The Face That Stopped the World
Most people remember the eyes. That stark, pale face filling the entire screen, framed by a shaved head that felt like a political statement even before she opened her mouth. When Sinéad O’Connor Nothing Compares 2 U hit MTV in 1990, it didn't just climb the charts. It basically broke the medium.
Music videos back then were mostly neon lights, big hair, and frantic editing. Then came Sinéad. Director John Maybury kept the camera locked on her for nearly five minutes. No distractions. Just raw, uncomfortably close emotion.
When those two tears rolled down her cheeks near the end? That wasn't in the script. Honestly, it wasn't even about a breakup.
The True Story Behind Those Tears
If you ask a casual fan, they’ll tell you she was crying over a lost lover. The lyrics definitely lean that way—"seven hours and fifteen days," "all the flowers that you planted, mama." But Sinéad eventually set the record straight in her memoir, Rememberings.
She wasn't thinking about a boyfriend. She was thinking about her mother, Marie O’Connor, who had died in a car crash in 1985.
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Sinéad’s relationship with her mother was, to put it mildly, traumatic. She spoke openly about the physical and emotional abuse she endured as a child. Yet, the grief was still there. When she sang the line about the flowers in the backyard, it hit a nerve. She let the tears fall, and Maybury was smart enough to keep the tape rolling.
Prince, Sinéad, and the Song That Shouldn’t Have Worked
It’s easy to forget that Nothing Compares 2 U started as a Prince throwaway. He wrote it in 1984 in about an hour. He didn't even keep it for himself; he gave it to a side project called The Family.
Their version? It’s fine. It’s got a sax solo and some 80s synth. But it didn't do much. It sat in obscurity until Sinéad’s manager, Fachtna O'Ceallaigh, suggested she cover it for her second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.
A Clash of Icons
You’d think Prince would be thrilled that a young artist turned his "forgotten" track into the #1 song in the world. He wasn't.
When they finally met at his house in Los Angeles, things went south fast. Sinéad described it as a total nightmare. Prince reportedly scolded her for swearing in interviews. She, being Sinéad, told him where to go.
It ended with a "pillow fight" that wasn't a game—she claimed he had stuffed the pillows with something hard to hurt her. She literally had to run out of his house at five in the morning and hide behind a car.
They never reconciled. Even decades later, Prince’s estate remained protective. In 2022, they actually blocked her documentary from using the song. Sharon Nelson, Prince’s half-sister, told Billboard she didn't feel Sinéad "deserved" to use it because Prince's version was better.
Most of the world disagrees.
Why Sinéad O’Connor Nothing Compares 2 U Still Hits Different
There’s a technical reason why the song works so well, and it’s about what isn’t there. Nellee Hooper’s production is incredibly sparse. It’s built on a drum loop and a mournful string arrangement.
The Vocal Masterclass
Sinéad insisted on no compression on her vocals. In modern recording, we usually "squash" the sound to make everything even. Sinéad wanted the opposite.
- The Whispers: The way she breathes through the verses makes it feel like she's in the room with you.
- The Screams: When she hits the high notes in the chorus, she isn't "pretty-singing." She’s wailing.
- The Dissonance: She famously changed the melody of the chorus to be more monotone on the words "to you," which makes it sound more like a statement of fact than a pop hook.
It’s a performance that basically ruined the song for anyone else. Even Chris Cornell’s incredible acoustic cover—which is brilliant in its own right—always lives in the shadow of what she did in 1990.
The Legacy of a "One-Hit Wonder" (That Wasn't)
Critics sometimes call her a one-hit wonder because this was her only massive US chart-topper. That's a bit unfair. She was a titan of alternative music who just happened to accidentally stumble into the pop mainstream.
She hated the fame that came with it. She boycotted the Grammys the year she was nominated, calling the industry materialistic. To her, the song was a vehicle for truth, not a way to sell Pepsi.
Actionable Insights: How to Listen Now
If you want to truly appreciate the depth of this track, don't just put it on a random "90s Hits" playlist. Do this:
- Watch the Video: Don't just listen. You have to see the micro-expressions. The anger in her eyes is just as important as the sadness.
- Compare the Versions: Listen to the 1985 version by The Family, then Prince’s 1993 live version with Rosie Gaines. You’ll see how Sinéad stripped away the "fun" to find the "pain."
- Read "Rememberings": Understanding her life in Dublin and her fight with the Catholic Church puts the "defiance" in her voice into a whole new context.
The song remains a masterclass in vulnerability. It’s a reminder that sometimes the most powerful thing an artist can do is just stand still and tell the truth.
Next steps for you: Go back and listen to the full album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. Most people skip the rest, but tracks like "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance" prove that her brilliance wasn't just a fluke of a Prince cover.