I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard _that_ voice on the radio. In the kitchen at home, on my own. 1986. The song’s “Heroine.” The time travel of music. I didn’t know who was singing yet, but that’s where the journey began with Sinéad O’Connor’s voice. And, because there are the songs and the recordings, the journey goes on after tonight. But God damn it anyway.

The next year, I remember “The Lion and the Cobra” on vinyl being passed around at school, listened to on the stereo in the front room of a best mate’s house. I only found out a few months ago on “You’re Wrong About” that the iconic cover was ridiculously changed for the US market. One of the elements of us fanboys at that age, 15, 16, was the element of her proximity to us. We were Southside, near Glenageary. She was like us but she was completely unique. Same but totally different, new.