We found out today that
Sinead O'Connor died. Probably best known for her cover of
Prince's "
Nothing Compares 2 U", if you weren't there, it's hard to convey just how big she was in the early 1990s -- right up until she became famous for her
other cover:
Bob Marley and the Wailers's "
War".
I'm 95% certain I watched this live in 1992 on SNL, though it's possible that I watched later coverage of it and the mists of time have caused me to conflate source. The reaction was nearly universal revulsion, and it's safe to say this greatly curtailed a promising career. I wasn't offended, but I was surprised at her boldness and conviction.
And with the benefit of time, it should be clear to all her detractors from 31 years ago that she was 100% right. I don't recall child abuse in the Catholic Church being well-known at the time, but that started to change after her performance. There are innumerable villains in the story, but when you're the pope, the papal buck stops with you.
What I didn't know until today is that Bob Marley's original song, from the 1976 LP "Rastaman Vibration", is based on a 1963 speech to the UN by Ethiopia's Haile Selassie:
That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; That until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained; And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed; Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; Until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil.
Bob Marley adapted that speech into a song, and Sinead O'Connor adapted the song to be about child abuse. She repeated the song (sans picture) at the 1992 Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert.
Her SNL version starts off a little shaky and unsure, likely because she knows she's on the precipice of an act she can't undo, before it builds to its powerful conclusion. The best definition of bravery I've seen says it's not about "not being afraid", but rather "being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway." Sinead was brave, and she was right.
Sinead O'Connor -- War (1992 SNL; 1992 30th Bob Dylan Anniversary Concert)
Bob Marley & The Wailers -- War (1976 LP version, live 1979)
N.B. It's also a nice reminder that if all you have is "Legends", which admittedly was standard issue when I was in college, you're missing out on Marley's overtly political canon.
