“Nothing Compares 2 U”

Sinéad O’Connor knew what happened when she opened her mouth. Before O’Connor got hold of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” the song was a bluesy ballad that Prince had written for his album with the Family. The original dripped with the sweat of the nightclub, but when O’Connor stepped inside the song, she sensed the outlines of a church. There was something sacrificial—an offering, a self-impaling—happening in “Nothing Compares 2 U,” and I was not too young to tremble before it. The video played often on MTV, which meant that my experience with Sinéad O’Connor was replicated by millions.