The National Day of Prayer, May 1, 2025, is a Congressional-recognized day when the country is to recognize and celebrate prayer. The president is mandated to sign a declaration on this day, noting the importance of he day and prayer throughout the country. To honor the day, this article provides a different analysis of the work “Nothing Compares 2 U” as originally recorded by Prince, with a different version by Sinead O’Connor.
Photo | Sinead O’Connor at the Festival de Cornouaille, 2014 | courtesy of Thesupermat, Wiki Media, Creative CommonsPrince, Live Photo | courtesy of jImi Hughes, Ballymena, North Ireland | Wiki Media, Creative Commons
Just A Song?
“Nothing Compares 2 U” was first recorded by Prince in 1985, who wrote the song for his band The Family. This little-known song was recorded I 1990 by Sinead O’Connor and released on the I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got album. The recording by Sinead O’Connor captured audiences and reached the top spot on the World Single on Billboard Music Awards, 1990. Sinead O’Connor’s version also ranked in the top third spot in the US in 1990. Prince went on to re-record the track in 1993, and it was later released in other collections in 2018 and 2019.
The work is a powerful yet mournful work as recorded by Sinead O’Connor. Aligned perfectly with Sinead O’Connor’s lyrical touch, “Nothing Compares 2 U” catches listeners early and rivets. The work gained mostly popular opinion from critics. The composite body of listeners worldwide helped propel this recording by Sinead O’Connor to top spots on all the major recording platforms.
“It’s really about emotions, it’s not about notes,” O’Connor told the BBC in 2016. “I never sing a song that I can’t emotionally identify with.”
If we follow Sinead O’Connor’s logic and decisions to move an original funk-based ballad to a more mellow, haunting, torch-style work, then there’s more below the surface to unpack. Incorporating a socio-linguistic theomusicological analysis of the work, the lyrics frame a point for one who has lost faith and resumes searching for faith.
Lyrics:
It’s been seven hours and 15 days
Since you took your love away
I go out every night and sleep all day
Since you took your love away
Since you been gone, I can do whatever I want
I can see whomever I choose
I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant
But nothing
I said nothing can take away these blues
‘Cause nothing compares
Nothing compares to you
It’s been so lonely without you here
Like a bird without a song
Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling
Tell me baby, where did I go wrong?
I could put my arms around every boy I see
But they’d only remind me of you
I went to the doctor, guess what he told me
Guess what he told me
He said, “Girl you better try to have fun, no matter what you do”
But he’s a fool
‘Cause nothing compares, nothing compares to you
All the flowers that you planted mama
In the back yard
All died when you went away
I know that living with you baby was sometimes hard
But I’m willing to give it another try
Nothing compares
Nothing compares to you
Taking the pointed theme of longing and searching, scripture provides applicable doctrine in searching for God through faith.
Matthew 6:33
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
Deuteronomy 4:29
But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
1 Chronicles 16:11
Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Acts 17:27
That they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
Amos 5:4
For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live.
Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
The haunting chorus, Nothiung compares to you, contextualizes the body of the work. The lyrics define banal situations in life, yet the longing quest for a love lost remains central. A surface reading would focus on the topics where the person feels and embraces the loss of a loved one to find themselves through personal pain and grief. A faith-based linguistic reading inverts the personal loss with that of the loss of faith in God. In this manner, the surface text is not relevant. The subsurface, embedded discourse is the reality for the person feeling the loss.
Some key scriptures defining the importance of retaining and finding God’s love are,
Jeremiah 31:3
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
1 John 4:16
So that all may be well.
Psalm 136:26
The Lord is good for many, and of great good.
These scripture examples frame how dependent we are on God. To feel the loss of God’s love, mercy, and kindness in life brings about a sense of pain, which this track, Nothing Compared 2 U is trying to convey. Human emotions are only so deep. As individuals, we probe, eulogise, and objectify suffering through a loss as a methodology of identity. Anthropomorphizing loss touches a surface relationship to what we as individuals desire with more depth and importance. This song, originally recorded as an unreleased funk-based ballad single by Prince’s Family Band, juxtaposes Sinead O’Connor’s version. In each version, the theme of searching in the face of loss remains consistent. Articulating these themes in different musical genres further underscores the necessity of man to draw closer to God in all aspects of life. No one portion of life is, or should be, absent from the Lord. Applying this faith-based socio-religious linguistic reading to this track, the trivial points of the song melt away, exposing grief and the longing for love from God in all areas of life.
Photo | Sinéad O’Connor at The Music In My Head 2008 in The Hague | courtesy of Leah Prichard, Wiki Media, Creative Commons
Photo | Prince playing at Coachella 2008 | courtesy of Wiki Media, Creative Commons
What If Both Prince nd Sinead O’Connor Were Right After All?
The differences between these two artists, Prince and Sinead O’Connor, went deeper than their approach to the song. The personal and artistic differences between the two over the song have been documented. Despite the contrasting versions, the central theme of loss remains the same. This demonstrates the level of humanity and the need to rely solely on God for support in all areas of life. Contextualizing each version as a composite of the human experience positions the dominant themes of personal suffering, loss, and searching for a resolution, which are firmly aligned with scripture doctrine on man’s dependence on God to show the way through these potentially emotionally defeating locations. Prince and Sinead O’Connor may have had artistic differences, which were played out through this song. Yet, each notes the value of bringing to light the element of loss, not as a mechanism of defeat, but as one to be handed over to God for his mercy and grace. The real tragedy is that both these artists were blinded by the importance of their representation of the song that they could not see how they were both stating the same argument: man’s limited position on earth needs a Savior to light the way through tragedy to come closer to holistic salvation.
Isaiah 30:18
Therefore, the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore, he will rise up to show mercy to you.
Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
In the end, the irony is that both Prince and Sinead O’Connor were right; nothing compares to God’s mercy and grace to see man through all situations in life.
Dr. Alan Lechusza is a scholar whose name has become synonymous with critical thought and cultural discourse. He is a thinker and writer who explores the world of popular culture with a critical eye. He holds a PhD and uses his deep resource-rich understanding to question and redefine how we see art, power, and knowledge. His research covers various topics that aim to break down and rebuild our ideas about culture, artistry, and socio-political authority. Dr. Lechusza closely examines everyday cultural expressions in a way that challenges usual thinking. His writings make people think and view culture in new ways. Dr. Alan Lechusza wants to create conversations to inspire change and challenge our understanding of how we experience the world. You can read more about the author here.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In