{"id":12089,"date":"2023-07-27T11:11:54","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T15:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/?p=12089"},"modified":"2024-08-28T10:55:43","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T14:55:43","slug":"sinead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/2023\/07\/27\/sinead\/","title":{"rendered":"Sin\u00e9ad"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Irish women with distinctive voices who were successful in the 90s<\/a> die, I\u2019m required to write about them.<\/p>\n

The terrible news came Wednesday of Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Connor\u2019s death. It\u2019s an understatement to suggest she did not have an easy life, so while a shock, this is also one of those deaths that can seem like a relief from all the pain she dealt with in her 56 years. Tom Breihan wrote a nice obituary on Stereogum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Much of that torment stemmed from her personal life, but there was also the public, career-based agony she endured. You can make an argument that no artist faced more abuse and vitriol for doing less to earn it than Sin\u00e9ad did, at least since the Civil Rights Era ended.<\/p>\n

Maybe it wasn\u2019t the best move to ask that the national anthem not be played when the US was amping up to fight a war. Although I would ask why the national anthem needs to be played before a rock concert. Also a reminder to kids today that the national anthem was used as a political prop long before people got mad about Colin Kaepernick.<\/p>\n

Somehow she was the one at fault when she called out the Catholic Church for its years of covering up the abuse of children by its priests. Not the hierarchy that protected the criminals and perpetuated the violence.<\/p>\n

She also decried racism and censorship in the music business, which combined with the two strikes above, basically ended any major label\u2019s interest in publishing and promoting her work.<\/p>\n

Which is a damn shame, because she made great music.<\/p>\n

Sadly I did not know much about her catalog until Wednesday. I had heard a song or two of hers – other than THE SONG<\/strong>, of course – over the years, but never more than a few times each. I played her first two albums, Lion and the Cobra<\/em> and I Do Not Want What I Haven\u2019t Got<\/em>, front-to-back, Wednesday afternoon. I was floored. They are both terrific. Not every song is a hit, but each album is heavier on good songs than filler.<\/p>\n

Her voice was amazing, of course. Her lyrics evocative, strident, and powerful. Often the music was very good, although in some cases it is pretty low-budget and typical of the era. I\u2019m so disappointed in myself for waiting until her death to dive in and listen to it.<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m writing about Sin\u00e9ad, I have to mention about the elephant in the room. It is, frankly, unbelievable that an artist like her, with so many quirks, controversial stances, and desire to veer away from what was popular, sang one of the greatest songs ever recorded. \u201cNothing Compares 2 U\u201d is a stunning work. Yes, Prince wrote an incredible song for her to interpret. That record\u2019s success all comes down to Sin\u00e9ad\u2019s performance, though. Few moments in the history of pop music can match it. It will get deep into your bones and shake you every time you listen to it. It doesn\u2019t matter that it is a bald, female, Irish revolutionary singing. Every listener can connect to the pain and loss in her voice.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to turn Sin\u00e9ad into a saint or a martyr. She was full of flaws, and occasionally too righteous for her own good. Most of those flaws stemmed from a horrible childhood, and her righteousness was always well-intended, and often proven to be the correct stance once the controversy around it settled down.<\/p>\n

As Breihan wrote in his \u201cNothing Compares 2 U\u201d Number Ones<\/em> entry<\/a>, Sin\u00e9ad was never destined to be a pop star.[1]<\/a> Having a song become that big and enduring was a fluke of the pop charts. She should have been one of those underground artists that bigger, more famous singers referenced with wonder. I doubt that would have changed the things she fought for and against in her music and public statements. I get the feeling that she was fine with the intense responses she provoked if they made even a few people question stances they had accepted without argument before. Maybe that does make her a martyr.<\/p>\n

OK, a few of the songs I fell in love with while listening to those first two albums (now twice each, as I write this).<\/p>\n