When I heard the news that Sinéad O’Connor died last week, the news was not terribly surprising – people suffer, they take ill, they die. And yet, the depth of my feeling for the world’s loss of such a prophetic, powerful and perfect singer was startling. Though I’m well-familiar with her work and saw her perform live more than once (she was after all a part of the fabric of the ’80s and ’90s popular culture), I think what struck me hardest was how much of her good work for humankind and her general love of the world’s people had gone unnoticed. Here was a God-loving and spiritually devoted singer who had never turned away from her mission to help others, and yet, others had turned away from her time and again.
And then I remembered her turn as the Virgin Mary in Neil Jordan’s film, The Butcher Boy: There was something about her performance that stayed with me, all these years later. I guess what I mean to say is there is no doubt in my mind that someday, future generations will see Sinéad as the visionary, the prophet, the truthsayer and comforter she was; maybe she’ll even be venerated accordingly.
My full remembrance of O’Connor can be read at the link to Tourworthy.
Filed under: anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-war, Arts and Culture, Bob Marley, film, Hip Hop, Immigration Reform, income disparity, Nina Simone, Protest Songs, racism, Obituary, Sinead O'Connor
Denise Sullivan 