# Hey, remember when Sinead O'Connor tore up the Pope's picture and pissed everybody off? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511 "2010-03-23T18:10:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/41 "2010-03-24T13:37:23Z")
Being pro abortion is fun, though. After the first five, they give you a toaster oven! ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/42 "2010-03-24T13:40:38Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Oh, right. I didn’t realise that performers had to play the Star Spangled Banner before playing a show. But I guess it must have been a really pretty shitty thing she did if an upstanding citizen like Frank Sinatra wanted to “kick her ass!”. She didn’t have to perform it herself - the venue (someplace in NJ) said it was their policy to play a recording of the SSB before any event. She told them she’d refuse to perform if they did, so they didn’t play it before her show. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/43 "2010-03-24T13:40:46Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > Yeah, The Pope should listen to Sinead just get with the times and be pro-abortion! I wonder how many of us on the SD would be here typing if he had done that? A pro death Pope will be the end of Christianity. The Pope is all about Life and not death. He has probably saved more lives then you will ever know. You’ll note I said the criminally stupid resistance to birth control, right? If you think that the church’s resistance to the use of condoms has done anything other than cause the deaths of more people than Stalin, I’d like to see the evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/44 "2010-03-24T14:58:30Z")
You mean now that the pope is an ex-Nazi?? ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/45 "2010-03-24T15:03:00Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > People are always dancing in _Glee_. I don’t really get it. It’s supposed to be a show about a _singing_ ensemble, not a dance troupe. Technically, they are a show choir so they are a little bit of both. And more talented and socially relevent then Sinead O’Connor. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/46 "2010-03-24T16:09:54Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > You heard simplicity where I heard melodrama. I still can’t listen to that song without picturing her hiccuping while singing the second “no-thing” in the refrain. > > But its music and its matter of taste. She obviously has some fans in this thread and we’d accomplish very little arguing over whether her music is gold or poop. It’s easy to take a shot at her for being a kook but her art is a subjective matter. I value **Wordman’s** opinion as well as yours and **Baron Greenback’s**. > > But I also think her music stinks. One of us may be wrong but in art and music it really doesn’t matter. I’m not defending the song as good. But "artsy’ and “pretentious” have specific associations related to music that are very different than “melodramatic” or perhaps “overwrought” (as you seem to be suggesting). In my IMHO, of course. It’s like me not liking NWA and calling them “bubble gum” or me not liking Brahms and calling his music “misogynistic”. My right to not like the music still doesn’t mean my reasoning makes sense. I don’t care if you like the song or not; it was just the adjectives you used for not liking it that struck me as, well, weird. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/47 "2010-03-24T16:37:29Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > When did priests talk about SNL (or similar venue/topic) in a church sermon? There’s also the fact that this took place toward the end of the show (IIRC). How many priests preparing for morning Mass are going to stay up until 1 a.m. watching SNL. And because it happened so late, news of it really didn’t get out until after the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/48 "2010-03-24T16:56:06Z")
There was also the time when she refused to appear on SNL because raunchy “comic” Andrew Dice Clay was the host. They did a skit where Dice didn’t appear on SNL and what happened if he didn’t (a la “It’s a Wonderful Life”). In this alternate reality O’Connor was killed when stage props fell on her and Dice said to his guardian angel “That’s too bad. She was a cute, bald chick”. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/49 "2010-03-24T16:56:26Z")
> [@The\_Facts](#): > > Hell, a lot of people would be dancing in glee if she did it today. Especially if you replace “picture of the pope” with “an image of Muhammed”. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/50 "2010-03-24T17:02:59Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > There was also the time when she refused to appear on SNL because raunchy “comic” Andrew Dice Clay was the host. They did a skit where Dice didn’t appear on SNL and what happened if he didn’t (a la “It’s a Wonderful Life”). In this alternate reality O’Connor was killed when stage props fell on her and Dice said to his guardian angel “That’s too bad. She was a cute, bald chick”. Pretty sure that was cast member Nora Dunn who refused to appear in ADC’s episode. Don’t remember O’Connor being involved at all. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/51 "2010-03-24T17:27:53Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Pretty sure that was cast member Nora Dunn who refused to appear in ADC’s episode. Don’t remember O’Connor being involved at all. It was both Sinead O’Connor and Nora Dunn who refused to appear in 1990. Wiki is down so I have another link. > **[Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions](https://www.answers.com/redirectSearch?query=andrew-dice-clay)** > > Answers is the place to go to get the answers you need and to ask the questions you want ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/52 "2010-03-24T17:31:35Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Pretty sure that was cast member Nora Dunn who refused to appear in ADC’s episode. Don’t remember O’Connor being involved at all. The way I remember it, O’Conner WAS originally scheduled to perform during the Andrew Dice Clay episode. Conspicuously, she bowed out of that one only _after_ Nora Dunn made a big public stink about refusing to appear on that episode. She just jumped on the bandwagon when she saw it. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/53 "2010-03-24T17:41:00Z")
Ah, thanks. Didn’t realize Sinead had been a part of that. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/54 "2010-03-24T18:26:45Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > The way I remember it, O’Conner WAS originally scheduled to perform during the Andrew Dice Clay episode. Conspicuously, she bowed out of that one only _after_ Nora Dunn made a big public stink about refusing to appear on that episode. She just jumped on the bandwagon when she saw it. I can’t remember who dropped out first. But I remember initially O’Connor had no idea who Clay was. Someone told her what his act consisted of and then she decided to opt out. It could have been Dunn. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/55 "2010-03-24T18:53:18Z")
I’m still torn (heh) about Sinead O’Connor’s Pope picture tearing decades later - yeah, protest something you feel strongly about in a public venue, but no, that didn’t seem like the place for it. She was the eighties’ Kanye West. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/56 "2010-03-24T18:59:12Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I’m not defending the song as good. But "artsy’ and “pretentious” have specific associations related to music that are very different than “melodramatic” or perhaps “overwrought” (as you seem to be suggesting). In my IMHO, of course. > > It’s like me not liking NWA and calling them “bubble gum” or me not liking Brahms and calling his music “misogynistic”. My right to not like the music still doesn’t mean my reasoning makes sense. I don’t care if you like the song or not; it was just the adjectives you used for not liking it that struck me as, well, weird. I probably should have said Artsy-Fartsy but I think I still had the adjectives set up just fine [ARTSY](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=artsy) - See def 5 for my general meaning [pretentious](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pretentious) - Any definition will work here but I had number 3 in mind Lacking a thesaurus (or the perseverance to use one) I threw out two words that I thought captured my theme. I still don’t think I was too far off. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/57 "2010-03-29T06:33:14Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Oh, right. I didn’t realise that performers had to play the Star Spangled Banner before playing a show. But I guess it must have been a really pretty shitty thing she did if an upstanding citizen like Frank Sinatra wanted to “kick her ass!”. Well gee, she’s a foreign national touring America in support of an album which, primarily due to US sales, has made her world famous (not to mention rich) and she responds by shitting on that country’s national song. Selfish, pretentious, one-hit-wonder bitch deserved to get her ass kicked! And I’m sure if a US artist did this in Scotland they’d be very understanding! Either that or they’d kick their teeth in… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/58 "2010-03-29T14:51:49Z")
Since there is no official national anthem of Scotland, I kind of doubt that this would be an issue for any American artists performing there. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/59 "2010-03-29T15:08:11Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > Yeah, The Pope should listen to Sinead just get with the times and be pro-abortion! I wonder how many of us on the SD would be here typing if he had done that? A pro death Pope will be the end of Christianity. The Pope is all about Life and not death. He has probably saved more lives then you will ever know. “Pro death”? The “end of Christianity”? No one brought up abortion till you did. We’re talking about birth control which most Christians support but the Catholic Church opposes, and in so doing, has caused more poverty than you will ever know. (And it’s “pro death” because human overpopulation is destroying the planet.) ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511/60 "2010-03-29T15:18:52Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Well gee, she’s a foreign national touring America in support of an album which, primarily due to US sales, has made her world famous (not to mention rich) and she responds by shitting on that country’s national song. Selfish, pretentious, one-hit-wonder bitch deserved to get her ass kicked! > > And I’m sure if a US artist did this in Scotland they’d be very understanding! Either that or they’d kick their teeth in… :rolleyes: Right, because it’s standard practice in Scotland to stand and belt out a rousing rendition of God Save the Queen prior to a musician coming on stage. _What the fuck?_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-remember-when-sinead-oconnor-tore-up-the-popes-picture-and-pissed-everybody-off/533511.md?page=4)