FEATURE:
Groovelines
I am examining Amy Winehouse’s Tears Dry on Their Own is two-fold. For one, it is one of her career-best tracks and a perfect distillation of her vocal and lyrical talents. A stunning song that was included on her second studio album, Back to Black, of 2006. In 2005, twenty years ago, Winehouse began recording songs for Back to Black at Salaam Remi's (who co-produced the album) Instrumental Zoo Studios in Miami. The songs recorded there included Tears Dry on Their Own, Some Unholy War, Me & Mr Jones, Just Friends and Addicted. Winehouse sang while playing the guitar. Remi played the piano and bass guitar, and added other instruments. Vincent Henry played the saxophone, flute, and clarinet. It must have been so spellbinding watching a song like Tears Dry on Their Own come together. As it is almost twenty years since the first recordings for Back to Black were laid down, I wanted to spotlight one of the most celebrates tracks from the album. Tears Dry on Their Own was the fourth single released from Back to Black. It came out on 13th August, 2007 where it reached sixteen in the U.K. Even if the melody and lyrics were composed by Winehouse, the music that backs Winehouse’s voice is an interpolation of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 1967 song Ain't No Mountain High Enough. That classic was written by the legendary by Ashford & Simpson. The original ballad version of Tears Dry on Their Own is featured on the posthumous album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures (2011). Blending Soul and Motown, it is a distinct and extraordinary song. Track seven on her iconic Back to Black, I wanted to explore the track a little more before finishing up.
It is a shame more has not been written about Tears Dry on Their Own. I haven’t included a review from Drowned in Sound who, when the single came out, were somewhat cynical about why it was released. As the fourth single from Back to Black, they bemoaned artists releasing more than three single. Even if song only just cracked the top twenty, it is a song that deserves its moment in the spotlight. Plenty of artists today release multiple singles from their album. Rather than it being about making money or bleeding an album dry, it was an opportunity for Tears Dry on Their Own to separate from the rest of Back to Black. Get its own amazing music video. I like the fact that Winehouse got the be involved in the video and it looks like it was a good set. I am going to end with an article from last year centred around the release of a lyric video version. One with some unreleased footage. Before getting to that, American Songwriter wrote about the meaning behind one of Amy Winehouse’s greatest songs:
“In the opening verse, Winehouse tells the listener how her relationship soured. Once it was so right, when we were at our high, she sings, setting up the painful reality of her love story.
“I was with someone that I couldn’t really be with and I knew it wouldn’t last,” Winehouse once said of the inspiration behind this song. “But I think because I knew it couldn’t last, it’s kinda like saying, “I’m upset, but I know I’ll get over it, I guess.”
You can find those themes easily in these powerful lyrics. I knew I hadn’t met my match…I don’t know why I got so attached, she sings in the second verse.
I don’t understand, why do I stress the man?
When there’s so many bigger things at hand
We coulda never had it all, we had to hit a wall
So this is inevitable withdrawal
Winehouse had many songs that were about the pitfalls of love. She often sang about unfaithful men and the pain they caused her. While many artists have delivered similar messages, few are as visceral as Winehouse’s tale of love gone awry.
This song is no exception. She says things that many of us would find hard to say out loud. Even if I stop wanting you, a perspective pushes through / I’ll be some next man’s other woman soon, she says. This song sees Winehouse partially defeated and partially emboldened by her ability to speak plainly about her pain”.
Last year saw the release of the Amy Winehouse biopic, Back to Black. With Marisa Abela portraying Winehouse, it was an extraordinary performance. Even if reviews were mixed, Abela’s performance was incredible. It also provided a new opportunity for fans to think about Amy Winehouse’s award-winning album. It is brilliant that we got to see new footage of Winehouse for the lyric video for Tears Dry on Their Own. NME reported on the new video:
“The 2007 single appears on Winehouse’s classic second studio album, 2006’s ‘Back To Black’. Today (April 10), fresh visuals for the song have been shared ahead of the new Back To Black biopic hitting cinemas this Friday (12).
Per an official description, the ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’ lyric clip was created by using outtakes from the original David LaChapelle-directed music video, which was shot in Los Angeles, California.
The first scene finds Winehouse kneeling on her bed in a motel room before she walks out onto the street. Later, we see the star fixing her iconic beehive hairdo in between takes as a clapperboard enters the shot.
Further unscripted and unused moments from the shoot show Winehouse laughing on set and rolling her eyes at the camera while singing the chorus.
Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, Back To Black tells the story of Winehouse in a feature-length film for the first time. The biopic follows the star from her teenage years, growing up in north London, through her meteoric rise to a Grammy-winning sensation in the ’00s”.
I have been thinking about 2005 and Amy Winehouse out in Miami working on songs with Salaam Remi. Some classics that would appear on Back to Black. Sounding different in production tone to the ones she recorded with Mark Ronson – such as the epic and sweeping title track -, I wanted to mark twenty years of Tears Dry on Their Own. One of the jewels from Back to Black, I know there will be celebrations next year when Back to Black turns twenty. It will be bittersweet. We lost Amy Winehouse in 2011. There has been no one like her since. There never will be. A once-in-a-generation talent whose legacy will be felt for generations…
GIFT to the world.