Today we tackle one of my favorite songs, period. “Wake Up Alone” is the eighth track from Amy’s 2006 masterpiece Back To Black. Back To Black produced five brilliant singles. Somehow this was not one of them. Written by Amy Winehouse and Paul O’Duffy. Produced by Mark Ronson. There isn’t a weak track on Back To Black, but I believe tracks 5-8 (“Back To Black”, “Love Is A Losing Game”, “Tears Dry On Their Own”, and “Wake Up Alone”) to be as strong a run of four songs as you’ll find on any album, anywhere, ever. For the record, look to Purple Rain and tracks 3-6, The Low End Theory tracks 1-4, Voodoo tracks 7-10, and Thriller tracks 6-9 if you want to hear some of my other favorites.
What makes “Wake Up Alone” stand out even among the songs in that group is the songwriting. I know I’ve been yapping on about Amy’s songwriting for weeks now, but this one is different. I wrote something a few weeks back about how she’s good at writing literally and poetically. I think “Wake Up Alone” takes it to another level because I believe Amy isn’t singing about what we’re supposed to think she’s singing about. She’s just so clever about her wording that it’s coded. Or, I’m reaching. You decide.
Upon listening to “Wake Up Alone” it’s obvious that she’s singing about a guy – Blake, as usual. She stays busy in the day to avoid thinking about him, then at night she can’t help herself. She answers his booty call. He gets what he wants and he leaves. She wakes up alone. I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the message. She’s in love with him. He’s there for the sex. The imagery in her lyrics is as strong as anything she ever wrote. I’m going to jump right to the second verse:
Regardless my heart
I’d rather be restless
Second I stop the sleep catches up and I’m breathless
This ache in my chest
‘Cause my day is done now
The dark covers me and I cannot run now
My blood running cold
I stand before him
It’s all I can do to assure him
When he comes to me
I drip for him tonight
Drowning in me we bathe under blue light
He is fierce in my dreams seizing my guts
He floods me with dread
Soaked to his soul he swims in my eyes by the bed
Pour myself over him
Moon spilling in
And I wake up alone
I think this song is about drinking and she disguised it to sound like it’s about a man. That’s a lot of liquid imagery and references to feeling sick. Drip, drowning, floods, soaked, swims, pour, spilling. Blood running cold. Seizing my guts. Sounds to me like she’s fine during the day when she’s busy, but at night she ends up drinking until she blacks out and she wakes up alone.
Apparently I’m not alone in this opinion. I figured before I post this and make some grand declaration like I discovered some hidden key to “Wake Up Alone” I should find out if this is a popular opinion. I Googled the phrase, “Is the song wake up alone about Amy Winehouse’s drinking?” The first link it returned was a Reddit thread titled “Is ‘Wake Up Alone’ about a man or drinking personified?” Damn. I guess I’m not that original. I probably should’ve done the Googling before I wrote about it like it was my own idea. Oh well…I’m keeping it. I put in too much work to change my concept now.
“Wake Up Alone” is not only a masterclass in songwriting, it’s matched musically by Mark Ronson’s arrangement. More Shangri-La inspired 1960s soul music. The 6/8 time signature, the perfect combination of distortion and reverb to make it sound 40 years older than it is, the haunting background vocals…the whole package is perfect. However, if you prefer a stripped down version the original recording was made available on the 2011 Lioness compilation. It’s every bit as lonely and vulnerable as the version that made the album but it takes away Ronson’s 60s vibe. No girl group background vocals or distortion. Just Amy, an acoustic guitar, a bass, and some drums (for the most part). It takes a different path to get you to the same destination. You feel everything she wants you to feel regardless of which version you choose. The version that she chose for the album was the obvious choice because it fits the overall vibe of the album better than the original, but if you love the song the original is also more than worth a listen.
“Wake Up Alone” is another song like “Back To Black” that I didn’t love live. I don’t believe the live version ever captured the darkness of the original. In many cases I heard it performed at a much faster tempo and I’m guessing the reason was that they wanted to burn through it and not bring the audience down too much. This version from the famous Shepherd’s Bush Empire concert (available on streaming and Blu-Ray) is as close as I’ve heard to the original. It features some world class pre-song banter as well as her staring up at Blake in the balcony and mouthing the words “I love you” which is heartbreaking and sickening in hindsight.
“Wake Up Alone” is another song that’s so good I struggle to find the words, so I’m tapping out now. Even for someone as great as Amy Winehouse, she outdid herself on this one. There’s nothing more I can say. So, tomorrow I’ll change gears and wrap up the week with a track so mean-spirited you can’t help but laugh. Until then, enjoy your Thursday.
mookiefantana 