Sinead O’Connor is a pilgrim — sometimes in ecstatic transport, miles ahead of herself; sometimes she’s challenging company on a long, twisty journey. She’s always moving. An acute spiritual thirst informs her best work with empathy and passion. From broken, barely-there vocals to yowls and strained keening, she tenders absolute faith in a divine ear for her (our) suffering. She is steadfast in her resolve to loose the spirit in her.
She is a creature, aware of a creator, and creating in kind.
“Something Beautiful” knocks me out, always has. The melody and lyrics are varied, direct and memorable; surprising, but not arcane. She folds together thoughts on Christ’s birth and death (blood doors), thoughts on the pending birth of her child (if you watch all of the concert the link comes from, you’ll see she is deep into her pregnancy), and on the compassion contingent mortal life demands.
The lyrics’ scenario overall is contagiously precarious. The narrative voice is on the hunt for mercy — for resources within and without. The singer’s ripely ready for the season of giving and receiving. Lines among many that stand out for me quote Jeremiah 6:14 directly:
They dress the wounds of my poor people
As though they’re nothing
Saying, “Peace, peace”
When there’s no peace
She goes on to quote 2:32:
Now can a bride forget her jewels?
Or a maid her ornaments?
Yet, my people have forgotten me
Days without number…
The anguished need for kindness, the recognition of the mismatch between the love we could know and the actions we in fact pursue, the difference between the love we live and the love that waits fuse to an experiential moment with an impact special to a short, powerful song well sung.
I learned to relish the prophetic books through Gina Hens-Piazza, the great Bible scholar at the Jesuit School of Theology where I studied. Jeremiah’s a weeper; the song’s a weeper. The vulnerable yearning leans to reunion. There is no peace; let there be peace.
Lord you come forward so sweetly into our thorny confusion. Beyond our merit, you offer light.
I want to make
Something beautiful
For you and from you
To show you
I adore you.
