Amy Winehouse Song Synthesis Analysis

Stanley Boafo
The song by Amy Winehouse I will be analyzing in this short paper is “He Can Only
Hold Her”. While it is a short song lyrically, if one is aware of the personal life of Amy, there are
many similarities and conclusions that can be drawn from the song. I will be analyzing the lyrics,
comparing it to the life of Amy as well as making a comparison to the character Margot
Tenebaum in the film “The Royal Tenenbaums”.
From my interpretation of the song, the lyrics depict a one sided relationship. The male
and female characters in this song are in a relationship and the male seems to be more invested in
it than the female. This is evident in the first stanza when it mentions that no one is home and
that her soul is taken. Even though the female is in the relationship, her mind is elsewhere. She
does not reciprocate the same amount of energy and emotion as her male counterpart. This is
because the “heart” of the female belongs to someone else. She is in love with another person.
This is evident in the second stanza because it literally mentions that the male cannot have her
heart because it is stolen. Another supporting evidence to the female being in love with another
man is in the third stanza, where it mentions that she misses the man that the current boyfriend
wishes he could be. From this you can infer that the female was in a previous relationship where
things did not end so well. The previous boyfriend possibly ended things with her because he did
not feel the same about her as she does to him. The female is still recovering from a major
heartbreak.
While it is still possible to gather evidence of the song depicting heartbreak solely off of
the lyrics, I believe there is a stronger case to be held if compared to the personal life of Amy
Winehouse. In Amy’s romantic life, there was a very prominent and impactful person by the
name of Blake. Their relationship was a rollercoaster and Blakes departure left a tremendous
emotional scar on Amy. Amy was deeply in love with Blake, and while it may have seemed that
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he liked her too, he preferred the company of another woman and that is who he ultimately chose
over Amy. This left Amy severely heartbroken to the point where it affected her everyday life. I
believe this song is about the effect Blake still has on her current relationship. As I mentioned
earlier the song discusses a woman, Amy, having her heart being stolen by someone else, Blake.
She misses Blake and her current boyfriend wishes he was like Blake so that he can receive the
true love and affection that he wants from Amy. Amy is still stuck on Blake resulting in her not
being able to invest herself in her current relationship making it a one sided relationship.
This also has a direct correlation to the character Margot Tenebaum in “The Royal
Tenenbaums” film. Margot is adopted into a family and she ultimately falls in love with her
brother Richie Tenenbaum. They are unable to be together because their relationship would be
socially unacceptable. This leads to Margot marrying another man while she is still in love with
Richie. It is even described by her husband that he feels as though she doesn't love him. She
locks herself away for hours on end without interacting with him. This is almost identical to the
same situation Amy describes in her song. The marriage is one sided just like the relationship in
the song. Margot is there physically with her husband but her mind is elsewhere because she
would rather be with Richie. While her current husband does not know about the love between
Richie and Margot, he wishes to be loved by Margot just as she would love Richie. The major
difference is that the heartbreak from the film is by choice and from both parties whereas Amy
had no choice in experiencing her heartbreak.
A lesson that can be learned from the heartbreak of these two stories is one can
experience heartbreak either by choice or not. There are many people that are broken up with and
left heartbroken but I believe that experiencing heartbreak by choice is a worse pain. Knowing
that both parties want and are willing to be with each other but cannot due to their circumstances
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must cut deep. This can only lead to an endless comparison of your current partner to the person
you truly want to be with as well as an urge to always want the other person. While I have not
experienced this personally, I have had a taste of heartbreak and I can only imagine what that
version of heartbreak feels like.

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Stanley Boafo

Tenebaum in the film “The Royal Tenenbaums”.

had no choice in experiencing her heartbreak.

version of heartbreak feels like.

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