Don’t Ask Sinead O’Connor To Sing “Nothing Compares 2 U”, Because She’s Done Singing It
If your favorite Sinead O’Connor song is the 1990 hit “Nothing Compares 2 U” (everyone in the world raises their hand) and you love watching Sinead O’Connor perform live, then I have some terrible news for you. Earlier this week, Sinead posted a long Facebook message (via Page Six) announcing that you’ll never hear her warble the words “I can eat mah dinner in a fancy res-tah-raAaAaAnt” ever again because she’s officially done with “Nothing Compares 2 U”. Even though “Nothing Compares 2 U” should be the opener, closer, and mid-show sing-a-long of her set list, Sinead says she doesn’t identify with it anymore, so she’s not singing it.
“OK, the time has come for me to cease singing Nothing Compares 2U. The first principle of the manner in which I’m trained as a singer (Bel Canto) is we never sing a song we don’t emotionally identify with. After twenty-five years of singing it, nine months or so ago I finally ran out of anything I could use in order to bring some emotion to it. I don’t want audiences to be disappointed coming along to a show and then not hearing it, so am letting you know here that you won’t. If I were to sing it just to please people, I wouldn’t be doing my job right, because my job is to be emotionally available. I’d be lying. You’d be getting a lie. My job is to give you honesty. I’m trained in honesty. I can’t act. It just isn’t in my training. I have ceased singing other songs over the years for the same reason.”
I don’t know how good an idea this is. I mean, if I were a contestant on Family Feud and talking mustache Steve Harvey asked me to “Name a song Sinead O’Connor might sing“, and “Nothing Compares 2 U” was already on the board, I’m pretty sure I’d pack up my things and leave, because I cannot name a single Sinead O’Connor song besides “Nothing Compares 2 U.” (Note from Michael: Just a reminder, Allison’s thoughts are her own, because I, for one, have spent many Sunday mornings singing along to “Emperor’s New Clothes” while topless and waiting for my microwaveable pancakes to finish.)
Then again, I don’t know if I can blame her. Sinead’s love life has been a messy mess these past couple years, and the last time we checked in on her, she had gotten the initials of a dude who did her dirty tattooed on her face, so I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that the only way Sinead could get through “Nothing Compares 2 U” at this moment in her life is by picturing her vibrator. That’s actually kind of romantic, if you think about it.