A member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra during her youth, Winehouse signed to Simon Fuller's 19 Management in 2002 and soon recorded a number of songs before signing a publishing deal with EMI. She also formed a working relationship with producer Salaam Remi through these record publishers. Winehouse's debut album, Frank, was released in 2003. Many of the album's songs were influenced by jazz and, apart from two covers, were co-written by Winehouse. Frank was a critical success in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. The song "Stronger Than Me" won her the Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.
Winehouse released her follow-up album, Back to Black, in 2006, which went on to become an international success and one of the best-selling albums in UK history. At the 2007 Brit Awards it was nominated for British Album of the Year, and she received the award for British Female Solo Artist. The song "Rehab" won her a second Ivor Novello Award. At the 50th Grammy Awards in 2008, she won five awards, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night and becoming the first British woman to win five Grammys, including three of the General Field "Big Four" Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year (for "Rehab"), as well as Best Pop Vocal Album.
Winehouse was plagued by drug and alcohol addiction. She died of alcohol poisoning on 23 July 2011, at the age of 27. After her death, Back to Black temporarily became the UK's best-selling album of the 21st century. VH1 ranked Winehouse 26th on their list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music.
He Ca Only Hold Her
Amy Winehouse Lyrics
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Oh, whoa, oh
He can only hold her for so long
The lights are on, but no one's home
She's so vacant
Her soul is taken
He thinks, What's she running from?
Now, how can he have her heart
When it got stole?
So he tries to pacify her
'Cause what's inside her never dies
Even if she's content in his warmth
She is plagued with urgency
Searching kisses
The man she misses
The man that he longs to be
Now, how can he have her heart
When it got stole?
So he tries to pacify her
'Cause what's inside her never dies
So he tries to pacify her
'Cause what's inside her it never dies
So he tries to pacify her
But what's inside her never dies
In Amy Winehouse's song He Can Only Hold Her, she paints a vivid picture of a man's attempt to hold onto a woman who is unable to connect with him emotionally. The manic and erratic energy of the song is reflective of the frantic state of mind of both the man and woman in the relationship. The opening lines, "He can only hold her for so long, the lights are on, but no one's home" suggests that although the man is physically present with the woman, she is emotionally absent. The phrase, "she's so vacant, her soul is taken," implies that the woman has been traumatized, leaving her feeling empty.
However, the man is still trying to win her over, despite the emotional barriers between them. The line "now, how can he have her heart when it got stole?" signals that the woman has an unresolved past that is preventing her from fully connecting with the man. It is clear that although the man is trying to pacify her, the urgency and searching kisses are a reflection of the emotional turmoil that both characters are experiencing.
The repetition of the line "he tries to pacify her, 'cause what's inside her never dies" reinforces that the woman is carrying emotional baggage that cannot be appeased or healed by the man. Overall, the song He Can Only Hold Her is a powerful representation of the complexities of relationships, the impact of past traumas, and the difficulties of trying to connect with someone who is emotionally unavailable.
Line by Line Meaning
He can only hold her for so long
He knows that he can only keep her for a certain amount of time
The lights are on, but no one's home
She's physically present, but emotionally absent
She's so vacant
She doesn't have anything inside her, she's empty
Her soul is taken
She's lost herself, she's not the same person she used to be
He thinks, What's she running from?
He's wondering what's causing her to be like this, why she's not present emotionally
Even if she's content in his warmth
Even if she's happy and comfortable with him, she still has inner turmoil
She is plagued with urgency
She has a strong desire or need for something, maybe something she can't have
Searching kisses
She's searching for something, maybe affection or love, through her physical interactions with him
The man she misses
She's longing for someone else, maybe an ex-lover or someone she can't be with
The man that he longs to be
He wants to be the man she's longing for, but he knows he can't fully be that person
So he tries to pacify her
He attempts to calm her down or make her feel better
'Cause what's inside her never dies
Her inner turmoil will never truly go away
But what's inside her never dies
No matter how hard he tries, he can't fully fix her emotional state
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHN HARRISON, RICHARD POINDEXTER, ROBERT POINDEXTER, AMY WINEHOUSE, CHARLES HARPER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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