The Amy Winehouse of his generation
My friend Norrie sent me this poem over the weekend to celebrate the coming of Spring:
For winters rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the Spring begins
A simple and evocative portrayal of all that is good triumphing over darkness.
It is a little known fact that Algernon (now why didn’t I think of calling Leonardo that?) Charles Swinburne was the Amy Winehouse of his day. He was an alcoholic sadomasochist; sounds like a rather heady combination and should probably not be tried at home.
Eventually though he was rehabilitated and lived to the ripe old age of 72 in Putney. Maybe the same will happen to Amy now she has finally ditched the dreadful druggy Blake in favour of a nice boy who wears glasses and has a proper job from Gloucestershire.
Good luck to him and to Amy, however I’m not sure she’ll ever fit into life in Putney, however long she lives.
Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2008
28 Apr 2008 helena
Hi Helena!
The poem is lovely, thanks for sharing it with us! I feel so good during Spring-time, i dont know why, but i guess it’s due to all these flowers, the nice sunny days, the hope of a new love…
i love having a lovely glass of wine in my garden before dinner and listening to the boats going back to the port after a long day at sea…lucky them, i say!!
as for Amy..yes, i quite agree with you, she might end up like Charles Swinburne (who, to be honest, i didnt have a clue who he was till i read your blog!) one day…hopefully soon! she’s young, it would be a shame if she wasted her life away…
have a great day Helena!
baci e abbracci
Letizia xx
No one wants to see anybody self distruct in public, and I hope that Amy pulls herself together before that happens. However, for me there’s a big ‘but’.
I think she is hugely overrated - particularly by the press - who compare her to true greats like Dusty Springfield. Have you ever played an Amy Winehouse record alongside a Dusty song?
She’s got a long, long way to go before she’s going to get anywhere close to being as good as an artist like Dusty, or any of those great singers from the 60s.
I don’t even think she’s as good as Lulu!
I agree Sev. Maybe its the weight of all that hair and makeup!
Sev, Dusty was unfavourably compared to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday in her day!!
Having said that, I think Amy Winehouse always looks as if a bath and a square meal is required - love her voice but hate her looks - Helena, maybe she needs to be on your spa retreat
Of course you are right , Julie. I think there is a difference though. Dusty was never trying to emulate Billie Holliday or Ella. They were a blues and jazz singer respectively. Dusty was always pure pop - in the best possible way.
Amy is also ‘pop’ and it’s obvious from the songs and arrangements that her sound is based on a style that evolved in the 60s, pioneered by the likes of Dusty, etc. But just not as good.
Hence my comparison!