Ah Sinead, you complicated woman. I can’t honestly say I was ever a fan as such, and, frankly, I’ve probably been as judgy towards her over the years as anyone. I like to think I’ve become a bit more understanding as I’ve got older, and I think as she got older we all realised Sinead’s complications weren’t entirely under control or her fault. She was a difficult woman in a time when that was even harder to get away with than it is now, and she kept going through all the bullshit that came her way.
And we should’ve known right from the start that she would be difficult. I watched the video for “Troy” after I read the news this afternoon, not the first time I’ve done that but I can only remember seeing it once on TV many many years ago… what a fucking berserk choice of a song to release not only as a single at all, but the first single from your debut album. Holy shit.
I don’t think I ever heard this at the time, my own first memory of Sinead was “Mandinka” which followed this, and that seemed singular enough back in 1987. Looking at this all these years later… Christ. She was nothing if not unto herself and true to herself. And she definitely wasn’t wrong about the Catholic Church. 56 is no age to be leaving us.
