Modern Rock Tracks No. 1s - Sinéad O'Connor and "The Emperor's New Clothes"
Sinéad O'Connor becomes the first artist to have simultaneous #1 hits on the Modern Rock and Hot 100 charts, as the follow-up to "Nothing Compares 2 U" takes over alternative radio
Sinéad O’Connor - “The Emperor’s New Clothes”
Weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: 1 (May 12, 1990)
Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers during this time:
Sinéad O’Connor - “Nothing Compares 2 U” (5/12/90, 4 total weeks)
The phrase “the emperor has no clothes” appears in a lot of discussions, articles, and media these days, wherein the “emperor” of the particular discussion is usually someone who receives some sort of praise but is ultimately a fraud or participating in a sham scenario. I don’t tend to dabble much in those types of conversations so I can’t think of anything off the top of my head to show as an example, but even without that modern cultural interpretation most folks know the context surrounding that phrase.
If you don’t, you could always turn to the original source material from Hans Christian Andersen, which tells the story of a group of people who feared being called out as fools for failing to go along with a lie about an emperor’s clothes, which actually did not exist at all. It’s an interesting short story about power and groupthink, and really strikes to the heart of what Sinéad O’Connor is expressing in her second consecutive Modern Rock Tracks #1 hit: “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”
This is definitely more of a “rock” track than “Nothing Compares 2 U,” and likely a better fit for the MRT chart at this time than her previous chart topper. This track has a more consistent guitar backing with stronger percussion and lyrics that fit stylistically in a rock setting, taking jabs at people who think they can say whatever they want about O’Connor’s narrator but who will ultimately be exposed in the same way the emperor and his subjects were by the young child in Andersen’s short story.
I will admit I didn’t have much background with this track, but I do recall occasional spins on pop radio in my youth (the track did chart on the Hot 100 but peaked far below the top 40 at #60). There’s no way that 11-year-old Matt could have possibly understood the personal narrative O’Connor was displaying for the listening audience, but I think I get it now. Clearly O’Connor wrote this during a tough period of regret and reflection in her life, as she ponders the moments when she was mean or offensive to someone she loved, or expressing a preference for introversion over the trappings of pop superstardom.
But while she’s reflecting on the tough times in her life, she’s also making a stand for her independence and calling out those who follow a particular narrative or set of beliefs. In the third verse she illustrates how she’s OK with thinking outside of the zeitgeist and standing up for her own convictions, even while she’s being laughed at by those who have the ability to laugh because of the protection provided by people who all think the same way:
Everyone can see what's going on
They laugh 'cause they know they're untouchable
Not because what I said was wrong
Whatever it may bring
I will live by my own policies
I will sleep with a clear conscience
I will sleep in peace
There’s a calm conviction in O’Connor’s song that resonates, and it’s that individualism that would come to define O’Connor’s life and dictate many of her choices. She believed that, in the end, she would be the one lauded by everyone, since she was “asked for the truth, and I told you.” Once the truth comes out, according to O’Connor, it would become apparent to everyone else that they are nothing more than the emperors wearing new clothes, implying they’d be exposed for what they are.
I would argue there’s a lot of ways to apply O’Connor’s message: it could be linked to the politics of the time, to her treatment by media outlets, or to the critiques of her life both in the public and private spheres. She was in the middle of a separation from her first husband and father of her first child, music producer John Reynolds, and it’s likely a good portion of the lyrics were written about their relationship. And of course, O’Connor was always very outspoken about a lot of politically and religiously divisive topics, so it’d be easy to connect the song to any of those entities.
In the end, it’s a decent pop-rock track with a message that is one part independent woman, one part mournful about the trajectory of what had been a loving partnership, and one part disinterested in the trappings of life as a musical superstar. This kind of track, unlike “Nothing Compares 2 U,” definitely lacked a home on popular radio but found its niche on alternative stations. Though it only topped the chart for one week, it stayed on the charts for a few months, underscoring the brilliance of O’Connor’s star power during this period. She also became the first artist to simultaneously top both the Billboard Hot 100 and Modern Rock Tracks chart.
O’Connor would never equal the heights of her popularity in the U.S. following the release of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” The third single off the album “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got,” titled “Three Babies,” never charted in the U.S. on either the Hot 100 or the MRT chart. The first single from her album “Am I Not Your Girl,” the cover of Loretta Lynn’s “Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home,” managed a #20 peak on the MRT chart in 1992. In April 1994, she made her last appearance on the MRT chart with “You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart,” which topped out at #24 and was off the chart in two weeks.
Of course, it was O’Connor’s performance on “Saturday Night Live” in October 1992 that changed the course of her career and, almost certainly, her fortunes in the U.S., when she completed an acapella singing performance by ripping up a picture of Pope John Paul II while saying, “Fight the real enemy.” In the years that followed, O’Connor never regretted the incident and explained where she was coming from, recognizing in her memoir that the moment “put her back on the right track” after the commercial success of “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
Regardless of her cultural legacy, O’Connor’s string of successful songs in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s will forever keep her in the conversation of the most interesting and controversial music figures of the era. And while it wasn’t quite the chart success of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” I think “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is a worthy follow-up and a nice example of a personal story brought to life through music.
Rating: 7/10
Chart Check: A look at other notable MRT chart songs from this time period
This is the first of four consecutive articles where the #1 song on the MRT chart only stayed at #1 for a single week, so there aren’t going to be many songs available to feature here. Most of the top 10 during the week O’Connor topped the chart consists of songs that were #1 recently or will soon be #1, so we’re scraping the bottom of the chart barrel this time around.
“Drag My Bad Name Down” by The 4 Of Us: Irish rockers The 4 Of Us never made much of an impression in the United States, except for this track, which actually topped out on the Hot 100 at #77 the week before it hit #22 on the MRT chart. The #22 finish was its peak behind “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” and I’m surprised it didn’t chart higher. It’s a pretty decent rock track, with a lot going on musically.
“Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World” by Johnny Clegg & Savuka: What an interesting addition the Modern Rock Tracks chart. Johnny Clegg & Savuka made it to the lower reaches of the MRT chart with this pop-infused, Zulu-inspired ditty about the beauty of the world, and it’s just a fun, funky cornucopia of musical instruments and vocal accompaniments. It peaked at #27 behind Sinead O’Connor.