Chicago Sun-Times
October 9, 1992, FRIDAY , LATE SPORTS FINAL

It's All There on the Album

Jim DeRogatis


   Sinead O'Connor's pope-bashing appearance on "Saturday Night Live" last week
wouldn't have been a surprise to the show's producers if they had listened
through to the end of her new album.

   The third album by the provocative Irish singer, "Am I Not Your Girl?"
(Chrysalis/EMI), includes an untitled spoken-word diatribe against the Roman
Catholic Church. It follows seven seconds of silence after the last track, an
instrumental version of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina."

   "Exactly why do you think (Jesus Christ) was assassinated?" O'Connor asks on
the album. "Who was it that did the dirty deed? Who didn't like the answers
they'd received? Look at the one wearing the collar. Then or now, there's only
ever been one liar, and it's the Holy Roman Empire."

   Ironically, the album of "songs I grew up listening to" is the meekest and
least fiery of O'Connor's three recordings. With mellow, syrupy-sweet covers of
such cabaret standards as "Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered" and "I Want to Be
Loved by You," it's not hard to imagine the pontiff himself enjoying the album
over a cup of tea in his Vatican study.

   Until he gets the spoken-word bit, that is.

   "They told us lies to take us away from God," O'Connor says of the church.
"So yeah, I am angry, but I'm not full of hate - I'm full of love. God said, 'I
bring not peace, I bring a sword.' "

   Longtime fans weren't surprised by the spoken-word piece or the moment on
"Saturday Night Live" when the 25-year-old singer concluded an a cappella
version of Bob Marley's "War" (which isn't on the album) by tearing up a photo
of Pope John Paul II and saying, "Fight the real enemy."

   Since her 1987 debut, O'Connor has been outspoken on such issues as abortion
rights and AIDS. But many Roman Catholics and others were furious after
Saturday's broadcast and found themselves wondering: Who is this rude bald woman
and why is she so angry?

   "Obviously, she's made no secret of her dislike for the church; it's a speech
on her album," said O'Connor's New York publicist, Elaine Schock. "Pretty much
anybody who knows her knows this is not unlike her.

   "She's outspoken about the church. She's very pro-choice . . . but that's not
the only reason. She has a lot of problems with the church regarding child
abuse, and she thinks that's part of the reason that child abuse has occurred."

   Born to a northern Irish, Roman Catholic family in Glenageary, O'Connor took
refuge in music after a difficult childhood. As a student at the Dublin College
of Music, she began singing with the punk band Ton Ton Macoute. She shaved her
head as a statement against sexism.

   U2 guitarist the Edge was an early fan, and his support led to O'Connor's
solo debut, "The Lion and the Cobra." Its 1990 followup, "I Do Not Want What I
Haven't Got," spawned the Prince-penned No. 1 single "Nothing Compares 2 U."

    Her first big controversy in the United States came in 1990, when she
refused to allow the national anthem to be played before a concert at the Garden
State Arts Center in New Jersey. O'Connor called "The Star Spangled Banner" an
aggressive, imperialist anthem.

   Unlike her response to the "Star Spangled Banner" controversy, when she tried
to explain her beliefs to the press, O'Connor has refused to comment on
"Saturday Night Live" performance or the spoken-word piece.

   Publicist Schock said she doesn't know when or if the singer will speak to
the press, but O'Connor is scheduled to return to the United States to perform
Oct. 16 at the Bob Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden in New York.