Sinéad O’Connor

Released: October 8, 2002

Songwriter: Traditional Traditional Irish Folk

Producer: Sinéad O’Connor Dónal Lunny Alan Branch Adrian Sherwood

[Verse 1]
As I went out walking, one morning in June
To view the fair fields, and the valleys in bloom;
I spied a pretty fair maid, she appeared like a queen
With her costly fine robes and her mantle so green

[Verse 2]
Says I, my pretty fair maid, won't you come with me
We'll both join in wedlock, and married we'll be;
I will dress you in fine linen, you'll appear like a queen
With your costly fine robes and your mantle so green

[Verse 3]
Says she, now my young man, you must be excused
For I'll wed no man, so you must be refused;
To the green woods I will wander and shun all men's view
For the boy I love dearly lies in famed Waterloo

[Verse 4]
Well if you're not married, say your lover's name
I fought in that battle, so I might know the same
Draw near to my garment, and there you will see
His name is embroidered on my mantle so green

[Verse 5]
In the ribbon of her mantle, there I did behold
His name and his surname, in letters of gold
Young William O'Riley, appeared in my view
He was my chief comrade back in famed Waterloo

[Verse 6]
And as he lay dying, I heard his last cry
"If you were here lovely Nancy I'd be willing to die"
And as I told her this story, in anguish she flew
And the more that I told her, the paler she grew

[Verse 7]
So I smiled on my Nancy, 'twas I broke your heart
In your father's garden, that day we did part
And this is the truth, and the truth I declare
Oh here's your love token the gold ring I wear

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

Sean-Nós Nua

From the album

Sean-Nós Nua (2002)

Sinéad O’Connor popular songs

Her Mantle So GreenSinéad O’Connor

Sinéad O’Connor

Sean-Nós Nua