Yes, I've been doing 'Noga' (lounging in yoga clothes doing not much but lounging) for a few weeks. The news today of Sinead O'Conner's passing, was particularly shocking. Way back when, I knew Sinead. I have always loved her music and her lyrics from the beginning.
Way back when, I sold everything I owned, packed a bag and bought a one-way ticket to London, England from Vancouver, Canada, with not enough money in my pocket to survive. I realized that a job was first on the to-do list.
I ended up working in an amazing Italian restaurant, L'Accento Italiano on Garway Road in W2, Westbourne Grove area. And a lyric in Nothing Compares 2 U - "I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant". We weren't that fancy, but we were good. And we were cool. You waited for your table with a cocktail in hand in the Mercedes parked out front. That's pretty stylish for 1996/7. Ha! L'Accento Italiano was recommended in the Michelin Guide *****. The restaurant was full of the who's who: Alan Rickman, Ruby Wax, Richard Branson, Sting, Robert Palmer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, plus many more and our neighbour, Sinead O'Conner. Some great stories lay in that last sentence. I did end up marrying the Chef! (not together today and a story in itself, maybe not for this platform! Is there an international divorce platform? LOL
It was my neighbour, that I was particularly happy to get know. Sinead would walk into the restaurant in the morning when we were getting ready to open for lunch. She was most always bare foot and looking for her morning cafe latte. As, usually Fabrizio was making her cafe, her and I would chat. We would chat about everything: the neighbourhood, London, what I was up to, the weather, the restaurant, what her next projects were, and eventually her son. I always enjoyed our conversations and antics. As a young person, around the same age as Sinead, meeting her in London, rocked my world. I loved her take on the music industry at the time, and as I know now, she was speaking the truth.
Sinead is the super coolest human I know. A total Queen!
Sinead, stood her ground. She had no 'F**ks to give. As a Queen, stand your ground. Say your PEACE.
Nothing Compares To U.
Not all the cigarettes in the world that Richard Branson bummed from me, can ever make up for the 2 years that I was Sinead O'Conner's neighbour!
Maybe one day I'll tell you the story of almost kicking Robert Palmer out of the restaurant and definitely telling Sting that he couldn't have that table he wanted!
At this moment right now, I am mourning a real Queen. One that wanted the best for all of us. Each human being. Sinead O'Conner sold her soul for us. We must not take that lightly.
Nothing Compares To U, my Queens,
Tammy
PS: Lyrics to rock your world and know what a Queen she really will always be.
"I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant"
"Nothing compares 2 u"
"And I do not want what I haven't got"
"You said it was dangerous after Sunday"
"How could I possibly know what I want When I was only twenty-one?"
"Maybe I was mean, but I really don't think so."
"I live by my own policies. I will sleep with a clear conscience. I will sleep in peace."
"They've got a severe case of the emperor's new clothes."
"I don't know no shame, I feel no pain."
"Margaret Thatcher on TV"
"The same orders are given by her"
"If they hated me, the will hate you"
"These are dangerous days. To say what you feel is to make your own grave."
"It's the home of police who kill black boys on mopeds"
"Too many eyes closed, ears closed. Not enough minds open."
And of course her a cappella version of Bob Marley's War
Too many to mention. A lifetime of uncompromising words/lyrics/melodies.
Beautiful
Gone too soon. No one listened.
RIP Sinead Marie Bernadette O'Conner
RIP Nevi'im Nesta Ali Shane O’Connor