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RIP Sinead O'Connor

Horn Under a Bad Sign

By Horn Under a Bad Sign
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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46165

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, boilerhorn said:

A more recent live version of Nothing Compares 2 U.

Such a staggering amount of talent.  I can't think of many female singers of the era who could rival her ability to just lay herself wide open in a song.  Joni Mitchell, Amy Winehouse, Aretha, Janis, maybe Adele.  I know it's hard to watch, but even decades down the road she still connected with the lyric in an utterly personal, guttural way.

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Paul Wesley

Paul Wesley 3289

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I was in undergrad when she did "Mandinka" on Letterman.  It made a huge and immediate impression.  Mainstream pop and rock was still in the deep pits of hair metal, and the few rock bands that were fronted by women (Heart) were doing God-awful corporate power ballads.  And onto that scene comes a young Irish girl who writes her own songs, shaves her head, dresses like a punk, and has a totally unique perspective on the world and an incredible physical voice to match.

I wore out those first two records.  The songwriting on both of them is just fantastic. 

If you were older than about 13 or 14 when she tore up the picture of the pope, you'll remember how venomous and ubiquitous the backlash against her was.  Sinatra was talking about slapping her, comedians of the day (Andrew Dice Clay) did bits mocking her.  I don't think she had a single ally amongst any religious group -- it wasn't just the Catholics, but leaders of all denominations denounced her.  Politicians denounced her.  Even music fans booed her when she appeared at a Bob Dylan tribute concert.

I can remember a few people standing up for the Dixie Chicks in real time.  I don't remember a single person in any position of power standing up for Sinead.  

It's pretty crazy to think how universally she was criticized for saying things that we think of only a few decades later as factual - that black boys were getting killed by the police, that the Catholic Church was enabling child abuse, etc.

I have listened to "Emperor's New Clothes" a thousand times, and I'm still really moved by it.

 

"Everyone can see what's going on 

They laugh 'cause they know they're untouchable, 

Not because what I said was wrong. 

Whatever it may bring, I will live by my own policies.

I will sleep with a clear conscience, I will sleep in peace."

 

Edited by Paul Wesley
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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46165

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, Paul Wesley said:

I was in undergrad when she did "Mandinka" on Letterman. 

Here it is.  Some thoughts -- her vocal range is stunning, even if the octaves are falsetto.  Her physical beauty is real, which seemed odd at the time given her shaved head, and which nowadays is unremarkable.  Sid & Will are totally sterile, come on guys, Anton is kicking ass on drums, and Paul "Overplay" Shaffer actually doesn't play and just watches.  That's how captivating she was.

 

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Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand

Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13587

Posted
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15 minutes ago, Paul Wesley said:

I was in undergrad when she did "Mandinka" on Letterman.  It made a huge and immediate impression.  Mainstream pop and rock was still in the deep pits of hair metal, and the few rock bands that were fronted by women (Heart) were doing God-awful corporate power ballads.  And onto that scene comes a young Irish girl who writes her own songs, shaves her head, dresses like a punk, and has a totally unique perspective on the world and an incredible physical voice to match.

I wore out those first two records.  The songwriting on both of them is just fantastic. 

If you were older than about 13 or 14 when she tore up the picture of the pope, you'll remember how venomous and ubiquitous the backlash against her was.  Sinatra was talking about slapping her, comedians of the day (Andrew Dice Clay) did bits mocking her.  I don't think she had a single ally amongst any religious group -- it wasn't just the Catholics, but leaders of all denominations denounced her.  Politicians denounced her.  Even music fans booed her when she appeared at a Bob Dylan tribute concert.

I can remember a few people standing up for the Dixie Chicks in real time.  I don't remember a single person in any position of power standing up for Sinead.  

It's pretty crazy to think how universally she was criticized for saying things that we think of only a few decades later as factual - that black boys were getting killed by the police, that the Catholic Church was enabling child abuse, etc.

I have listened to "Emperor's New Clothes" a thousand times, and I'm still really moved by it.

 

"Everyone can see what's going on 

They laugh 'cause they know they're untouchable, 

Not because what I said was wrong. 

Whatever it may bring, I will live by my own policies.

I will sleep with a clear conscience, I will sleep in peace."

 

The Aldeans of the world haven't got a clue what "cancel culture" is. 

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Goredho

Goredho 17421

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I wasn’t a big fan of hers, just because I was into other things at the time.  She was obviously talented, and persecuted for warranted criticism.  Kinda like Ice Cube and Fuck the Police, except it was held against her for the rest of her life.  Rest in peace, songbird.

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Mdhorn

Mdhorn 5987

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Loved Jerusalem and Drink Before the War--hell the whole album of Lion and Cobra.  Burned out that album when it first dropped--she was it. Loved the subtlety of I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got and bits and pieces of proceeding albums.  Always enjoyed her background lyrics with Jah Wobble:

Much like Elliott Smith, you gave a lot and I'll miss hearing your newest offerings and all that spirit inside.  Gone too soon, RIP.    Leaving another special song, Just Call Me Joe, from that first masterpiece

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gofuckyourself

gofuckyourself 8386

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2 hours ago, crash_davis said:

Outlaw is standing up to child abuse by the Catholic church and getting shit for it for the rest of your life. Being an outlaw takes courage. She had more balls than all of the Nashville bro country asshats combined.

 

Even more, Black Boys on Mopeds. Which I just discovered this week. The song on the album right before nothing compares 2 u.

"It's the home of police who kill black boys on mopeds...

These are dangerous days

To say what you feel is to dig your own grave."

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Deej

Deej 76935

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Posted
7 hours ago, crash_davis said:

Outlaw is standing up to child abuse by the Catholic church and getting shit for it for the rest of your life. Being an outlaw takes courage. She had more balls than all of the Nashville bro country asshats combined.

 

My female dog has more balls than all the bro country asshats combined. 

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PRONG HORN

PRONG HORN 3159

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Here's the whole live set from 1988

 

1. "Jackie" (O'Connor)  
2. "Just Like U Said It Would B" (O'Connor/Wickham)  
3. "Mandinka" (O'Connor)  
4. "Just Call Me Joe" (O'Connor/Mooney/Winer)  
5. "Never Get Old" (O'Connor)  
6. "Jerusalem" (O'Connor/McMordie/Clowes/Reynolds)  
7. "Troy" (O'Connor)  
8. "I Am Stretched on Your Grave" (Philip King/F.O'Connor)

 

 

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Mdhorn

Mdhorn 5987

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6 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Well, there's that lip-synching thing.

She ain't lip syncing.  There's a bit of delay, the background music and her background vocals are all dubbed but she's singing the song. You can hear her breath or drag her voice in places, which varies from the recording--"see how the glass is raised" and onward...  Just watching it on your phone varies from watching it on your computer. But I've also heard the song thousands of times.  Her, Kate Bush and Siouxsie are three singers I crushed on early and still love listening to.   

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smwhorn

smwhorn 483

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Interesting article about what she told her kids to do if she dropped dead.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/28/entertainment/sinead-oconnor-death-instructions/index.html

Something else she was right about apparently -- record companies screwing their artists.

RIP Sinead.  I didn't really follow her much. Didn't dislike her or her music, she just wasn't someone's music that I sought out.  

Edited by smwhorn
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ztejas

ztejas 43540

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On 7/28/2023 at 2:44 PM, smwhorn said:

Interesting article about what she told her kids to do if she dropped dead.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/28/entertainment/sinead-oconnor-death-instructions/index.html

Something else she was right about apparently -- record companies screwing their artists.

RIP Sinead.  I didn't really follow her much. Didn't dislike her or her music, she just wasn't someone's music that I sought out.  

Good for her. I'm usually okay with a posthumous album of b-sides or unreleased stuff although I keep the context in mind that they may or may not have been released by the artist in question.

Anything past that I find pretty tasteless and disrespectful. 

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