Sinéad O’Connor felt like listeners of “Nothing Compares 2 U” could relate the song to different kinds of loss, not just the loss of a romantic partner. Susan Rogers, a recording engineer for Prince, even believed the lyrics were not about an ex-lover at all but about Sandy Scipioni, Prince’s housekeeper who quit her job after her father passed away.
Although there is no proof of Scipioni’s departure in the lyrics, there is a reference to the loss of a parent. The narrator sings in the bridge, “All the flowers that you planted, mama, in the backyard all died when you went away.” O’Connor cries in her music video for the song, and she told BBC that to muster up that kind of emotional response when singing, she always thought of the same thing: “I always think of my mother … which is why I had the little tear in the video. My mother died when I was 17 and it wasn’t long after that that I was making the video.”
“Nothing Compares 2 U” ends with the narrator asking for another chance, which could allude to asking their partner to try again or to wishing for the impossible — for a deceased loved one to return. Then, the outro repeats, “Nothing compares, nothing compares to you” three times to drive the point home.
Many people referenced the song after Prince’s death in 2016, and they will likely do the same for O’Connor.
Post source: The List
