Would this have happened if she wasn’t in the public eye?
At this writing the cause of death has not been revealed, but I am not optimistic it was natural causes.
They don’t make stars like Sinéad O’Connor anymore. There’s nowhere to project a unique talent to everybody simultaneously, to deliver to the public a unique voice that blows them away. That was the power of MTV. And FM rock before that. And, of course, AM radio before that.
You only had to see the video once. You know, the Prince song, “Nothing Compares 2 U.” He’s gone now too. Which is hard to fathom, since he said he was fine, talked about rumors of his supposed imminent death just before he did die. And Sinéad and Prince were similar in that they came up in an era where they wanted you to do it their way, as opposed to the way the artist wanted to do it, their way.
So this was a different era, one of a plethora of record labels. Chrysalis was now a standalone company, after being an imprint whose records were distributed by others. It started just before the turn of the decade, from the seventies to the eighties, with Blondie. And then Pat Benatar and Huey Lewis. Somehow, Chrysalis could make stick what previous companies had been unable to break through.
So by time we hit 1990, MTV ruled the world. It had been around for nine years, was now established all over the world, and radio, which still mattered, was in lockstep with the music video channel. Such that “Nothing Compares 2 U” was instantly everywhere.
And this was not Chumbawamba. There was not only one good track and a plethora of dreck on “I Do Not Want What I Have Not Got.” It was deep and sparing throughout, just like the hit. It stuck with you. It was personal. Not done by committee. And it was a huge hit.
And then Sinéad ripped up the picture of the Pope on SNL and it was all over. That’s America, don’t fight with God. And those who don’t care are afraid of those who stand up to God.
Then again, most Americans didn’t grow up in Ireland, still haven’t been to Ireland, don’t comprehend Ireland. There’s a long history of literature exposing the Irish condition, but America doesn’t read, it’s got to be delivered easy, via moving pictures. Hopefully like “Ted Lasso,” upbeat. We don’t want to be reminded of the underbelly, but Sinéad was all underbelly.
O’Connor never had another hit. And we can argue whether her material deserved presence at the top of the pops or not, but one thing is for sure, she was silently blackballed. Because she was dangerous, because she was uncontrollable. And this is what record labels and radio abhor. They don’t care how talented you are, if you’re a loose cannon, if you don’t play it their way, they want nothing to do with you. You’re trouble.
And Sinéad O’Connor was perceived as trouble.
Now the funny thing is O’Connor continued to have some success overseas after her stock crumbled in the U.S., but eventually that faded away too. Sinéad was a has-been. Seen by many as a one hit wonder. Even though she was never about the hits, meaning her work delivered, she was an artist, who had something to say, who was in pain.
And suddenly that pain was everywhere.
Radio and records might not want to touch you, but the press loves famous people who act irrationally, who make crazy statements, who behave wildly. They’ve got to fill the pages. And that’s where O’Connor started to appear.
There were marriages and babies, a religious conversion, an institutionalization, Oprah and Dr. Phil. O’Connor was self-destructing in front of our very eyes. And the weird thing is these people don’t get help, they’re seen as entertainment. Until they die.
So… Would all of this have happened to Sinéad O’Connor if she hadn’t had a hit record and become recognizable around the world?
Well, O’Connor came out and said she was bipolar. And if this is true, and unmedicated, bad behavior, weird behavior, is part of the diagnosis.
Then again, fame is a drug that once experienced is hard to give up. Knowing that everything you say will be fodder for the news, distributed around the globe.
Then again, there are mentally ill people living desperate lives around the globe who go unnoticed, because they are not famous.
Was Sinéad O’Connor destined for this path, or was the world complicit?
Now the bipolar are some of our greatest artists. Today everyone is seen as a possible musical star. How do you look? We can put you together with a team, we can build a monolith. But you used to need something extra, we called that talent, and it had nothing to do with self-promotion, but raw musical creation. Our artists had insight, they were beacons. Sinéad was constantly pushing the envelope, warning others of the ills of the music industry, but her statements fell on deaf ears. Seen any real repercussions of #MeToo in the music business? No. It’s an independent contractor enterprise run by men. Of course there are women, but oftentimes they have the values of men. Criticize me all you want, but this is frequently true, because you have to have that killer instinct to survive.
The machine needs music. It thrives when there are artists. And artists are not about breaking records, but breaking hearts and minds, getting us to question ourselves and the world. Artists are not concerned with what the prepubescent think, not that they’ll turn away their business, artists are speaking to those who’ve grown up, who’ve experienced, and it’s not only their fans but society at large. Don’t forget, they attacked John Lennon for saying the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. Back in an era when “Time” asked if religion was dead.
Actually, religion is dying in America. But politically it’s more powerful than ever. Sinéad O’Connor was standing up to the ills of religion, but this message went unheeded, never mind being from a girl.
But unlike so many of those with success in the past, Sinéad O’Connor won’t be forgotten, because she had it, what most people don’t possess, and she delivered it.
And what she delivered…
Of course there was “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
But on that same album, there’s “The Last Day of Our Acquaintance.” And “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” And “Black Boys on Mopeds.” And “I Am Stretched on Your Grave.”
I was at the Lilith Fair at the Rose Bowl, outside the Bowl, watching Special K and Billie Myers, and then I heard this sound floating over the stands, I had to run inside to listen.
“I am stretched on your grave
And I’ll lie here forever”
That voice! Pure and powerful. Natural. Not aided by studio trickery.
And then there was that moment on Letterman. Sinéad singing “You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart.” It’s disappeared from YouTube, because of some rights issue, but not only did it slay me the first time through, I kept it on VHS tape, so I could watch it again and again.
Sinéad was possessed by the music. She felt the music. She was the music. It was transcendent. It’s one thing to take the stage, it’s another to lift the entire auditorium.
The song was from the film “In the Name of the Father.” If they even make those films anymore, they go nearly unseen. This is not what Universal, the film’s distributor, or the rest of the majors put out these days. They want cartoons, not truth. Because most people can’t handle the truth. And the truth is life is now so hard that people don’t want to be reminded of the fact that there is no upside, that they’re stuck. Which is why people believe in falsehoods, conspiracy theories, because the truth is just too scary.
But Sinéad O’Connor was all about the truth. Directly from her heart to ours. She looked us in the eye and delivered. Like the rock stars of yore. She might not have died at 27, but she shares the lineage of those who do. She just wasn’t made for these times.
“Oh, you lost
Oh, you lost all
You lost all
You lost all”
