"They tried to bury me but they planted a seed"
A brilliant quote from the wonderful 'Nothing Compares', Kathryn Ferguson's documentary film about Sinead O' Connor that was made available on Netflix this year. It's well-worth watching.
Sadly, O'Connor died in July of this year, and though the documentary only scratches the surface of what a complex, fascinating and brave individual she was, it does underline her astonishing musical legacy and made me go back and listen to some things I'd missed.
In Calendar terms, I'm pleased to report that Sinead was on the very first edition of this nonsense back in 2007 and I'd link to the day (12) but, because the page was created on MySpace - Can you imagine such a thing? - you can only see the whole page and not the one day (Not that that should stop you, mind).
The song posted there was her version of 'Silent Night'. I've listened to a lot of versions since then (you can imagine!) but Sinead's breathless, sparse and haunting renitin is still my favourite by some distance. If you've not listened to it yet, then you must.
'When a Child is born' isn't a song that's appeared on the Calendar before and I suppose it should, so this version with Sinead accompanied by Danny O'Reilly from the Coronas and the full weight of the RTE Orchestra is probably the way to go, particularly as I can match it up on Spotify.
If the lush orchestration isn't for you though - and I could fully understand why - several live versions available on YouTube highlight Sinead's beautiful voice with sparse accompaniment. Many of those are taken on mobiles and capture the warmth and humour of someone who was taken far too early.
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