Nothing Compares 2 U
"Nothing Compares 2 U" is a pop song written by American recording artist Prince for one of his side-projects, The Family. However, it wasn't until Sinéad O'Connor recorded her version for the album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got when it became a worldwide hit, topping charts in 15 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Background
In 1985, The Family, a funk band created as an outlet to release more of Prince's music, released their first and only album, the self-titled The Family. "Nothing Compares 2 U" appeared on the album but it was not released as a single, and received little recognition.
Due to the popularity of the O'Connor recording, Prince began to perform the song in concert, and included a live duet between himself and Rosie Gaines on his 1993 compilations The Hits/The B-Sides and The Hits 1. Prince also recorded a solo version of the song for his 2002 live album, One Nite Alone... Live!.
Composition
The song is five minutes and 10 seconds in length and is composed in the key of F Major.
Chart performance
The song became a worldwide hit, topping charts in O'Connor's native Ireland, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It also became a top-five single in France and a top-20 in Denmark. The single was certified platinum in Austria and the United Kingdom, and gold in Germany and Sweden.
In the United States it spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, in addition it was a number-one in Billboard Alternative Songs chart and reached number two on Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It became the third best-selling single of 1990, the 82nd best-selling single of the 1990s, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in April 1990. The song's popularity sent I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got to the top of the Billboard 200, where it spent six consecutive weeks.
Music video
Development
Mainly shot in Paris, the music video for "Nothing Compares 2 U" was directed by John Maybury. O'Connor's cry toward the end wasn't accidental: she stated on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s that it was caused by the lyric "All the flowers that you planted, Mama/in the back yard/All died when you went away," because she had a very complex relationship with her late mother, who used to abuse her in childhood.
Concept
The clip consists almost solely of a closeup on O'Connor's face as she sings the lyrics, sometimes with angry expression; the rest consists of her walking through an area of Paris, known as the Parc de Saint-Cloud. Towards the end of the video, two tears roll down her face, one per cheek. In the middle and at the very end of the video there is a shot from O'Connor's photosession for the I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got album cover.
Reception
The clip won three moonmen at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards: Video of the Year (O'Connor became the first female artist to be awarded with it), Best Female Video and Best Post-Modern Video. It was nominated for Breakthrough Video, Viewer's Choice and International Viewer's Choice during the ceremony. The video also became the subject for many parodies and spoofs, for instance Gina Riley's parody "Nothing Is There" on Fast Forward, referring to the fact that she was bald.
Legacy
- In 2004, Rolling Stone placed the Sinéad O'Connor single at number 162 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, which contains only two songs of the 1990s ranked higher.
- In a 2006 poll for a Channel 5 program "Britain's Favourite Break-up Songs", Sinéad O'Connor's version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" was voted fifth.
- VH1 Classic listed Sinead O'Connor's version as the second greatest classic love song, behind Al Green's "Let's Stay Together".
- In 2002, VH1 ranked the song the 18th greatest one-hit wonder.
- In 2007, VH1 ranked O'Connor's rendition number 10 of the "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s".[1]
- In 2008, VH1 ranked the song the number 1 on "Final Countdown - Top 50 Heartbreakers".
- On July 4, 2009, VH1 Classic ranked #12 on "Top 20 Flashback from the 90s".
- In September 2010 Pitchfork Media included the song at number 37 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s.[2]
- The song was listed at number 77 on Billboard's "Greatest Songs of All Time".[3]
- TIME magazine included "Nothing Compares 2 U" in its 2011 (unranked) list of "All-TIME 100 Songs".[4]
Track listings
- 7" single
- "Nothing Compares 2 U" – 5:08
- "Jump in the River" – 4:13
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- CD maxi
- "Nothing Compares 2 U" – 5:08
- "Jump in the River" – 4:13
- "Jump in the River" (instrumental) – 4:04
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Credits and personnel
Nothing Compares 2 U
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Jump in the River
- Sinéad O'Connor – music and lyrics, lead vocals, producer, mixing
- Marco Pirroni – music and lyrics
- Chris Birkett – engineering, mixing
- Fachtna O' Ceallaigh – mixing
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Charts and sales
Peak positions
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Year-end charts
Chart (1990) |
Position |
Australian Singles Chart[16] |
1 |
Austrian Singles Chart[17] |
2 |
Dutch Top 40[18] |
1 |
Swiss Singles Chart[19] |
6 |
UK Singles Chart[20] |
2 |
US Billboard Hot 100[21] |
3 |
End-of-decade charts
Chart (1990–1999) |
Position |
UK Singles Chart |
61 |
US Billboard Hot 100[22] |
82 |
Certifications
Country |
Certification |
Date |
Sales certified |
Austria[23] |
Platinum |
15 May 1990 |
30,000 |
Germany[24] |
Gold |
1990 |
250,000 |
Sweden[25] |
Platinum |
1 March 1990 |
50,000 |
UK[26] |
Platinum |
1 March 1990 |
600,000 |
US[27] |
Platinum |
April 20, 1990 |
1,000,000 |
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Cover versions
References
- ^ Breaking Dawn Soundtrack: Posted (2007-12-13). "Top 100 Songs of the ’90s | VH1 Blog". Blog.vh1.com. http://blog.vh1.com/2007-12-13/top-100-songs-of-the-90s/. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
- ^ Pitchfork Top 200 Tracks of the 90s
- ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart 50th Anniversary
- ^ ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Medien, Hung. "SINÉAD O'CONNOR - NOTHING COMPARES 2 U" (in French). lescharts.com. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&cat=s. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
- ^ Medien, Hung. "SINÉAD O'CONNOR - NOTHING COMPARES 2 U (NUMMER)" (in Dutch). ultratop.be. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&cat=s. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ Medien, Hung. "SINÉAD O'CONNOR - NOTHING COMPARES 2 U (CHANSON)" (in French). ultratop.be. http://www.ultratop.be/fr/showitem.asp?interpret=Sin%E9ad+O%27Connor&titel=Nothing+Compares+2+U&cat=s. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ "Adult Contemporary - Volume 51, No. 25, May 05 1990". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.9135. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
- ^ "Top Singles - Volume 51, No. 25, May 05 1990". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.9051. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
- ^ "Top 100 single" (in German). charts.de. http://www.charts.de/charts.asp?cat=s&country=de&year=1990&date=19900305&x=23&y=4. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
- ^ "Irish Singles Chart – Search for song". Irish Recorded Music Association. http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
- ^ "Archive Chart" UK Singles Chart. The Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Sinead O'Connor Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Adult Contemporary Songs for Sinead O'Connor. Prometheus Global Media.
- ^ "Sinead O'Connor Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Alternative Songs for Sinead O'Connor. Prometheus Global Media.
- ^ "Sinead O'Connor Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Sinead O'Connor. Prometheus Global Media.
- ^ 1990 Australian Singles Chart aria.com (Retrieved 3 September 2008)
- ^ 1990 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved 3 September 2008)
- ^ "Single top 100 over 1990" (in Dutch) (PDF). Top40. http://www.top40.nl/pdf/Top%20100/top%20100%20-%201990.pdf. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
- ^ 1990 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved 3 September 2008)
- ^ Music Week End of year Charts, 1990. pub.January 1991
- ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1990". http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1990. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. http://books.google.co.kr/books?id=9w0EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&lr&rview=1&pg=RA1-PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
- ^ Austrian certifications ifpi.at (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Nothing+Compares+2+U')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=Nothing%2BCompares%2B2%2BU&strInterpret=&strTtArt=alle&strAwards=checked. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
- ^ Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved 11 September 2008)
- ^ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved 3 September 2008)
- ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved 3 September 2008)
- ^ Hawaiian lyrics on www.danielho.com
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Singles |
"Troy" (1987) • "Mandinka" (1987) • "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" (1988) • "Jerusalem" (1988) • "Jump in the River" (1988) • "Nothing Compares 2 U" (1990) • "The Emperor's New Clothes" (1990) • "Three Babies" (1990) • "I Am Stretched on Your Grave" (1990)• "My Special Child" (1991) • "Silent Night" (1991) • "Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home" (1992) • "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" (1992) • "You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart" (1994) • "Thank You for Hearing Me" (1994) • "Fire on Babylon" (1994) • "Famine"/"All Apologies" (1995) • "This Is to Mother You" (1997) • "This Is a Rebel Song" (1997) • "Chiquitita" (1998) • "No Man's Woman" (2000) • "Jealous" (2000) • "Troy (The Phoenix From the Flame)" (2002) • "My Lagan Love" (2002) • "A Hundred Thousand Angels" (2003) • "Marcus Garvey" (2005) • "Throw Down Your Arms" (2005) • "I Don't Know How to Love Him" (2007) • "Something Beautiful" (2007) • "We People (Who Are Darker Than Blue)" (2008) • "How About I Be Me" (2011)
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