Sad news yesterday. Tragic, but not surprising. That just makes it sadder. I’m re-sharing my post from last November about the Sinead O’Connor documentary, Nothing Compares. I had a mix of emotions while watching it: heartbreaking, inspiring, and frustrating. It’s the life story of a courageous, complicated woman. Showtime documentaries are now streaming on Paramount +. Hulu and Amazon subscribers can view it with a Showtime add-on. The film will impact you.
Sinead O’Connor. The skinhead ripping up a photo of the Pope in 1992 on Saturday Night Live. Her haunting, penetrating look from the cover of I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got and the “Nothing Compares 2 U” video. The sounds of “Mandinka,” that upbeat college-radio rocker from her compelling debut album, The Lion and the Cobra. Little did we know in 1987, that her days as an indie rocker were short-lived. Showtime’s latest musical documentary, Nothing Compares, focuses on 1987-1993 and ignores her life since then. Just like the world did.
The film opens with a scene that portends her exile from the pop mainstream. It’s October 1992 at Madison Square Garden’s gala celebrating 30 years of Bob Dylan. She’s set to perform his “I Believe in You” off the Slow Train Coming album. Immediately upon Kris Kristofferson’s introduction the boos ring out loudly throughout the arena. The reception doesn’t lend itself to playing the Dylan song. She decides to play Bob Marley’s “War,” which she played two weeks earlier on SNL. She runs off the stage into oblivion and the movie takes us back to her youth.
She had a traumatic childhood, including an 18-month stint at the notorious Magdalene asylums (or “laundries”). Writing and singing songs with her early band was a refuge for her. She shaved her head to protest the girly image already being foisted on her. The doc shows footage where the old male interviewers can’t figure out why such a “pretty young thing” would shave her head. She was pressured to end her pregnancy during the making of that startling debut album. U.S. record buyers got a softer cover photo of The Lion and the Cobra to spare them the original U.K. cover with her yelling her lungs out. The second album made her an international star with its cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” A #1 hit and a video that has been seen on YouTube over 300 million times. Oh, what a bright future for that one-of-a-kind mesmerizing voice that could transform from a whisper to a scream before you knew what hit you.
But she was never going to follow the predictable path or be quiet about social justice issues. Before the SNL appearance in 1990 she refused to have the national anthem sung before a New Jersey concert to protest the Gulf War. Frank Sinatra and Joe Pesci led the outcry to “kick her ass” and “smack her.” On the heels of the SNL performance her third album was already looking at choppy waters in public opinion, but she certainly didn’t help her commercial success by releasing an album of jazz standards. The movie goes silent about her life after the early ’90s, with the exception of the fast forward epilog. She would continue to explore different styles of music and confound listeners, including reggae, covers, and traditional Irish music. She married four times and had four children. Her son committed suicide. She became ordained as a priest (not recognized by the Church). She changed her name but continued performing as Sinead O’Connor. She had several serious health issues.
The film acknowledges her conversion to Islam in 2018 by closing with a recent performance of her wearing a hijab while singing “Thank You for Hearing Me.” It doesn’t make up for skipping a quarter century of her life. Many rock documentaries (and docs in general) focus on the well-known, successful, and controversial periods of their subject’s life. I get it, but that approach here reinforces her longstanding public image and misses an opportunity to fill in the blanks. But the film does highlight her life-long fight against sexism, racism, and the Catholic patriarchy. She was mocked by people who would later support her. She was a trailblazer. A no-regrets iconoclast. “They tried to bury me; didn’t realize I was a seed.”
D² Rating ◼◼◼◩☐
Comments
2 responses to “The Fearless Trailblazer Sinead O’Connor Dead at 56”
Don’t currently have Showtime, but I’m generally a Sinead O’Connor fan. She has always struck me as one of those artists who believes so deeply in their art that they can change the world with it. Will keep my eyes open for this documentary.
Thanks, Barcelona1! Glad to know there are other Sinead O’Connor fans out there. The documentary is sad and inspiring.