Sinéad O’Connor

Released: November 4, 1987

Songwriter: Sinéad O’Connor

Producer: Sinéad O’Connor

Jackie left on a cold, dark night
Telling me he'd be home
Sailed the seas for a hundred years
Leaving me all alone
And I've been dead for twenty years
I've been washing the sand
With my ghostly tears
Searching the shores for my Jackie-oh

I remember the day the young man came
He said, "Your Jackie's gone
He got lost in the rain"
And I ran to the beach
And laid me down

"You're all wrong", I said
And they stared at the sand
"That man knows that sea
Like the back of his hand
He'll be back some time
Laughing at you"

And I've been waiting all this time
For my man to come
Take his hand in mine
And lead me away
To unseen shores

I've been washing the sand
With my salty tears
Searching the shore
All these long years
And I'll walk the seas forever more
Till I find my Jackie oh
Till I find my Jackie oh
Till I find my Jackie oh
Jackie oh
Jackie oh
Jackie oh

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

The Lion and the Cobra

From the album

The Lion and the Cobra (1987)

Sinéad O’Connor popular songs

JackieSinéad O’Connor

Sinéad O’Connor

The Lion and the Cobra