Day two of the Amy Winehouse Mix CD and we’re back with “Stronger Than Me”, the lead single from her debut 2003 album Frank. “Stronger Than Me” was written by Amy Winehouse and produced by frequent collaborator Salaam Remi. It peaked at #71 on the UK Singles Chart and won the 2004 Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song Musically & Lyrically. This award inspires a mini game of Random Questions. Here goes:
- Are there individual Ivor Awards for Best Contemporary Song Musically and Best Contemporary Song Lyrically, then another for both? It seems possible to me that
- Shouldn’t it be “Stronger Than I”?
- Did you know if you’re putting a minutes restriction on your mix you should use the version of “Stronger Than Me” from the single or from the Amy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack? The version on Frank is technically “Intro/Stronger Than Me” and that intro adds an unnecessary 21 seconds to the track. This is mix CD 101. Attention to detail. Every second counts, y’all.
“Stronger Than Me” was not only the lead single, but also the opening song (not counting the 21-second intro) on her 2003 debut album Frank. There’s a solid chance if you were a fan of popular music in Great Britain “Stronger Than Me” was your introduction to Amy. This was not the first Amy Winehouse record I heard because I live in America, and at least according to the movie Back To Black, Island Records felt Frank wasn’t worthy of a release in the states. I heard Frank after Back To Black, so I was at least somewhat familiar with Amy’s style when I heard “Stronger Than Me” for the first time.
It’s obvious almost immediately to anyone familiar with her music that Amy penned this track thanks to her… *ahem*… frank lyrics (you’re welcome). I’m actually surprised this song won an award for lyrics because this one doesn’t exactly go in Amy’s Songwriting Hall of Fame, in my opinion. It’s cheeky, and I’m sure hearing these words come out of a 19-year-old kid was surprising, but there are several cringeworthy lyrics here. Let’s put aside the “lady boy” stuff and questioning her man’s sexuality for a second. I cringe every time I hear the line “you’re longer than frozen turkey.” Not even sure what that means, to be honest. I’m aware that times were different in 2003, but I had this song playing in the car a few days ago and my 13-year-old daughter clutched some pearls and gasped, “Did she just say are you gay???” The pearl part isn’t true, but my daughter’s shock at hearing Amy Winehouse imply that her boyfriend is gay because he has feelings for her was very real. I frequently tout the timelessness of her music as one of Amy’s great qualities, but this one didn’t age so well.
She gets a pass since this album was released less than a month after she turned 20, which means she wrote this music when she was a teenager. She still manages to drop some great lines on this track, my favorite of which is when she bluntly states, “I’m not gonna meet your mother anytime. I just wanna grip your body over mine. Please tell me why you think that’s a crime?” Not the kind of lyrics I’d expect from the songwriter who went on to write one of the most devastating heartbreak albums of all-time only three years later.
My choice for favorite live version of this song is obvious. It’s her November 2003 performance from Later…With Jools Holland. If you’re used to seeing Back To Black-era Amy this performance might surprise you. No beehive. No Blake. No gulping from an alcoholic beverage before the song. Just happy, healthy, cocky Amy Winehouse with her guitar sneering, talking her shit, and sounding amazing while doing it. For someone who claimed to be nervous every time she took the stage, she sure doesn’t look it during this performance.
One more random question before I end this: How many pop songs hand the final 45 seconds over to the trumpet player for a solo? I don’t know the answer, but I’m guessing only “Stronger Than Me”. Both the studio version and the live one from Later... do this. As a trumpet player I appreciate it.
That’s all I’ve got on Amy’s first single. “Stronger Than Me” might not be Amy’s best work, but it was a hell of a debut and showed flashes of the greatness to come. Certainly more than worthy of inclusion on the mix CD. Back tomorrow with Track 3.
mookiefantana 