What hope is there for a new generation? Genius and madness are common bedfellows....
So young, so young....
I hope people will celebrate Amy's extraordinary genius, instead of dismissing it because of her struggle with addiction.
These and many other comments and tributes are pouring in through social media and newspapers alike....
Surely we should stop to consider the pressure placed upon young performers, thrust into the spotlight, required to be mature, to handle fame, to handle the fact that everyone feels that they own a piece of you...
Why did Amy struggle with alcohol and drugs? What was she trying to blot out, what pain was she attempting to numb?
We may probably never know, though many will speculate...
... what we must acknowledege is that this loss is not good, she was a daughter, a sister, a friend...
The Guardian sums up our dilema well:
"What happened to Amy Winehouse was a cruel waste, and a tedious cliche. Where Winehouse truly "rocked" was in her music, here her tiny frame seemed to command the brio of Nina Simone, the vulnerability of Billie Holiday, and the dignity of Dusty Springfield. You only have to look around our newly female-dominated music industry to realise her influence. Whatever it was that sets artists apart, Amy Winehouse had it. The fact that she "lost it" meant little. That this powerfully talented young woman now won't get a chance to get it back is a tragedy of our times.
....Though Winehouse gave a compelling account of a woman physically and mentally unravelling, then living to fight another day, displaying a lyrical gravitas and fearlessness beyond her years."
