Amy

She had me at "what kind of fuckery is this? You made me miss the Slick Rick gig."*

I have always been drawn to women who balance precariously on the thin line between brilliant and crazy--women like Courtney, Judy, Sylvia. Women who embarrass themselves regularly. Women who say things that no one wants to hear. Women who are (to borrow a phrase from Eve Ensler) emotional creatures, yet somehow remain firmly in control of considerable intellectual and artistic power.

But a line that thin can be very hard to straddle. Like everyone who was knocked out by Back to Black, I hoped Amy could wobble her way through, making more brilliant songs for us like "Love is a Losing Game." NPR played a snippet of that song this afternoon and I started to cry.

RIP.

*"Me & Mr Jones," 2006. Watch Amy sing it live here.