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Sinead O’Connor has died

irishtimes.com

211–220 of 308 posts

Re: Sinead O’Connor has died

#211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but I’m certain that random internet speculation helps no one at this point.

It's not really random though. She's announced she was going to do it before and to be fair she's always had more than her fair share of mental troubles, sadly. As someone who is also cursed with those I know how hard that can be and I didn't even lose a child. Withholding the cause is what leads to speculation and I don't think it's a bad guess in this case. Personally I think it's better if they just announced it b…

And say what you want about her, but nobody ever said she was one for wavering. In everything she did she committed to and knew all about owning consequences.

If she was suicidal, and she had the track record, she was well able to have follow through on this also.

Whatever you believe, just for her sake, I genuinely hope she's now reunited with her son to get some peace.

Re: Sinead O’Connor has died

#213
I was growing up in Poland in the height of John Paul II cult. I was raised in atheist family and I was getting some tidbits about my grandfathers brother who was sexually assaulted by a priest.

Today it sounds a little bit silly but that SNL performance was the validation I needed to navigate my environment outside my home.

Now I learned a lot about issues in Catholic Church and I understand this stuff better but I’ll be forever grateful for this small gesture of solidarity. Even if it wasn’t directed at me.

Re: Sinead O’Connor has died

#215
Dave Fanning presented Ireland’s only (non-pirate radio) nightly alternative music show championed her early work and introduced me to songs like Troy and Mandinka back in the late 80s. Even though I was a teenage metal-head at the time, I could recognise the raw power and emotion of her music.

If anyone hasn’t seen it, I’d recommend watching Nothing Compares¹, an Irish documentary about her early life up until the early 90s that only came out last year. I was delighted to see it come out and provide some counter-balance to the mainstream narrative. It was also good to see her musical legacy be recognised by being awarded the first ever Choice Music Prize for Irish Classic Album² earlier this year.

RIP

¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_Compares_(film)

² http://www.choicemusicprize.ie/classic-irish-album/

Re: Sinead O’Connor has died

#216

I was growing up in Poland in the height of John Paul II cult. I was raised in atheist family and I was getting some tidbits about my grandfathers brother who was sexually assaulted by a priest. Today it sounds a little bit silly but that SNL performance was the validation I needed to navigate my environment outside my home. Now I learned a lot about issues in Catholic Church and I understand this stuff better but I’…

It doesn't sound silly at all to me. I was also raised atheistically, but in a fiercely Catholic family in Ireland. I never saw this at the time, but I knew it happened.

To my shame, I thought she was uncool for years after. I think I picked it up from others at the time (I was in a Catholic primary school).

Ironically, even though it was apparently common knowledge amongst my Catholic country- and family-members, it took years for for me to believe that that kind of systematic abuse could have happened.I have dedicated a part of my resources and efforts to eradicate the Catholic church and other radical religions from my country

Re: Sinead O’Connor has died

#217

> She refused the playing of US national anthem before her concerts, drawing further public scorn. Was this a thing?! A good episode of "You're Wrong About..." covers the controversy of her: https://open.spotify.com/episode/265qKOV5C7XBqlyXMjp7VF https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/sin%C3%A9ad-oconnor-wi...

I used to refuse to stand for the pledge of allegiance in high school and get threatened with being beat up, I guess it was a thing at the time.

My mother - an Australian citizen - went to school in Texas in the 60s and caused a big stir because she wouldn't recite the Pledge of Allegiance (because why would she? She wasn't American).

Re: Sinead O’Connor has died

#218
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but I’m certain that random internet speculation helps no one at this point.

There would have been no speculation if the family had stated an uncontroversial cause of death. Instead they "requested privacy", which means it was likely something people would have judged her for.

[dead]

Re: Sinead O’Connor has died

#219

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzxTDHMQza8 To stand in the full blast of a crowd that hates you with that amount of poise, and have a voice that is still capable of song or even coherent speech, just beggars my imagination. i hope you have found peace. you were a voice crying out in the wilderness and we did to you what we always do to that.

Wow! The thing that surprised me most about this was it’s a Bob Dylan tribute concert? I’m shocked religion still had such a hold on the kind of people attending that type of concert at that point in time. The volume is insane. Incredible strength to be able to stand and take such abuse and continue to perform.

First a bow to her tremendous courage.

The irony of this moment was the song she was about to perform was "I Believe in You". This would have been the most religious song sung that evening by far.

It was brilliant on her part to separate the failed human organization from her beliefs.

This is what happens when you simply shout someone down. You miss the opportunity to better understand them.

Here is the rehearsal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C7tAp5X6Zo

Re: Sinead O’Connor has died

#220
post #149

There are a number of flagged comments which don't deserve it. And as long as there is no outlet for objecting to poor flagging decisions, I'll use the comments section to call attention to it. If we are going to have a discussion about a performer unafraid of controversy and who struggled with mental and spiritual concerns publicly, a robust conversation should be allowed.

The flagged comments I'm aware of are either taking the thread into flamewar, and/or on generic tangents. Those are correct uses of flags. If there's something I've missed about this, I'm happy to take a look, but I'd need a specific link. "Robust" can mean a lot of things. HN's intended purpose is curious conversation. If we allow the predictably-outraged type of thread here, it will quickly take over discussion of…

My comment was flagged, even though I was trying to provide context to explain why she experienced such a strong reaction to her SNL stunt. The parent comment and many supportive sibling comments remain unflagged, which leaves the impression that I was downvoted and flagged simply because people didn't like a more critical viewpoint, not because the comment lacked substance or was intended to inflame.
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