Song of the Day 9/28: Sinéad O’Connor, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”

When Sinéad O’Connor ripped up a photograph of Pope John Paul II at the end of a Saturday Night Live performance in 1992, she was trying to make the world aware of the moral rot at the heart of the Roman Catholic Church. She failed, and in the process destroyed what, until that moment, was a promising career.

Her first LP, “The Lion and the Cobra,” won her a devoted following, and her cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” on her next album rocketed her to stardom. This song was her response to the pressures of her newfound fame, and it made clear she considered that fame less a blessing than a curse — one she dispelled two years later, when she turned fame into infamy.