Blood, Sand and Rock & Roll: Remembering Amy Winehouse

Saturday morning, the BBC tweeted the troubled singer and pop star Amy Winehouse passed away during the night of July 23, 2011. The authorities found her dead in her north London apartment that morning. I did listen to a couple of her songs on the radio, but I never bought her music and I didn't become a fan. The way she lived did spark controversy from those inside and outside the "Hollywood" subculture, and she did enter and exit rehabilitation to exorcise her demons of alcohol and drug abuse. Unfortunately, she died before she could stop those demons from taking over, and ending her short, young life.

My main concern centers around how indignant our society can become when Amy Winehouse and others like her suffer from the effects of alcohol and drug abuse. When some friends and Tweeters said they were not surprised by her passing, I was shocked; I would hate for people to look at my life, shrug their shoulders, say "he had it coming", and then carry on as if nothing happened. If you ever saw Rudolph Valentino's silent film "Blood and Sand", then one could argue as the gallery we are as responsible for the death of the bull and/or the matador as the matador "cheating" death with the lifestyle he leads. Being the matador in the arena of pop culture, Amy Winehouse was the creation, and with her gone we find someone else to applaud or to boo.

I remembered watching a friend of mine from university, who believed very strongly in God and His Word, become a different person when he turned twenty-one...LITERALLY THAT NIGHT. Once he had a drink in his hand, his priorities and demeanour changed, and this once insightful young man became more concerned with having fun and knowing where he could score the next drink after classes on Fridays. Another friend cornered him about his "drinking problem", but he denied it just as quickly as the friend could utter the words. His story is just one of many, and I went to too many funerals where alcohol played a significant role in the disintegration of my friends. Perhaps this is why I always look in sadness at the life and career of Amy Winehouse? A brilliant musical mind and talent, Amy believed she was the toast of whichever town she played in, she bore her soul to the public - warts and all, and welcomed nay-sayers and flunkies alike to participate in the circus. At the time the help should come for her, it was too late to repair all the damage already done. What do I know? That's the "Hollywood" lifestyle, and that's no "surprise". Does it matter whose blood is in the sand; just part of the scenery, right?

Amy, I sincerely hope you found what you were looking for before you left this Earth. We were at odds about different things, but I always held out hope you would get better. My thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of Amy Winehouse during this tragic time. If you wish to express condolences, why not access Twitter and send your condolences to @amywinehouse?