She is just as admired as hated. This singer has a great voice and a horrible personality. The lyrics of this song are autobiographic. Definitely, she should have gone to rehab (and stay there for a long time)

Sing along with the karaoke version here: Rehab -karaoke.

They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know
I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go

I'd rather be at home with Ray
I ain't got seventy days
Cause there's nothing
There's nothing you can teach me
That I can't learn from Mr Hathaway

I didn't get a lot in class
But I know it don't come in a shot glass

They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know
I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go

The man said 'why do you think you're here?'
I said 'I got no idea
I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose my baby
so I always keep a bottle near'
He said 'I just think you're depressed,
kiss me here baby and go rest'

They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know

I don't ever wanna drink again
I just ooh I just need a friend
I'm not gonna spend ten weeks
have everyone think I'm on the mend

It's not just my pride
It's just 'till these tears have dried

They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know
I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go

REHAB= A rehabilitation centre for people with an addiction problem (drugs or alcohol)

I AIN'T GOT THE TIME= (coll.) I haven't got the time. AIN'T is the negative form for the verb "to be" and the verb "to have" in colloquial English:
- He ain't English= He's not English
- I ain't got any money= I haven't got any money
- I ain't no car= I don't have a car

HE'S TRIED= In this sentence, HE doesn't refer to her daddy (in the previous line), but to her manager (if you don't know the real story it's impossible to guess)

I WON'T GO= The form WON'T is the contraction of WILL NOT. The verb WILL may be used to express future or to express volition (=want), so the form WON'T very often means REFUSE. "I won't go" = "I refuse to go".

I'D RATHER= The phrase "I would rather" means "I prefer".

I'D RATHER STAY AT HOME WITH RAY= I prefer to stay at home listening to Ray Charles (a black singer she really admires), one of the creators of "rhythm and blues".

I AIN'T GOT 70 DAYS= I can't waste 70 days of my life in a rehabilitation centre.

CAUSE= because

Mr HATHAWAY= Donny Hathaway, a famous black American soul musician she likes a lot.

I DIDN'T GET A LOT IN CLASS= I have no class, no manners, no elegance (I wasn't born with it).

IT DON'T COME IN A SHOT GLASS= Using "don't" instead of "doesn't" is often heard in substandard English. A shot glass is a small glass designed to drink liquor. This sentence either means class is something you can't buy, or class is incompatible with alcohol.

YES, I'VE BEEN BLACK= Here, "black" is not referring to her race, because she is still a black woman, it is referring to depression, "black days", so it means "I've been depressed".

AND WHEN I COME BACK YOU'LL KNOW= Now YOU refers to her boyfriend: We broke up (you left me) and I got so depressed that I turned to alcohol, but you never knew how much your departure affected me. So if I go to rehab, when I come back you'll know how bad things went for me (and I don't want you to know).

THE MAN SAID (coll.)= "The man" is "the boss". The man here is the doctor at the rehabilitation centre.

I GOT NO IDEA= I've got no idea, I don't know.

GONNA= (coll.) going to

I'M GONNA LOSE MY BABY= I'm going to lose my boyfriend.

HE SAID: "I JUST THINK..."= That is her father talking, he thinks she has no drinking problem, just a little depression, that's all.

GO REST= in colloquial AmE the verb GO is often followed by infinitive without to, but in standard English this should be "go to rest", or "go and rest".

HAVE EVERYONE THINK= The complete sentence is "I'm not gonna have everyone think" (the first part said in the previous line), which means, I refuse to have people thinking...

I'M ON THE MEND= "To mend" is to heal, to repair. "I'm on the mend" means "I'm through a process of rehabilitation". She obviously thinks rehabilitation is for losers, for quitters, for people so weak they can't solve the problem by themselves, that's why she doesn't want to go there and she hates the idea of people thinking she's a loser. The idea is a bit stupid, that's why she says after this: "it's not just pride" (but, basically, it is).

'TILL= Until

In English, "daddy" may be used for your father or for your lover, but in this song, when she mentions her "daddy" she does actually mean her father (Mitch Winehouse), and not her man. The second thing people usually misinterpret here is the problem she’s talking about. Now we all know this singer with a great blues voice is a hard drug abuser (on top of being pathetic), but this song is not talking about a drug problem, but an alcohol problem (not that it is too different anyway).

After Amy's first album Frank (2003) was released, her Manager suggested she go to a rehabilitation centre (a rehab) for her drinking problem. She was on and off with her boyfriend at the time which is why she thought she would lose her baby. After breaking up with him, she suffered from depression and turned to alcohol, so bad she became an alcoholic. She went to a rehab and checked out 15 minutes later because she did not feel she needed it and her father advised her to get a rest and just forget about the liquor. Obviously her father was wrong. After telling her producer about that story, the tale turned into lyrics and the famous "they tried to make me go to rehab I said no no no" line came about.