I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got - Sinead O'Connor

I fairly recently purchased this album from MVC, in a deal that they were having at the time of three C.d’s for the price of two (so it worked out at about £6 per CD), I had an endless amount of choice, but when I saw that ‘nothing compare 2 u’ was included- I just had to have it. I usually find myself buying whole albums for the sake of just one song, and this time I was so glad I did.

Sinead is most commonly renowned for her song ...
...of all time…I must admit I was reluctant in purchasing this album as I did not have any other knowledge of her genre of music, and assumed that they would all be ‘soppy’ however, I would describe this particular album as very meaningful, and personal.

Released in 1990, this album consists of ten songs, none of which I would describe as boring, in fact they are all very different…

1. Feel So Different
“God grant ... more

I fairly recently purchased this album from MVC, in a deal that they were having at the time of three C.d’s for the price of two (so it worked out at about £6 per CD), I had an endless amount of choice, but when I saw that ‘nothing compare 2 u’ was included- I just had to have it. I usually find myself buying whole albums for the sake of just one song, and this time I was so glad I did.

Sinead is most commonly renowned for her song ‘nothing compares 2 u’ which, in my opinion is one of the best love songs of all time…I must admit I was reluctant in purchasing this album as I did not have any other knowledge of her genre of music, and assumed that they would all be ‘soppy’ however, I would describe this particular album as very meaningful, and personal.

Released in 1990, this album consists of ten songs, none of which I would describe as boring, in fact they are all very different…

1. Feel So Different
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change
Courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference”
-A fantastic introduction, I feel, to a very moving song and likewise album. This beginning opens the listener out to a very religious perspective of not only Sinead herself but the way in which she writes her songs. This song seems to be about a relationship between Sinead I assume; as it is written in first person, and somebody else, including how it seemed to affect the other important things in her life such as friendship ties.

2. I Am Stretched On Your Grave
This seemed to me, to be a very angry song about the grief of a very dear childhood friendship, the words are very strong and there are again religious connotations. It gave me the impression of a feeling of, how can life go on if someone so important to you has died. I did not necessarily like the aggression of the music but the words are very clever.

3. Three babies
Yes, you’ve guessed it, it’s about three babies!!! This song is very refreshingly portrayed, although it seems to be about the wanting to mother three babies of a father who doesn’t want to know. The chorus is very addictive as it is the negativity of the mother toward the father, and I find myself wanting to sing it with her.

4. The Emperor’s New Clothes
Yet again another song about babies and relationships, not much to review about this one. Not sure what my opinion is of it, it’s one that needs a lot of deciphering I think. Listen yourself; I’d like to know what you think…

5. Black Boys on Mopeds
One of my favourite songs on this album has to be this one, despite another mention of ‘three cold babies’ it is a basic rant at society under the ruling thumb of the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. It has everything in it from death, to protecting new generations from the cycle of violence in society. This song has many dimensions, and personally I think the title says it all.
6. Nothing Compares 2 U
This song, if you don’t already know, is about breaking up with someone, and the emotional rollercoaster it takes you on. Almost everyone can relate, the emotion in this song is effortless, as portrayed in the video when Sinead cries- it wasn’t meant to happen, so get your tissues out lads and lasses.

7. Jump In The River
This song is quite confusing; it’s about a one way relationship, where somebody is reading too much into simple things like a phone call. It’s kind of like your first crush i.e. you can look but you can’t touch, and if he/she told you to jump in the river you would. I like this song; it has its own logic.

8. You Cause As Much Sorrow
This song is about the interaction between two people, it could be a relationship or friendship. The main line in this song is, ‘You cause as much sorrow dead, As you did when you were alive’- why is it someone causes you so much pain in life and at that point you wished they were dead, and when they are dead you wish for them to be alive. This song is a kind of unfinished business song, it is quite slow, but has a very catchy tune.

9. The last day of our acquaintance
This song is lovely, it starts off slow then picks up pace throughout, it’s very clever really as the song highlights the stages of a relationship right through to the divorce and additionally, as so rightly stated by the title ‘the last day of their acquaintance’. At 4 minutes and 40 seconds I know you’d probably wish that it was longer.

And finally we reach number ten, the title of the album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got
This song is the only song on the album that I wish was shorter; it is very slow as it is sung accupello (without music) and this makes it quite monotonous, and to say the least very church like. I think it’s about life’s trials and not worrying about what you haven’t got, but making the best use of what you have, the context of the words has lots of meaning but I feel that this is lost through the style of the song.

Overall, I think that this album is a very good buy, if you like meaning then this is the album for you, you can even sing along if you like, the lovely but simple booklet displaying a shadowed picture of Sinead's face contains all of the lyrics. It has an ‘Enya’ like quality to it, and for all of you who haven’t listened to Enya then I would say that it is an overly relaxing album. For more information on albums and Sinead O’Connor you can visit her website at www.sinead-oconnor.com

Have fun listening…

 

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