Listen to Sinéad O’Connor’s spellbinding isolated vocals on ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’
A naturally contentious soul, there was one thing about Sinéad O’Connor that cannot be denied: she had a vocal power that would gladly strip the paint of the finest frescos this side of Florence. Blessed with perhaps the most delicately poised vocal cords of the decade, O’Connor would use them both as a wondrous perfume for the ages and a visceral weapon.
There is no better showing of the singer’s prowess than on her wildly beautiful cover of Prince’s song ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’. While the song is not without its own unwelcomed attachments, O’Connor’s performance, and accompanying video, would not only launch her career but cement her status as a bonafide voice of the ages overnight.
Originally recorded by Susan Rogers in 1984 at the Flying Cloud Drive ‘Warehouse’ in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, the track is quite simply stunning and was given the platform it deserved when taken on by O’Connor. The track would fly off the shelves selling millions of copies and hitting the top of the charts across the majority of the world.
Perhaps the defining factor of the release was the accompanying music video. Featuring a black and white shot of O’Connor as she pertinently sings a song of lost love, a single tear dripping down her face, the video circulated on an almost endless loop during 1990, making O’Connor’s tear-soaked face one of the decade’s defining images.
While many originally assumed that the tears were part of the music video motif, it was later confirmed that they were indeed real. As she sang the emotive song, O’Connor originally tried to hold back the tears but eventually conceded, sharing, “I should let this happen.” Later, the singer explained that the tears were prompted by the memory of her mother, who died in a car accident back in 1985.
O’Connor’s relationship with the song, and its creator, wouldn’t be all pleasant, though. As well as labelling Prince an ‘abuser of women” and claiming he once tried to attack her, the song became an unwanted albatross around the neck of an artist who seemed intent on pushing the envelope creatively and politically.
Pop stardom was never likely to sit well with O’Connor, and she rarely reached the heights of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ ever again. However, if making music is about finding a place in history, then her cover of this song has cemented Sinéad O’Connor’s name in the annals of pop music.
Listen below to her spellbinding isolated vocals for ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’.
