LIST: 50 Best Singles Released Since 1971 #11
11. “Rebab,” Amy Winehouse, 2006
Get your Winehouse jokes out of the way. We all know the story of her career near-suicide, the drugs and the sluttiness and the weight loss. We know it so well that it’s obscured what a wonderful retro-soul album this single was taken from. Who wasn’t laid slack-jaw when they heard “Rehab” for the first time? The song is that good, and I ain’t even going to apologize for putting it on this list.
Favorite Lyric: “The man said, ‘Why do you think you’re here?’ I said, ‘I got no idea.’”
Favorite Musical Moment: This song is all about the percussion. Hand-claps, dude. Hand-claps.
Would It Make Good Karaoke? All signs point to yes. Perhaps a bit over-sung, but go for it, you only live once. And if you’re drunk, so much the better.
Notes, May 16, 2011