Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
The Emperor's New Clothes (1990)
If there's one thing about Sinead O'Connor that is indisputable, it's that she had an amazing voice. When she burst onto the music scene in 1987 with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra, it was that voice and her shaved head that got plenty of attention. She was nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for "Mandinka," and performed on the award show, but she had her first big controversy when she painted Public Enemy's logo on her head to protest that the first Best Rap Performance award was given off-screen.
As successful as her first album was, O'Connor's second album, 1990's I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, really blew up. Rightfully so, all the focus was on her monster cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares 2 U," which went to #1 on just about every singles chart in the freakin' world. The video, which is basically a tight shot of her face as she sings the song, was ubiquitous and won three MTV Video Music Awards.
The album also went to #1 on most album charts and went double platinum in the U.S. It was nominated for four Grammy awards and won Best Alternative Music Performance, but O'Connor refused to accept the nominations or the award.
The second single off the album was "The Emperor's New Clothes," a guitar-driven track in which an empowered O'Connor sings about dealing with being a young mother and the judgment she faced from the public. Even as the lyrics are heavy, she delivers them in an upbeat tone.
"He thinks I just became famous/And that's what messed me up/But he's wrong/How could I possibly know what I want/When I was only 21?/There's millions of people/To offer advice and say how I should be/But they're twisted/And they will never be any influence on me/But you will always be/You will always be."
The song was a radio hit, getting to #1 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart and #3 on the Canadian singles chart, but only hitting #60 on the Billboard Hot 100. Still, it was a strong follow-up to "Nothing Compares 2 U" that showed Sinead could still rock if she wanted to.
"Maybe it sounds mean/But I really don't think so/You asked for the truth and I told you."
Of course, O'Connor's success and high profile led to a series of controversies. She refused to play on Saturday Night Live in 1990 because the host was Andrew Dice Clay, who she said was disrespectful to women. Later that year, she caught flak for saying she wouldn't perform if the U.S. national anthem was played before one of her concerts. But the height of the tempest was when she finally appeared on SNL in 1992 and protested the Catholic Church by ripping up a photo of the Pope. She said later she felt the Church was responsible for child abuse and for some of the abuse she received as a child. O'Connor drew protests from various groups and celebrities, and she was booed at a tribute concert for Bob Dylan a few weeks later. Nine years later, Pope John Paul II publicly acknowledged child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
O'Connor's career was up and down after that. She made a lot of guest appearances and continued to release albums, but nothing came close to the early success she had. She went through a lot of personal crises, including multiple short-lived marriages and the death of her 17-year-old son. She passed away last July at the age of 56 of natural causes.
Sinead lived a life of turmoil and turbulence, but none of that diminishes her brilliance.
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