Questions Remain after Amy Winehouse’s Death

Amy Winehouse, a talented and troubled musician, was found dead in her apartment on July 23. The initial autopsy, completed on July 25, was inconclusive as to the cause of death.  Some people said there was no closure because the autopsy did not provide answers. Others hope the Winehouse’s family will get “some kind of closure” when the toxicology and histology reports are completed in a few weeks.

In Closure, I discuss at length how different popular understandings of “closure” are confusing, ambiguous, and often contradictory. I also explain why people use the concept of closure, including as a way of marketing products and political agendas. One common way people use closure is to express a desire for answers.

Many people want to explain death quickly and neatly. We want to put death and grief in a tidy package that can be put away on a shelf somewhere.  Or at least we want to do that with other people’s grief and loss. Often those who experience a devastating loss understand that there is no “closure.” But, still, others around them may very well try to help them “move on” as quickly as possible. Why are people afraid of grief?  Why are we in such a hurry to turn away from other people’s pain?

We want to tame death. But death is often messy, painful, confusing, and inexplicable. We don’t always have the answers, but we are often led to believe that answers are available if you pay enough or look hard enough for the information. Still, those closest to the person who died usually understand that any “closure” that comes through knowledge does not close the grief. Unfortunately, too many others assume that closure comes after an autopsy report or funeral.

Amy Winehouse’s death is sad and her family, friends and fans will mourn her loss no matter what the autopsy report shows. I’m not saying that the autopsy is unimportant. What I am saying is that the “answers” will not magically give the family closure to their grief. Closure continues to be a popular concept that is applied to loss and grief in part because people want an end to the pain. They want to make death manageable. But we cannot tame death nor will we always understand it.

And tragically in this case, Winehouse’s now infamous last performance and the lyrics to many of her songs—which are both haunting and foreshadowing—leave even more questions than answers.