Sister Sinead by Kris Kristofferson

Album: Closer To The Bone (2009)

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This song is a tribute to Kristofferson's friend, the Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. Kristofferson comforted O'Connor on stage in 1992 when she was booed by the crowd during a Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary concert a fortnight after tearing up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live. O'Connor regularly shaved her hair as a statement against the superficialities of the record industry, which Kristofferson alludes to in the lyric, "that bald-headed brave little girl."

O'Connor share a thirst for speaking truth to power, no matter the consequences. Kristofferson made a lot of enemies with his left-wing political views, particularly on his 1990 album Third World Warrior. One of the tracks is called "Don't Let the Bastards (Get You Down)," which is what he said to O'Connor when she was being booed at the concert.
Kristofferson was 73 when he released "Sister Sinead" on his acoustic album Closer to the Bone. The song is just Kristofferson on acoustic guitar and harmonica.
O'Connor and Kristofferson share an ally in Willie Nelson. Before she took the stage at the Bob Dylan tribute concert, Nelson asked her to do a collaboration. Even after she was booed on stage and harangued in the press, he stuck by her and together they recorded a duet of Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up."

Nelson and Kristofferson go back a long way, and along with Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, were part of a very popular supergroup called The Highwaymen.
Around this time, Kristofferson and O'Connor teamed up to perform his song "Help Me Make It Through The Night" on various TV shows in Europe, where he often reiterated his support for Sinéad.

Comments: 4

Pauline Hayward from Originally From Sallynoggin, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin. Now In HollandKris Kristofferson was always my hero. From a young girl I thought he was a great singer. Loved Sunday Morning Sidewalk, which I still sing to this day.
He is now even more a HERO than I even could imagine. Great Song Kris, keep singing it for the Sister Sinead. Also a HERO
Jomar from Dublin, Ireland.Spot on Gavin. Sinead died in July 2023. Millions of people all over the world are mourning her passing and sharing stories of her genius, courage and pain.
Gavin from Dublin, IrelandNot sure where Pjironed in that other comment is getting those "facts" from. Pure nonsense. I can assure you the only people who "dislike" Sinead are possibly the old school religious types. Or people who have no idea why she tore up that picture.
People like myself appreciate her amazing voice, contribution to music, the way she stood up for what she believed in and the fact that she took a stand against the Catholic church; who at the time, refused to acknowledge the atrocities that priest and nuns had carried out in Ireland and all over the world. She was a pioneer in many ways.

She also absolutely did not blame the Irish people on the famine. Absolutely ridiculous, false statement. You only have to look at her song, Famine, to see that.
Pjironed from Dublin, IrelandI saw him perform this song in Dublin, Ireland. Little did he know Sinead O'Connor is extremely disliked by many Irish people especially older members which the audience was mostly made up of. You could see he was not happy with the audience's audible comments about her as he sang this song.
She also blamed the Irish people for the great famine which the country's population never recovered from to this day. A bit like blaming the citizens of Ethiopia for their famines. She is a bit of laughing stock in Ireland rather than some outspoken person with pearls of wisdom.

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