Sinéad O’Connor

Released: November 4, 1987

Songwriter: Leslie Winer Kevin Mooney Sinéad O’Connor

Producer: Kevin Moloney Sinéad O’Connor

We came here across the great divide
Into the city, slander all eyes
We found a great love as we fell inside
They could not touch us as we'd go by
I've seen you the first time in Trogny's bar
But I'll see you later, we'll talk of black
We'll meet up for sure, oh will we not?
Away from all of the friends that you've got
Oh no, oh no

I said, "Don't call me sir
Just call me Joe
Don't call me lady
Just call me Joe
Don't call me mister
Oh, just call me Joe
Don't call me sweetheart
Just call me Joe"

You wear the best clothes that I've ever seen
I've seen your light and your poetry
And it's the best thing that there's ever been
You're both the beauty and the beast
That's how it is and that's how it end
Into another city where you live far away
That's how it is and that's how it end
You've seen my face but you've never heard my name
Oh no, oh oh

I said, "Don't call me sir
Oh, just call me Joe
Don't call me lady
Just call me Joe
Don't call me mister
Just call me Joe
Don't call me sweetheart
Just call me Joe"

(Spoken word)

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

Just Call Me JoeSinéad O’Connor

Sinéad O’Connor

The Lion and the Cobra