morocco: I should have explained it IS dry ... some of it is just sandy rocks with little sprigs poking out now and then only a goat would feed off... other bits are like Southern Spain or Italy or much of California which is why I drew the comparison with Australia
Nicole: ... or Paris Hilton's... yeah that is a v good point I specially like the bit about the gardening magazine and the glass of water haha!
Well, that's the first sensible writing I have seen on the matter, Gleds. Well done. Meanwhile, my heart goes out to this lady.
ReplyDeleteI was just going to say that she needs to psychicly contact Janis and learn how to keep the show going as Gleds said "the show must go on" and eileen is on key to. The one thing that is SAD is there are plenty of addict like myself who would INSTANTLY clean up if I had some kind of overnight blessing "like winning the lotto, or coming into some other fortune or fortuneous job" and I am sure there are a lot of others who would agree with me.
ReplyDelete