‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’: the song Sinéad O’Connor wrote about U2
Within the diverse world of Irish popular music, there are two artists in particular that are virtually unavoidable: Sinéad O’Connor and U2. Both arising from the streets of Dublin, U2 and O’Connor, over the years, created some of the most recognisable pop tunes of the late 20th century, though they rarely encroached on the same musical scene. U2 were largely concerned with middle-of-the-road pop rock, while O’Connor devoted herself mainly to political activism and groundbreaking lyricism.
It is easy to argue, therefore, that the work of Sinéad O’Connor is much more profound and, by extension, important than the work of U2. Nevertheless, both artists embraced the world of political music at some points during their discography. For instance, the U2 track ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ brought awareness to the massacre of unarmed civilians by the British Army during the troubles, while O’Connor drew upon the oppression of her home nation multiple times across her work.
O’Connor’s sophomore album, 1990’s I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, was perhaps her greatest effort. Providing the singer with some incredible commercial success, the album was also an excellent encapsulation of O’Connor’s songwriting genius. The tracklisting draws upon a wide variety of themes, from the inherent racism of Thatcherite Britain to the heartbreaking influence of the singer’s mother.
During a 2009 interview with The World, promoting a reissue of the 1990 album, O’Connor was keen to discuss the meaning of the tracks, particularly the influence of her mother. “So a lot of the songs on this record were really about her,” she said. “Even the fucking title I got from having a dream about her, and in this dream, she said to me, ‘I do not want what I haven’t got.’ In my mind, even ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ was me thinking about her.”
Not every track on the album was imbued with the influence of O’Connor’s mother. As she revealed, “‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ was actually about U2, believe it or not.”
The title of the song is probably enough to encapsulate the singer’s feelings towards U2, in that the band are only popular because the musical mainstream is afraid to go against the grain. Further explaining her unambiguous feelings towards the band, O’Connor went on to say, “Well, I didn’t like their records. I used to make ashtrays out of them. You could melt the vinyl records over the cooker.”
Despite her apparent dislike of the band, both artists crossed paths at numerous points during their respective careers. Most notably, Sinéad O’Connor performed alongside U2 on the 2005 compilation record Collaborations on the song ‘I’m Not Your Baby’. That same album also featured a joint effort between O’Connor and The Edge, performing ‘Heroine’ together.
So, it seems as though the Dublin contemporaries had something of a complicated relationship. Nevertheless, after the tragic death of Sinéad O’Connor last year, U2 paid homage to the late artist, covering her defining track ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ during their run of shows at The Sphere in Las Vegas.