Back Into the Black: an album exploration of Amy Winehouse

Kameron Button

Music Journalist 

With the release of the upcoming biopic of the same name, Back to Black, her name is beginning to make way again into the spotlight. She was a true artist, an utterly gifted singer and a tragically flawed person. Even though her flaws affected much of her life as a singer, those flaws helped create her soulful music. 

During her life, she created two prolific albums. Frank focuses on the elite jazz chords and her “frank,” confident attitude towards the ending of a relationship. That relationship inspired the entirety of the album because she was dissatisfied with her “not man enough” boyfriend. 

After the release and success of this album, Amy began to tour throughout Europe. This mainstream success in England led to her finding a man she fell head over heels for, Blake Fielder-Civil. When Amy’s tour ended, she spent most, if not all, of her time with Blake. However, as the relationship seemed to blossom, Blake left Amy for his other girlfriend. She was feeling devastated and heartbroken, leaving Amy to spiral for two years. During which no progress was made in the creation of her second album, Back to Black.

Due to this and some other more addictive habits, her management expressed much concern for her, urging her to go to rehab. Throughout these two years, the events that transpired helped fuel the creative endeavors that would become her successful second album. Back to Black was released on Oct.  27, 2006. 

Although her management expressed the idea for her to go to rehab, she said “no, no, no,” and this would become her first track on the album “Rehab,” which was produced by Mark Ronson and written by Winehouse in thirty minutes by accidentally singing the hook as a joke. This song was not the first to be written, though, with other tracks like “Just Friends” and “Addicted” being projects she started before the two-year break. 

“Just Friends” outlines her feelings toward Blake and their estranged relationship. The song not only carries the bluesy jazz sound like the rest of the album but also incorporates elements of Ska due to her love of the English Ska band, The Specials. While the song “Addicted” speaks of her relationship with her best friend Juliet and the underlying tones of her addictive personality, this song and the song titled “Me and Mr. Jones” both use a big brassy jazz band sound, tying back to her jazz origins.

Most of the album reflects Amy’s feelings about her tumultuous relationship with Blake. The second song on the album, titled “You Know I’m No Good,” speaks on how she was, in her words, “an infidel, and I don’t have any morals. I told you I was good for nothing.” 

The song contains an upbeat march that invokes feelings of regret, which started as a Spanish-influenced march that you can hear in earlier demos. Over time, the producer, Mark Ronson, became more familiar with Winehouse’s eclectic style, and the song morphed into what we hear today. The album has major blues, soul, and 60’s pop influences compared to her jazz-influenced debut album. 

During the break, she mentioned in many interviews that she spent most of her time listening to 60s girl groups. She loved the dramatic, almost cinematic, stylings of girl groups like The Shangri-Las and The Ronnets. This inspiration is highlighted in many songs throughout the album, such as “Rehab,” “Back to Black,” “Wake Up Alone,” and “Some Unholy War.”

Each song connects deeply to her emotions, the experiences she’s collected and the events in her life. This is most evident in one of her popular songs, “Love is a Losing Game,” a heartbreaking ballad about the thunderous trials of love. While the song might be the most simplistic on the album, its wrenching melody and message immediately grab the listener’s attention. Back to Black is an album that is a true masterclass on what an album is supposed to invoke from an artist. She poured everything into her music. She wanted to make art, and that is what she did.

Amy Winehouse never wanted to be famous. All she wanted to do was turn every wrong decision in life into something positive. The fame she reached was too much for a person and is something we can learn from. Like the rest of us, Artists are people too. Being human means – we all have issues unbeknownst to anyone else. So, remember to treat others with respect, kindness and understanding because no one ever knows the full scope of damage before we all fade to black.