Why Sinaead O'Connor Matters
Austin : University of Texas Press, 2023.
Format: Book
Edition: First edition.
Description: pages cm.
"Irish singer-songwriter Sinaead O'Connor burst onto the pop scene in 1987 with her album The Lion and the Cobra, and followed it with the Grammy-winning I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990), which featured a cover of Prince's song "Nothing Compares 2U." In 1992, she infamously tore a picture of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live to protest the sexual abuse committed by priests and covered up by church authorities. O'Connor was immediately castigated for her politics, which were already radical,and her career has suffered ever since. For many people-including, for many years, the author-what they know of O'Connor stops there. Allyson McCabe argues that both that moment and O'Connor's long career deserve re-examination. For McCabe, hindsight suggests that O'Connor "was right." Right about the church, right about how the music industry uses women, and "most of all, she was right to seek and speak her own truth" no matter the price she's paid for it. O'Connor continues to be controversial, with public breakdowns and problematic statements (to say nothing of changing her name twice). She also has released 10 albums in addition to one-off collaborations and singles. She is a hero (as this book makes clear) to Fiona Apple and other influential womenin music. McCabe plans to address both triumphs and struggles, to offer "a fresh look at Sinaead O'Connor's life through the lenses of music criticism, cultural analysis, and personal reflection." The book works through O'Connor's life and career in chronological order, from her abused childhood to initial success, stardom, and the ensuing fallout. McCabe compares O'Connor with Madonna, digs into how she aspires to be a protest singer rather than a pop star, and McCabe explores O'Connor's attempts to de-stigmatize mental illness"-- Provided by publisher.
Series: Music matters.
Contents:
Framing -- Take 1 -- The lion and the cobra -- As seen on MTV -- Rock-and-roll Cassandra -- SPINning Sinaead -- The takedown -- Is she not your girl? -- This means war -- We do not want what she has got -- Wrecking ball -- Things need to change -- We needto talk about Prince -- Hurt people hurt -- Truthful witness.
Subjects:
O'Connor, Sinaead -- Criticism and interpretation.
O'Connor, Sinaead -- Influence.
Women rock musicians -- Biography.
Women singers -- Biography.
O'Connor, Sinaead -- Criticism and interpretation.
O'Connor, Sinaead -- Influence.
Women rock musicians -- Biography.
Women singers -- Biography.
ISBN:
9781477325704
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
PERFORMING ARTS Music Popular Artist O'Connor | Cooper (Forest Acres) | Nonfiction | In |