Such a shame that she won’t be singing this live again.
Artist, album and year: Sinéad O’Connor, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, 1990.
Why is it a Classic? : The process of making any piece of music can be incredibly complex.
To begin with, a singer has to look deep into their own experiences and create a piece of art that not only resonates with them but can hopefully appeal to an audience at large.
Any track also usually requires some skilled musicians, producers and sound engineers, however, sometimes it’s the simplest of things that can shake a listener to their very core.
No amount of technical wizardry, fancy production tricks or showmanship can never compare to the rarest of things, a group or singer that manages to connect with the listener the other end on a deeply personal level.
Lyrics and talent are paramount. They’ll always be.
There’s a reason why Nothing Compares 2 U is a bonafide classic. It’s because Sinead O’Connor took Prince’s original song, made it her own, and also managed to make it feel deeply personal and intimate to millions of listeners around the world.
At times the song feels like it’s written just for you. That’s almost impossible to achieve.
The lyrics perfectly reflect those angst filled breakups where anyone with a broken heart usually puts on their best face, the one that the world can see, but inside they’re torn into a million pieces.
The song is superb because it focuses on those wonderful contradiction of break-ups, at times you revel in the cathartic freedom but during others you really don’t want to be on your own.
Self doubts, second guessing and lonely reflection are all post break-up themes that people identify with but you genuinely get the impression that O’Connor is poring her heart into every note in the recording studio.
Sadly we know that her incredibly emotive performance was inspired by her mother’s death but this song feels like the most wonderful tribute.
Did you Know? The iconic video filmed in Paris won the MTV music video of the year . In doing so, O’Connor became the first female artist to be awarded the prize.
The lyrical hook: The incredibly emotive words, “All the flowers that you planted, mama, In the back yard, All died when you went away”
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