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AIBU?

to think it rather strange that fans are leaving tributes of alcohol and cigarettes outside Amy Winehouse's flat?

102 replies

Thruaglassdarkly · 25/07/2011 20:34

...given that her addiction killed her? Anyone else think that's a bit Hmm???

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TheJiminyConjecture · 25/07/2011 20:36

It's not exactly a crack pipe though is it? That would be a bit Hmm

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Thruaglassdarkly · 25/07/2011 20:37

No, but bottles of voddy....still a tad Hmm.

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AgentZigzag · 25/07/2011 20:37

They're leaving her stuff that reflected the person she was rather than a person someone else thought she should have been.

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squeakytoy · 25/07/2011 20:38

Rightly or wrongly, they were a big part of her persona and image.

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Thruaglassdarkly · 25/07/2011 20:40

I can see why they're doing it in some respects. But if, as many are suggesting, her addictions were an illness then in that respect it seems a bit Hmm I mean. I guess those who are leaving that type of tribute aren't really thinking in those terms.

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lawnimp · 25/07/2011 20:41

bet all the old camden drunks are congregating there as we speak

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iphonedrone · 25/07/2011 20:43

local hobos will be lovin it

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AuntiePickleBottom · 25/07/2011 20:43

the post-mortem results are inconclusive, so nobidy knows how she died.

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iphonedrone · 25/07/2011 20:43

arf x-posts

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DoMeDon · 25/07/2011 20:45

I think tributes are odd in general anyway. Mass grieving for someone who was not personally known sniffs of emotional idiocy to me.

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zukiecat · 25/07/2011 20:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LadyFlumpalot · 25/07/2011 20:51

Well she hardly struck me as a flowers and poems kind of gal, if you know what I mean?

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Jux · 25/07/2011 20:52

When my cousin died, we were all gathered by the grave and people started throwing stuff in- CDs of bands he liked, packets of fags and lighters (he was always wandering off with other people's), baccy, papers and filters, booze, someone even chucked in a gram of charlie Shock. "here, you might want this mate" " you'll like this love" and so on. It didn't make much difference whether people believed in life after death or not. It was an expression of grief, an attempt to give him something which in some strange way could maintain a connection with him.

They're giving her things she might appreciate in the afterlife, like the Egyptian pharaohs....

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joric · 25/07/2011 20:52

I think leaving vodka etc. outside is vile.

I also think that dying from an addiction is sad beyond words.

I also think that as drugs, alcohol, sex featured heavily in so many of her song lyrics (IMO - in a pretty sordid and not always negative way - which I also think is vile) - a certain type of person is inevitably going to do this......

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Jux · 25/07/2011 20:54

Zukiecat, she doesn't have to worry about emphysema now, so could smoke with absolute enjoyment! I know it makes no sense; it's hope, grief, love all mixed up and has no logic.

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EdithWeston · 25/07/2011 20:55

auntiePickesBottom: the PM results haven't been released yet, and may not be for some time as it will take some time for toxicological tests to be carried out. Cause of death will not be released until all tests are completed.

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Rhinestone · 25/07/2011 20:58

YANBU, I also find it very strange, disrespectful, chilling and ghoulish.

Jux - I'm actually very saddened that people would throw things like cigarettes, alcohol and illegal drugs on your cousin's grave. I wonder why some people can't behave with dignity at an event like that.

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SpringchickenGoldBrass · 25/07/2011 21:00

Erm, it just demonstrates that people who leave 'offerings' for dead people that they didn't know are stupid.

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2rebecca · 25/07/2011 21:12

At least with the egyptian pharaohs the things were buried with the body. People are just leaving this stuff on a random bit of pavement which she happened to die near but which her body will never visit again, what would they have done if she'd died in hospital? They never think about whose job it is to tidy away all the stuff when it starts rotting either, much like the stinking lady Di tributes that were tides away by ill looking council employees.
Fine have a drink and fag in her memory, why clutter up the street with stuff though?
We don't yet know for definite she did die of an addiction do we? I presume the toxicology is awaited. Young people can die of heart arrythmias which aren't obvious at post mortems as the heart can be structurally normal. Given her history it was probably booze and drugs but can't people wait a bit to find out?

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headfairy · 25/07/2011 21:14

tis very odd indeed. Did people leave burgers outside Graceland when Elvis died?

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WhipMeIndiana · 25/07/2011 21:17

Add message | Report | Message poster Jux Mon 25-Jul-11 20:54:30
Zukiecat, she doesn't have to worry about emphysema now, so could smoke with absolute enjoyment! I know it makes no sense; it's hope, grief, love all mixed up and has no logic


this is a lovely post Jux, well said.

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Thruaglassdarkly · 25/07/2011 21:20

Yes, sorry. I know we don't yet know how she died for sure, but she was certainly a very troubled young woman whose life was clearly out of control due to her addictions. I don't think she could be considered happy and stable by any stretch and the excessive booze, fags and drugs etc were (in her case) seemed to be symptoms of her generally fragile state of mind. Hence, it seems a bit Hmm to me.

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emmanumber3 · 25/07/2011 21:27

I did find it a bit odd. She may have died as a result of her alcohol problems, rather than the drugs alone. In which case, is leaving a bottle of vodka a bit like leaving a knife as a tribute to a stab victim?

Maybe, I'm looking too deeply but I think I'd just go for the traditional flowers.

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Jux · 25/07/2011 21:47

Rhinestone, in my cousin's grave, in it, before it was filled in with dirt and worms. It was very dignified and impromptu afaik. They queued up, said a few words and dropped the things in, "enjoy it mate," "love you" "miss you forever". There were also flowers and petals and so on, but in truth, I think my cousin would have enjoyed the other things more.

It's an expression of loss and longing, for all the times you won't listen to that album together again, you won't have a pint and a fag together again but will always remember the times when you did. My cousin (and also my brother) were 'known' people. There were people who had never met my cousin but loved his music, loved his playing, loved the personality they saw (which was pretty much what he was like all the time) and who mourned the end of their dreams that they'd hear him play again, that they would never hear a new song of his, that they would never meet him at a gig and have a beer with him; those are dreams which people have lost, their lives are a little poorer for their loss, maybe there's a little less light, a little less to hold on to or look forward to.

Loss, love, grief, opportunity, hope. These are big things, and I would never judge people who try to express that by leaving gifts at a shrine. Better, imo, than the thoughtless and anodyne doggerel and gas station flowers, cards with pink teddy bears...... None of which had any place in Amy's life.

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joric · 25/07/2011 21:52

Loss, love, grief, opportunity, hope. These are big things, and I would never judge people who try to express that by leaving gifts at a shrine. Better, imo, than the thoughtless and anodyne doggerel and gas station flowers, cards with pink teddy bears...... None of which had any place in Amy's life.

Hadn't thought of it this way jux. :)

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