Sinéad O’Connor

Released: June 13, 2000

Songwriter: Kevin “She’kspere” Briggs Sinéad O’Connor

Producer: Kevin “She’kspere” Briggs

Out of Ireland I have come
Great hatred and little room
Maimed us at the start
And now home just breaks my heart
To America I have come
I hope to bring your preacher man
Home to show my people how they can
Get their names back in the book of life of the lamb

I know that I've done many things
To give you reason not to listen to me
Especially as I have been so angry
But if you knew me maybe you would understand me
Words can't express how sorry I am
If I ever caused pain to anybody
I just hope that you can show compassion
And love me enough to just please listen

Out of Ireland I did run
Great hatred and little room
Aimed to break my heart
Wreck me up and tear me all apart
To America I have come
I need to find a good preacherman
Who can show me how I can
Get my name back in the book of life of the lamb

I bring these blessings with me
A strong heart full of hope and a feeling
That everything in this world would be okay
If people just believed enough in God to pray
But the world thinks that sounds crazy
And that's the thing that makes me sing so sadly
To think that we would leave God so lonely
To think that we would mess up our own destiny

Out of history we have come
With great hatred and little room
It aims to break our hearts
Wreck us up and tear us all apart
But if we listen to the preacher man
He can show us how it can be done
To live in peace and live as one
Get our names back in the book of life of the lamb

Out of hopelessness we can come
If people just believe it can be done
'Cause every prayer ever prayed is heard
Take power in the power of the word

Out of history we have come
With great hatred and little room
It aims to break our hearts
Wreck us up and tear us all apart

But if we listen to the Rasta man
He can show us how it can be done
To live in peace and live as one
Get our names back in the book of life of the lamb

Out of history we have come
With great hatred and little room
It aims to break our hearts
Smash us up and tear us all apart

But if we listen to the Rasta woman
She can show us how it can be done
To live in peace and live as one
Get our names back in the book of life of the lamb

Sinéad O'Connor (who goes by Shuhada' Sadaqat in her private life) is an Irish singer-songwriter who rose to fame in the late 80s with her album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success with her cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares to You” in 1990.

O'Connor was discovered in 1985 when Nigel Grainge of Ensign Records saw her band Ton Ton Macoute perform. Although he was not fond of the band’s music, he was impressed by O'Connor’s ‘amazing voice’. Grainge had O'Connor record four songs with Karl Wallinger (World Party) and signed her to his label. O'Connor’s first single was the song “Heroine” which she co-wrote with U2’s guitarist The Edge for the film Captive.

Her debut album The Lion and the Cobra was a sensation when it was released in 1987, reaching gold record status and earning a Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy nomination. O'Connor’s debut single “Troy” charted in The Netherlands and Belgium, and “Mandinka”, released in late 1987, cracked the top 20 in the UK and top 30 in three other European countries, helping her album chart well in Europe. Spin Magazine described the album as a “remarkable, still-spine-tingling first record”.

more tracks from the album

Faith and Courage

From the album

Faith and Courage (2000)

Sinéad O’Connor popular songs

The Lamb’s Book of LifeSinéad O’Connor

Sinéad O’Connor

Faith and Courage