The Winehouse is a nice sentiment, but "octopus in a straightjacket" is raw power.
The straightjacket gives you constraint; that it's an octopus, with its eight arms, shows you viscerally just how much potential is being inhibited. Plus, the image is just straight up hilarious.
This last point is important, because the whole song is about Brown using his pain for others' entertainment. This is clear from the official video for the song (which I didn't post initially because the verse with the image in question is cut in the video). So "octopus in a straightjacket" is basically the entire song in miniature. Incredibly powerful four words. The Winehouse doesn't come close.
|