Why Sinéad O'Connor Matters

by Allyson McCabe

A stirring defense of Sinéad O'Connor's music and activism, and an indictment of the culture that cancelled her.

In 1990, Sinéad O'Connor's video for "Nothing Compares 2 U" turned her into a superstar. Two years later, an appearance on Saturday Night Live turned her into a scandal. For many people—including, for years, the author—what they knew of O'Connor stopped there. Allyson McCabe believes it's time to reassess our old judgments about Sinéad O'Connor and to expose the machinery that built her up and knocked her down. Addressing triumph and struggle, sound and story, Why Sinéad O'Connor Matters argues that its subject has been repeatedly manipulated and misunderstood by a culture that is often hostile to women who speak their minds (in O'Connor's case, by shaving her head, championing rappers, and tearing up a picture of the pope on live television). McCabe details O'Connor's childhood abuse, her initial success, and the backlash against her radical politics without shying away from the difficult issues her career raises. She compares O'Connor to Madonna, another superstar who challenged the Catholic Church, and Prince, who wrote her biggest hit and allegedly assaulted her. A journalist herself, McCabe exposes how the media distorts not only how we see O'Connor but how we see ourselves, and she weighs the risks of telling a story that hits close to home. In an era when popular understanding of mental health has improved and the public eagerly celebrates feminist struggles of the past, it can be easy to forget how O'Connor suffered for being herself. This is the book her admirers and defenders have been waiting for.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Audiobook, History, Feminism, Biography Memoir

215 pages, Hardcover

First published June 27, 2023

Reviews

[Paya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rozmawiajmy nie tylko o Sinead O’Connor. Rozmawiajmy o artystkach. O tym, jak ich narracje niszczył (i niszczy) wielki przemysł muzyczny. Rozmawiajmy o zaangażowanej sztuce. Rozmawiajmy o tym, że nie zawsze jesteśmy doskonali.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nuanced, feminist look at the musical work and life of Sinead O’Connor in all of her sometimes brilliant, sometimes deeply sad, sometimes complicated facets.

[Michelle Skelton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoughtful, inspired, timely subject. It's very apparent that the author, a music journalist, has genuine appreciation and respect for O'Connor. However this book reads as an extended, in-depth review / love letter / think piece on Sinead O'Connor's memoir. I think I'll go read that directly.

I do appreciate the author's passion for her subject and openness in exploring & sharing her own vulnerabilities.

[Joseph Reilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book feels like cliff notes. I recommend Sinead O'Connor's 2021 memoir Rememberings and her entire musical catalog. This combined with YouTube interviews and performances will give you a well-put-together tableau of Sinead.

Sinead O'Connor like many Irish artists before her was a rebel at heart. Lennon (Irish by blood) and Lydon had a healthy disrespect for authority and injustice. Sinead had this same spirit and anger engrained in her which added a sense of danger and unpredictability to her music and performances. Her music was beautiful on the surface but it was bubbling with intense emotion and it dealt with some serious issues. This contrast created a unique listening experience that I highly recommend.

[pozaprzypisem · Rating 5 out of 5]

nothing compares 2 sinéad ❤️
wnikliwy zbiór esejów, które osadza życie sinéad w odpowiednich kontekstach kulturowych, malując wielokolorową mozaikę ówczesnego świata muzyki, panujących tam podwójnych standardów. to opowieść o niezwykle silnej dziewczynie, która przez całe życie pozostawała niezrozumiana. przejmująco-przygnębiająca, szkoda że publika stała się gotowa na rozmowy o sinéad dopiero w czasie przeszłym - kiedy samej zainteresowanej już zabrakło :((

[Stephanie Dargusch Borders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a mixed bag for me. I loved the history of Sinéad’s music and the the social impact of her decisions and where they stemmed from.

I wanted more of Sinéad the woman. Not Sinéad the musician. There was little foundation laid as far as her childhood, and every relationship she had in her life was more of a footnote.

Very play-by-play, basic mentions of anyone who had any relevance in her life outside the music industry.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really thoughtful reflection on both O’Connor and the author’s understanding of her work—how her work has resonated with her. I really like this music series, because it allows the authors to talk about their own involvement with the music—which is such a huge part of music.

[alaaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

uwazam, ze ta ksiazka byla szczegolnie wazna dla samej autorki. sama lektura jest ciekawa, natomiast brakowalo mi wiekszej uwagi nad pochodzeniem irlandzkim o’connor, ktore przeciez bylo tak wazne dla jej osoby i tworczosci, a mccabe glownie skupia sie na jej karierze w usa …..no i tak

[Mateusz Romanowski]

Rzeczy, które robisz analizując działania artystki w społeczeństwie zasranym zajebanym.

Takie książki o muzycznych i kulturowych zjawiskach należy czytać i pisać.

[Lizva · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book drew me in. It’s very engaging and as the author tells the story of Sinead, she brings in a reconsideration of racism and sexism/misogyny in the music industry in the 1980’s. Earlier this year, when Sinead passed away, I was surprised to feel very sad. When she tore up the photo of the Pope on SNL I was too young to understand or have any context for it. 30 years later, thinking about it for the first time since then, I felt profoundly moved by what she had done.

This book engaged me immediately in Sinead’s story. Where it faltered a little was a very rushed and non critical treatment of her work and life after 1992. She aspired to be like Dylan and wanted to be judged on her work, how was that work? I would have liked more depth in this part. Still the cultural critique is definitely worth the read.

[Helcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

To nie jest biografia, a raczej list miłosny do O'Connor. Ale spełniła swoje zadanie - jest to dobry wstęp do rozmów o Sinead i próby zrozumienia jej całej kariery i "kontrowersyjnych" zachowań. Czuję wielką czułość do niej jako do kobiety i artystki.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is impossible to write enough about Sinead O'Connor, but Allyson McCabe's book is more than a biography. It is a personal reflection on the singer's life and treatment by the record industry and media through the lens of McCabe's own politics, identity and experiences of a troubled childhood. Throughout O'Connor's life she was rarely afforded the empathy and understanding she deserved, always crucified at the first opportunity and subject to the sort of scrutiny men simply aren't.
O'Connor wasn't always right, but often she was. We ask a lot of our heroes, but recognizing the complexity of a person and all the traumas and struggles they carry with them is something we could do so much more of - both with our heroes and everyone else in our life. We can only be thankful that, however uncomfortable, Sinead O'Connor challenged that lack of understanding with the grace and power she did, even to her own detriment. This book was obviously written before her death, but it hits particularly hard now and is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand this complex, important artist.

[O'Connor] "held up a mirror to society, exposing its gaslighting, hypocrisy, and double standards with respect to gender, race and the economic drives of the music industry."

"It's only when we accept her full humanity that we can arrive at an authentic understanding and compassion for our own humanity. If we love the tear that O'Connor sheds in the video for 'Nothing Compares 2 U', we also have to be willing to acknowledge and address the pain that provoked it."

[Mary Kibby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel literally so knowledgeable. I will update when it is not 2:30am. Overall 5 stars

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hit me right in the feels. It was flawed, sure, but aren’t we all? It felt very podcasty at times (which is an insult from me), and the editing/pacing was pretty inconsistent. One of the most glaring curiosities was McCabe’s willingness to toss around the F word (a bunch), the C word, and the R word, but to replace the N word with “the N word”. Anyway, lots to ponder here and I can’t wait to read Sinéad’s autobiography. So glad, also, that I was able to go to Lilith Fair in 1997.

[Armando · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect pairing to go with Sinead O'Connor's autobiography, Allyson McCabe dives into a somewhat brief but detailed look at O'Connor's life and career, how those two have intertwined, and more importantly, takes a critical look at how the industry and public treated her with double standards for men in the industry as well as how women were seen and used in the entertainment industry.

I loved the insights Allyson brought and the comparisons to how other female entertainers were treated and have seen been treated since O'Connor's run in the nineties and 2000's. The fact that she chose to focus on how O'Connor beat almost everyone to the punch by pointing out the catholic church's abuse scandal and how she was treated for it compared despite its truth, was definitely refreshing. Its something I've been seeing posted in the comments of almost any Sinead O'Connor video today. And the fact that's its being brought even further into the spotlight by this author is great.

A lot of the abuse and scandals O'Connor tried to bring into light have all become true, especially in the past few years, and again, its refreshing to see her get the credit for her honesty and bravery.

But Allyson also focuses in on the more troubling aspects of O'Connor's personality and career choices. She too, feels confused why O'Connor seems to constantly invite controversy and conflict into her life, but she doesn't look at it in a mean or critical light, but more of a stance of trying to understand and relate. Towards the end of the audiobook, Allyson shares some very personal aspects of her own life that she relates much to O'Connor's, which I felt was the most heartful part of the audiobook. Overall, this is a very good critical look at O'Connor's life, about the up's and down's but coming from, like I mentioned, a stand of understanding and insight, rather than being written like most traditional critical looks at artists and entertainers. Allyson only focuses on what she feels is important, not all the drivel and dives deeper into the facts to understand why certain things happened in O'Connor's life, rather than just to state them and scratch only the surface. It provides a deeper understanding of O'Connor's troubled life, and this is more than just a look into O'Connor's life but also shines a spotlight on the music industry and its audience, and how both have treated O'Connor and female musicians and artists since.

I will say that at times this book does feel a little exploitative. And while I greatly enjoyed the author's insights and respect her stance of wanting to write this, I do feel it comes hot off the heels a bit too closely to O'Connor's autobiography. To be honest, I feel you get more out of this having read Rememberings by Sinead O'Connor first before diving into this, and I do feel that's the proper order to go into this. O'Connor was very critical of how journalists portrayed her (it's not hard to see why), and being that this book was written by a journalist after O'Connor's death does make you raise a brow slightly. However, I do believe the author came with the intent not to criticize or judge O'Connor, like many other journalists and critics have done before, but rather to take a critical look at O'Connor in order to better understand her. She also wrote a NPR piece on O'Connor and also interviewed her (I honestly wished more of that piece was shared here), so it does seem that this author has some background experience with O'Connor and wasn't trying to jump on the gravy train here.

Overall, this was a very good piece. The audiobook, like Rememberings, I think is the way to go as it is read by the author, and does serve as a good follow-up to that autobiography to not necessarily answer or add anything too significant or needed, but just to provide another perspective on O'Connor's life and career, and one that comes from a place of respect.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened across this on the “new releases” shelf at the library on the day after Sinead O’Connor’s death. It’s taken awhile to read this - partly wanting to savor the succinct writing but also to digest the issues and depth this book and her life elicits.

This book was written after she lost her son to suicide and the last paragraph made my heart ache even more: “…O’Connor deleted her Twitter account, then briefly reinstated it to apologize for upsetting people. She said was (sic) going to the hospital but this was just a delay. She was going to find Shane, she said, and I believe her.”

It is true that art can come from pain, that great beauty can come from tragedy. For Sinead, I feel there was a wounded soul in her with so much anger it had to erupt. We heard it in her exquisite voice, her songs, but also her commentary on the world. Then the world would react in shock or horror or ridicule and she would apologize. It seems she never healed enough to get past that cycle - of needing public approval so desperately. Yet how sad that she seems to be getting it now, in her death.

[Cerealflakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard about this book in the days after Sinead’s death when the author was interviewed on NPR, where she works as a music and culture reporter.

This book is not a biography of Sinead but rather a book that looks at Sinead’s career and fame in the larger culture of the time. Sinead was abused as a child, which too many knew about, and she was not helped. The author tells us in the book that she herself had a difficult childhood and that’s why she felt such a connection. Sinead became famous in a misogynistic music industry in a society that still deems women’s talents as inferior to men’s. Sinead didn’t want to fit into society’s rules for what she should be, and she was punished for it. The author is clear that often Sinead was her own worst enemy.

Interesting book about an amazing singer. Seeing her in concert in a tiny bar was one of the best concerts I have seen. So sad her life was so difficult.

[Kąpi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uwielbiam Sinead o’Connor odkąd pamiętam. Ale czy uwielbiam tę książkę? Nie wiem.

- za często dla autorki cały świat == USA
- pobieżnie dotknęła wielu tematów, wygodnie pomijając fakty o popularnych późniejszych nagraniach Sinead kreując ją na „one hit wonder” chyba trochę niechcacy(?) (a przecież ja mam dobra pamięć i pamiętam jak genialne Illegal Attacks leciało ciągle na ówczesnym brytyjskim MTV2)
- tłumaczenie jest dziwne - zostawianie słów niebędącymi nazwą własną bez przetłumaczenia np. banshee, i tłumaczenie „korzenna muzyka z Jamajki, czy tu chodziło o jakąś root music?

dziwny jest to twór, ale przypomniał mi, że Sinead trzeba kochać i o niej przypominać

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Rozmawianie i wsłuchiwanie się w siebie nawzajem nie znaczy, że świat od razu stanie się lepszym miejscem, ale zawsze warto próbować.".
Książka w dużej mierze o balansujacej na granicy obiektywizmu i subiektywizmu interpretacji zachowań O'Connor przez autorkę, ale nie tylko. Znajdują się tu też między innymi biograficzno-muzyczne strzępki historii MJa czy Prince'a.
Sama książka ciekawa, dzięki której poznałam trochę więcej biografii o samej O'Connor, w której życie muzyczne ani prywatne nigdy się wcześniej nie zagłębiałam.

[Samara O'Gorman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stellar read for anyone interested in the life of O’Connor. McCabe paints her story with such a gentle and introspective nature. Sinéad will live on as a strong figure of Irishness, femininity and resilience. She was always way before her time. “But I will risex, and I will return. The Phoenix from the flame - I have learned. I will rise. And you'll see me return.”

[Katie ratherbereadinggg · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

[Annamaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

5.57 = 3*

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series, anyway, but so far this one is the best I’ve read. Compassionate and passionate assessment of O’Connor’s work, and life, and place, and the sexism, and misogyny that held her to an impossible standard.

[Bygun · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Oczy­wi­ście nie ze wszyst­kim, co mówi O’Con­nor, się zga­dzam, a cza­sem chcia­ła­bym, żeby w ogóle mó­wi­ła mniej, ale prze­cież ma prawo być nie­do­sko­na­ła, nawet wście­kła, ma prawo bro­nić się przed gło­sa­mi in­nych i uży­wać wła­sne­go głosu wedle wła­sne­go uzna­nia" dobry cytat podsumowujący moje odczucia co do Sinéad O'Conor.
To była dość trudna, ciężka książka jak dla mnie, co nie zmienia faktu, że cieszę się, że udało mi się ją przeczytać. Dość inaczej patrzę na Sinéad i jej muzykę, a mimo to jednak jest to nadal przyjemny odbiór.

[Adam Parrilli · Rating 4 out of 5]

[This review is for the audiobook version, read by the author] Very well written and contextualized. I was unfamiliar with the "Why xxx xxxx Matters" series prior to discovering this edition. Having seen the Showtime documentary on Sinead, a lot of the information was familiar, but Ms McCabe seamlessly weaves in details that show terrific research on their part. I could have done without the inclusion of the author's personal life in the last chapter, but I get it.

[Colleen Heneghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I believe this is one of the top 10 books I have ever read in my ENTIRE life. If you loved Sinead back in ‘89 & then didn’t after the SNL episode, this is really a must read.
Despite all the evidence that we now have regarding the sickness, and centuries of abuse… in the name of Jesus…no one came out and said “God,Sinead, We are so sorry! You were right & we were so wrong”. Even after the Boston Globe’s Spotlight expose, (& ensuing movie SPOTLIGHT) which revealed the endemic sexual abuse within the church and then covered up for decades. Sinead continued to be ostracized, mocked, threatened,…etc. Almost, No one came out and said, “thank you, or you were so right or we’re sorry, what a terrible tragedy you shared ”.

She suffered the shame/blame mentality, the denial of truth, the death threats endured,& combined with mental illness... I personally believe is the underlying reason for her premature death. I have no evidence toprove that. It’s just my opinion.

There actually was one reporter, Jake Tapper, (who is current & amazing to watch), he was the only one that said “you know she called it”.
I can’t take credit for knowing that, that Tapper was the one brave enough to say Sinead was right. No, it was this author. McCabe presents such an amazing chronological, empathetic, professional book about O’Connors music, that touched my soul. Hopefully this concise objective viewpoint will help the world recognize what a gifted musical activist Sinead really was.
God bless you, Sinead. I hope you are @ peace and with the ones you love.

[Barby · Rating 1 out of 5]

When fans are blinded by their admiration, they sometimes unwittingly ignore facts and truths. Ms. McCabe does Ms. O'Connor a grave disservice in not writing about her illness. Sinead was a reluctant pop star, what she really wanted was to be an activist who was heard. It is a shame she never was able to heal her wounds because the heart was there, the thoughts, the beliefs, all there. However, her wounds were so deep she reacted without purposeful thought. She deserves more accolades than she received but this book does not really evoke it's title, why. It is simply a defense. For certain, Sinead matters but for so many reasons the author misses.

[Deirdre Clancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the wake of Sinéad O'Connor's death, a lot of things have been said. There have been the tributes from people who didn't seem to have a huge amount of time for her in life, and there have been clearly very sincere tributes. There have been the anti-tribute-tributes from people such as Morrissey and Lily Allen, upset at the hypocrisy of the gushing eulogies from journalists, public figures, and outlets who they feel probably contributed greatly to her unhappiness when she was alive (and they may actually have a point about that).

Her death hit hard at some primal level. Sinéad O'Connor was brilliantly talented, at times frustrating and perplexing, and had a highly complicated relationship with fame and her status as a public figure. She was a shape-shifter who never seemed to settle into any identity, except perhaps that of mother. But brilliant and troubled as she was, she was our Sinéad, shaped by Ireland, whether we liked it or not. And I am old enough to remember when official Ireland absolutely did not, and even those who saw themselves as part of Ireland's anti-establishment didn't really know what to do with her, so lazily resorted to ridiculing her as crazy.

This book is an interesting take on Sinéad, and it doesn't shy away from pointing out the instances of sexism and abuse that were par for the course for any woman working within music in the 1980s and 1990s. Spin magazine comes out particularly badly in this narrative.

At the start of the book, the narrative seems to threaten to be laced with the critical theory that was trendy in universities around the 1990s, but thankfully, it veers away from this as the book progresses and does not ultimately come off as an undergraduate thesis, but as a thoughtful take on Sinéad O'Connor from a sincere and genuine fan who is an accomplished writer.

McCabe sees some parallels between Sinéad's life and her own, in that they both grew up with abusive mothers and went through periods of wildness in their teens, as a result of what had happened earlier in their childhoods. Mostly, however, the book remains focused on Sinéad's career trajectory, and is pretty honest in its appraisal of both her music and her public gestures. McCabe doesn't agree with all of Sinéad's public utterances, and clearly believes it would have been more in the singer's own interests to have cultivated a filter in relation to how she presented her views in the public arena. However, she also points out that many male rockstars have done things equally as iconoclastic as tearing up a picture of a religious figure, and faced little or no criticism, or even been celebrated for these actions.

This is a decent effort to put Sinéad O'Connor in a cultural and musical context and articulate what she meant to many women, and men, of several generations. If you're Irish, there is a whole other level at which she affected you in one way or another. She was, seemingly, always saying something that generated debate in Ireland, when the rest of us were still struggling to shrug off our good-girl-appeasing-the-established-order conditioning that we resented, yet also, at times, relied upon to get us through the rough times. She often said things that nobody else had the courage to say, out of time, when these weren't trendy opinions to articulate. Then, once proven right (about child abuse in Ireland, for example), she had already moved on to something else, and only the most conscientious pointed back to the time when Sinéad was trying to highlight an urgency that everyone now acknowledged decades too late. Of course, some of this was motivated undoubtedly by the frankly horrifying emotional and sexual abuse she had endured as a child at the hands of a deeply disturbed mother.

Sinéad O'Connor's was a life of incredible achievement and indescribable tragedy. She deserves peace of spirit more than most. We didn't really need a book to tell us that she mattered, but it's good that someone went to the trouble and made a decent stab of it. To clarify, this book was published before Sinéad's death, so we can rest assured it is written by a genuine fan who has studied her career and music in a fair amount of depth. It could have done with some fact-checking about references to Ireland in a couple of places, but it's well worth a read.

[Julian Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Allyson McCabe makes a compelling case that Sinéad O’Connor was not just some controversy-seeking nutjob that deserved to be reduced to a punchline: she was an immensely talented songwriter and performer who broke a substantial amount of ground in the music industry, both with her work, but also in her accurate identification and exposing of sexism, racism, abuse, and other unsavory characteristics of celebrity culture and entertainment generally. McCabe rightly argues that, like most humans, O’Connor was someone deserving of our love and respect as well as compassion for all that she overcame – including significant trauma at the hands of her sadistic mother – to achieve what she did.

Where the book falters is in two areas. The first is when McCabe uses O’Connor’s story as a jumping off point to talk at length about those structural problems – and there are many – in the entertainment industry, as if some (not all) of these issues are a function of our fetishization of celebrities, leading to a whole cast of lecherous and exploitative supporting characters (managers, agents, journalists, etc.) who implicitly or explicitly encourage unhealthy behavior in performing artists, because almost any PR is good PR. The issue here is that McCabe spends a bit too much time on a litany of grievances to paint a doomsday scenario of how the music industry of the 80’s preyed on all young women, as if to almost say that O’Connor would have been crucified even if she had been the most well-adjusted person – an assertion that I find difficult to fathom.

(Curiously enough, McCabe doesn’t turn the spotlight on herself for any culpability stemming from her own participation in this ecosystem as a music journalist, though she’s happy to include her own stories of parental abuse as a sort of me-too tactic to induce us to be more empathetic towards O’Connor’s life story.)

More concerning is that McCabe is very reluctant to assign any level of accountability to O’Connor for her actions and the consequences that they provoke, preferring for the most part to rely for the very left-wing trope of blaming the system for a person’s troubles. Yes, systemic issues might be the root of O’Connor’s problems, but should we not have had some expectation that she would behave as a rational adult? McCabe asks a rhetorical question in the book, something along the lines of, “why is Sinead O’Connor so despised?” and then brings up and knocks down several strawmen to conclude that people must hate her because she was speaking truth to power or because she was a Cassandra that, for example, “broke the news” of systematic child abuse in the Catholic Church. While O’Connor did bravely amplify causes that were being ignored – that was the whole point of her tearing up the picture of the Pope on SNL, after all – in no way did she break news, at least not in a methodical and data-driven manner as the Boston Globe reporters did on the way to a Pulitzer Prize. McCabe’s insinuation that O’Connor deserves to be on the pedestal next to those reporters is laughable.

No, people hated Sinéad O’Connor because she behaved erratically, created drama and controversy wherever she went (some of it justifiable and noble, most of it noise, though you couldn’t tell which was which at the time), and on top of it, clearly loved the attention. She ultimately wasn’t cancelled, as many would claim; she continued to have a relatively robust career, recording and releasing an eclectic collection of records. Based on her initial mainstream success, she could have continued to happily make her art with full creative control and opt of the system if she’d wanted to -- think Natalie Merchant, Jane Siberry, Emm Gryner, etc., who by all accounts are well-adjusted, make the music they love, and are living relatively stable lives. But O’Connor’s addiction to the next hit of fame and therefore on continuing to play within the system that made her is what drove her to continue to say ridiculous things and then doubling or tripling-down on controversy -- and what caused people to tire of her. Sinéad O’Connor’s story is ultimately a tragic doom loop: trauma drove mental health issues which, unresolved, drove the need for attention which drove reckless behavior which drove serious blowback which exacerbated her mental health issues, and so on.

[monweg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pozwolę sobie zacząć trochę nietypowo, bo od maleńkiej prywaty. Sinéad O’Connor przede wszystkim była moją rówieśniczką. Jej przedwczesna śmierć mną wstrząsnęła i była dla mnie zaskoczeniem. Być może związek z jej śmiercią miało samobójstwo jej siedemnastoletniego syna Shane’a, po którym trudno było jej się podnieść i zapewne nie pomogło zaburzenie afektywne dwubiegunowe typu bordeline.

Myślę, że nie trzeba było interesować się muzyką żeby wiedzieć i rozpoznawać Sinéad. Dla jednych na zawsze pozostanie bardzo zdolną piosenkarką o wyjątkowym głosie i tekściarką. Dla innych będzie łysą wariatką, która na wizji w popularnym programie podarła zdjęcie papieża Jana Pawła II. W każdym z tych zdań jest trochę prawdy, ale jest to spłycone do minimum. Trzeba by przeczytać tę książkę żeby trochę nam się poukładało w głowie. Ale dodatkowo warto zajrzeć do autobiografii Sinéad „Wspomnienia”.

Sinéad mimo młodego wieku była znana ze swoich kontrowersyjnych wystąpień i bardzo wyrazistych poglądów społecznych i politycznych, które często miały odbicie w jej twórczości. Otwarcie sprzeciwiała się wojnom; wspierała prawa kobiet do aborcji oraz była aktywna w kwestiach praw człowieka.
O’Connor, jak niektórzy sądzą, nie była osobą niewierzącą. Miała jedynie problem z instytucją Kościoła, nie z wiarą. Krytykowała Kościół za postępowanie, zwłaszcza w kontekście nadużyć seksualnych i w akcie protestu podarła zdjęcie Jana Pawła II. Miało to zwrócić uwagę i zwróciło, ale niestety nie taką jaką chciała Sinéad, bo odwróciło się przeciwko niej.

Dlaczego warto rozmawiać o Sinéad O’Connor jest po części biografią, owszem, ale jest przede wszystkim rzetelnie udokumentowanym reportażem, który opisuje życie i karierę jednej z najbardziej wpływowych piosenkarek naszych czasów. To nie jest obszerna publikacja, ale nie zabrakło w niej miejsca na karierę muzyczną od najważniejszego utworu, który uczynił z niej światową gwiazdę „Nothing Compares 2 U”. McCabe ujęła i kontrowersje wokół piosenkarki i jej poglądy polityczne oraz społeczne. Nie zabrakło miejsca na osobiste zmagania z samą sobą czyli walkę z własnymi demonami, problemami psychicznymi i trudnościami w życiu prywatnym.

Reportaż/dokument Allyson McCabe jest nie tylko historią Sinéad O’Connor, wykracza dalej i opowiada o opresyjnej kulturze, w której wszyscy żyjemy. Przez szeroki kontekst społeczny i polityczny, którym interesowała się O’Connor, i w którym działała.
W książce przewija się wiele tematów i postaci, przez co odnosi się momentami wrażenie, że sama artystka pozostaje nieco w tle. Jesteśmy świadkami zmian przemysłu muzycznego w latach 80. i 90. XX wieku, kiedy to Sinéad rozpoczynała karierę muzyczną. Jak było jej trudno przebić się w tym świecie opanowanym bardziej przez mężczyzn, w świecie z jawnymi przejawami seksizmu i mizoginizmu.

McCabe pokazała nam jaka była Sinéad O’Connor i pokazała nam jak wyglądał (i wygląda) branża muzyczna i Kościół katolicki. W jaki sposób trudne dzieciństwo może wpływać na dalsze losy, stan psychiczny i postrzeganie świata.
Po przeczytaniu tego reportażu myślę, że wszyscy powinniśmy przeprosić Sinéad za lata potępienia, ubliżania, opluwania, etc.
Przypomnijmy sobie łzę z teledysku „Nothing Compares 2 U” i również zapłaczmy, nad Sinéad.


Gorąco polecam reportaż Allyson McCabe, bo warto go przeczytać i warto poznać Sinéad.