The 333 Best Pop Songs of the 2000s: #196

#196: "You Know I'm No Good (Remix)" (2006) - Amy Winehouse featuring Ghostface Killah

And, after a one-day patriotic pause, we continue our tour of society's fascination with outre female celebrity behavior. The adjective female is important here, 'cause the public and paparazzi didn't rail away at Keith Moon, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards (okay, maybe him, 'cause he was busted for smack), John Lennon (okay, him too, but not because of booze or alcohol, but mainly because of the "more popular than Jesus" comment, and the fact that he publically bedded and bedded with the woman who "broke up the Beatles"), Pete Townshend, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee (if you've never read Motley Crue: The Dirt, and you're a fan of rock and roll/metal/pop music, then you're missing out on a well-written and endlessly fascinating tale of decadence and stupidity), Biggie Smalls, etc....Why not those guys? 'Cause they're guys! It's all in fun, man!

For women, though, it's not all in fun; indeed, it's trashy, slutty, behavior. And even moreso than Britney Spears, the one "diva" who seemingly never left the tabloids for two solid years was Brit Amy Winehouse. Drunken behavior, violent behavior, nonsensical behavior, loud behavior, boorish behavior, vulgar behavior--you name it, and Winehouse says yes. We're amazed, we're shocked, we shake our heads, but folks--we should have know it was coming. She warned us. She told us. Before most had ever heard of her, she recorded this song, and in the freaking title she tells us to beware. She doesn't mean it in any self-pitying way...not the way she sings it. She means no good to, uh, mean follow her libido, have fun, assert her independence, to go where she wants to go when she wants to go with whomever she wants to go.

If Britney Spears is cybernoir femme fatale, then Winehouse is a throwback to mid-twentieth century noir. She with the sliding, soulful, sultry voice slinks around this one, letting her voice ease in-and-out of the melody, almost lazily, almost intoxicatingly, but each move, each verbal shift is designed, and it's designed to let that melody and voice purr, to entice, while producer Mark Ronson's bass keeps us--and Winehouse--moving forward steadily, letting us know that though Winehouse may not be any good for us, what she has to offer is more tonic than toxic...at least until the cameras arrive.