You Know I'm No Good

Album: Back to Black (2006)
Charted: 18 77
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Songfacts®:

  • In this brutally honest song, Winehouse confesses to a number of vices.
  • This song borrows the bass line from House of Pain's 1992 Transatlantic Top 10 single "Jump Around."
  • A second version of this song was recorded with added guest vocals from Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah. This version appears on his album More Fish and the American and Japanese release of Back to Black.
  • The song makes a reference to Roger Moore who portrayed British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. The lyric in question goes; "By the time I'm out the door/ You tear men down like Roger Moore." The English actor quipped that he had no idea why Winehouse chose to include him in the lyrics, unless she wanted a word that rhymed with "door", or could not find a word that rhymed with "Connery."
  • Entertainment Weekly ranked this as the second best song of the year in 2007, just below Rihanna's "Umbrella." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Bertrand - Paris, France
  • The B-side to this single is an acoustic version of "To Know Him Is To Love Him," a 1958 hit from The Teddy Bears, the first vocal group of seminal producer Phil Spector.
  • Veteran rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson covered this on her 2011 album, The Party Ain't Over, produced by Jack White.
  • Amy Winehouse predominantly based Back to Black on her relationship with her then-ex-boyfriend and future-husband Blake Fielder-Civil. "You Know I'm No Good" finds her admitting with vivid details she'd two-timed Fielder-Civil. When Mojo magazine's Tom Doyle asked Winehouse how much of the lyric was true, she admitted, "Yeah. Blake hates it. He's really proud of me, but it's so personal it must be hard. When I'm like, pen to paper, I'm the most honest I get."

Comments: 9

  • George Pope from Vancouver - CanadaI just love how she has this smoky old jazz bar sound. . . & that the music industry saw fit to promote her anyway. . . very nice throwback sound. She was into the '50s & '60s Motown scene -- she was a girl way older than her years -- thus Moore over Connery (& the rhyming trouble with the latter, certainly)
  • Sick And Tired from MissouriFor the Roger Moore reference I believe most people are mistaken. It is not the Moore who often starred in the original TV series Maverick as well as 007 in several Bond movies .it is the writer/editor Roger Moore of the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game world. Winehouse was an aspiring fantasy writer and submitted several poeces. As editor, Roger Moore tore her down on several occasions until she gave up this style of writing, at least so the stories go, and turned her talent towards song writing. The reference fits in both instances, but truth is often stanger than fiction.
  • R from K'The English actor quipped that he had no idea why Winehouse chose to include him in the lyrics, unless she wanted a word that rhymed with "door"- the Roger Moore reference refers to another Sir or more appropriately Lord in Amy's life. Roger Moore is his favourite James Bond. Have you watched the video, who do you think the actor is portraying? I'll give you a hint, he is 6'2 and is the subject of Amy's "Some Unholywar." They've been seen together in London occasionally. When another musical artist talked bad publicly about Amy after her passing, he rolled up in a Tesla S model before the car was even released and warned said person. The Tesla had "006" on the license plate. He's also in Black to Black and is rumored to have worked with Adele. They say he is pretty wealthy as well and highly decorated. He makes a shadowy appearance in Amy's Back to Black video.
  • Megan from Stevenson, AlOh my...I love this dang song!!! She was a true artist with such talent...something the world didn't have enough of!
  • Ryan from Nashville, TnLol. Too bad Don from San Antonio has no taste in music. Maybe he'll learn to appreciate talent some day.
  • S from New Bern, NcIt makes sense that Ghostface Killah did a remix with this song...when I first heard I'm No Good, it reminded me of the WuTang Clan song "Gravel Pit." My boyfriend and I actually fought because he thought it was the same bass line, it's not, very similar though.
  • Tiffany from Little Rock, ArI'm amazed this song wasn't the first released in the US. The beat is so recognizable if you remember House of Pain, and there's much more range of singing in this song than in "Rehab". This was the first Amy song I'd ever heard and was addicted (pun intended) since.
  • Zoe from York, Afghanistanwhat charlie here said was mean.mabe don was being sarcastic or over exaggerating but thet doesnt give you any resaon to tell him to go off the deep end
  • Don from San Antonio, TxI'm sorry, that Ghostface-whatever dude sucks. Makes me think of the time The Police blew Kanye West offstage when he rapped with them. Back To Black gave me hope for talent again, but then they HAD to end it with THIS. WHY?! Did you think you weren't gonna be able to sell the record without rap on it somewhere? Is there ANY escape from rap, OTHER than suicide?
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