Nothing Compares 2 U: Difference between revisions

"Nothing Compares 2 U"
"Nothing Compares 2 U"
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"Nothing Compares 2 U" is a song written in the 1980s by Prince for The Family. In 1990, a recording of the song by Sinéad O'Connor became a number-one hit in many countries, charting in the U.S., UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, and Germany, and launched O'Connor's mainstream career. The subject of the song is actress Susannah Melvoin.^[1]

The Family version

In 1985, The Family, a funk band created as an outlet to release more of Prince's music,^{[citation needed]} released their first and only album, the self-titled The Family. "Nothing Compares 2 U" appeared on the album, but was not released as a single and received little recognition.

Sinéad O'Connor version

Background

Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor re-recorded the track in 1989 and included it on her second album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, bringing the song to worldwide prominence. The song's music video was a hit on MTV. The single topped the charts worldwide, including the United States, UK and Australia. The song also topped the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart. O'Connor's version was listed at number 77 on Billboard's "Greatest Songs of All Time^[2] and at number ten on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s".^[3]

Due to the popularity of the O'Connor recording, Prince began to perform the song in concert, and included a live duet between himself and Rosie Gaines on his 1993 compilations The Hits/The B-Sides and The Hits 1. Prince also recorded a solo version of the song for his 2002 live album, One Nite Alone... Live!.

The music video

Mainly shot in Paris, the video for "Nothing Compares 2 U" was directed by John Maybury. The clip consists almost solely of a closeup on O'Connor's face as she sings the lyrics; the rest consists of her walking through an unknown area of Paris. Towards the end of the video, two tears roll down her face, one per cheek. O'Connor stated on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s that it was caused by the lyric "All the flowers that you planted, Mama/in the back yard/All died when you went away," because she had a very complex relationship with her late mother, whom she has claimed abused her when she was a child. The clip won Best Video at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards – the first video by a female artist to win in this category.

Critical reception

In 2004, Rolling Stone placed the Sinéad O'Connor single at number 162 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, which contains only two songs of the 1990s ranked higher.
In a 2006 poll for a Channel 5 program "Britain's Favourite Break-up Songs", Sinéad O'Connor's version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" was voted fifth.
VH1 Classic listed Sinead O'Connor's version as the second greatest classic love song, behind Al Green's "Let's Stay Together".
In 2002, VH1 ranked the song the 18th greatest one-hit wonder.
In 2007, VH1 ranked O'Connor's rendition number 10 of the "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s".
In 2008, VH1 ranked the song the number 1 on "Final Countdown - Top 50 Heartbreakers".
On July 4, 2009, VH1 Classic ranked #12 on "Top 20 Flashback from the 90's".

Track listings

7" single

"Nothing Compares 2 U" — 5:08
"Jump in the River" — 4:13

CD maxi

"Nothing Compares 2 U" — 5:08
"Jump in the River" — 4:13
"Jump in the River" (instrumental) — 4:04

Charts and sales

Peak positions

Chart (1989/90)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart^[4]	1
Austrian Singles Chart^[4]	1
Dutch Top 40^[5]	1
Eurochart Hot 100	1
French SNEP Singles Chart^[4]	5
German Singles Chart^[6]	1
Irish Singles Chart^[7]	1
Italian Singles Chart^[8]	1
New Zealand Singles Chart^[4]	1
Norwegian Singles Chart^[4]	1
Swedish Singles Chart^[4]	1
Swiss Singles Chart^[4]	1
UK Singles Chart^[9]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[10]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks^[10]	23
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks^[10]	2
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks^[10]	1

End of year charts

End of year chart (1990)	Position
Australian Singles Chart^[11]	1
Austrian Singles Chart^[12]	2
Dutch Top 40^[13]	1
Swiss Singles Chart^[14]	6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[15]	3

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified
Austria^[16]	Platinum	15 May 1990	30,000
Germany^[17]	Gold	1990	250,000
Sweden^[18]	Gold	1 March 1990	10,000
UK^[19]	Platinum	1 March 1990	600,000
U.S.^[20]	Platinum	April 20, 1990	1,000,000

Chart successions

Order of precedence
Preceded by "Hangin' Tough" by New Kids on the Block	Irish IRMA number-one single 25 January 1990 - 1 March 1990 (6 weeks)	Succeeded by "Love Shack" by The B-52's
Preceded by "Tears on My Pillow" by Kylie Minogue	UK Singles Chart number-one single 3 February 1990 - 24 February 1990 (4 weeks)	Succeeded by "Dub Be Good to Me" by Beats International
Preceded by "All Around the World" by Lisa Stansfield	Norwegian VG-Lista number-one single 7/1990 - 16/1990 (10 weeks)	Succeeded by "Vogue" by Madonna
Preceded by "Me So Horny" by 2 Live Crew	Dutch Top 40 number-one single 17 February 1990 - 7 April 1990 (8 weeks)	Succeeded by "The Power" by Snap!
Preceded by "Jimmy Dean" by Troll	Swedish number-one single 21 February 1990 - 18 April 1990 (8 weeks)	Succeeded by "Vogue" by Madonna
Preceded by "Get Up ! (Before the Night Is Over)" by Technotronic	Eurochart Hot 100 number-one single 24 February 1990 - 24 March 1990 (5 weeks)	Succeeded by "The Power" by Snap!
Preceded by "Get Up ! (Before the Night Is Over)" by Technotronic	Swiss number-one single 24 February 1990 - 29 April 1990 (10 weeks)	Succeeded by "The Power" by Snap!
Preceded by "Pump ab Das Bier" by Werner Wichtig	German number-one single 2 March 1990 - 11 May 1990 (11 weeks)	Succeeded by "Verdammt, Ich Lieb' Dich" by Matthias Reim
Preceded by "Bakerman" by Laid Back	Austrian number-one single 4 March 1990 - 22 April 1990 (8 weeks)	Succeeded by "Ding Dong" by Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung
Preceded by "Cuts You Up" by Peter Murphy	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single 31 March 1990	Succeeded by "Blue Sky Mine" by Midnight Oil
Preceded by "Don't Make Me Over" by Sybil	New Zealand (RIANZ) number-one single 6 April 1990 - 4 May 1990 (5 weeks)	Succeeded by "Walk on the Side" by Jamie J Morgan
Preceded by "I'll Be Your Everything" by Tommy Page	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single 21 April 1990 - 12 May 1990 (4 weeks)	Succeeded by "Vogue" by Madonna

Other cover versions

Dune covered the song on their 1997 album Forever, which was recorded with the London Session Orchestra.
The song was covered by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on their 2003 album Take a Break.
The song was covered by Northern Kings on their 2008 album Rethroned.
It was covered by Shiny Toy Guns for the Goth Electro Tribute to Prince compilation in 2005.
The Welsh band Stereophonics performed a cover version of the song for the charity War Child Music.
South African indie pop-rock group Fire Through the Window covered the song on their self-titled debut album.
A version of the song translated into the Hawaiian language appears on the soundtrack to the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
A version of the song by Dan Kelly was included in the 2007 compilation tribute No Man's Woman.
The opera girlband All Angels covered the song on their 2007 album Into Paradise.
Covered by jazz vocalist Jimmy Scott on his album Holding Back the Years.
In 2007, the song was covered on Australian Idol by eventual winner Natalie Gauci on the Top 6 Contestant's Choice night. Gauci also recorded a cover for her Winner's Journey album.

References

^ Lewis, Everett, DVD commentary, Luster
^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart 50th Anniversary
^ http://blog.vh1.com/2007-12-13/top-100-songs-of-the-90s/
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Nothing Compares 2 U", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved 7 April 2008)
^ "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 7, 1990". Retrieved 2008-10-28.
^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved 7 April 2008)
^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved 7 April 2008)
^ Italian Single Chart Hit parade Italia (Retrieved 30 May 2008)
^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved 7 April 2008)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved 2 September 2008)
^ 1990 Australian Singles Chart aria.com (Retrieved 3 September 2008)
^ 1990 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved 3 September 2008)
^ "Single top 100 over 1990" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
^ 1990 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved 3 September 2008)
^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1990". Retrieved 2009-09-15.
^ Austrian certifications ifpi.at (Retrieved September 3, 2008)
^ German certifications musikindustrie.de (Retrieved 3 September 2008)
^ Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved 11 September 2008)
^ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved 3 September 2008)
^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved 3 September 2008)

[1] Lewis, Everett, DVD commentary, Luster

[2] Billboard Hot 100 Chart 50th Anniversary

[3] ttp://blog.vh1.com/2007-12-13/top-100-songs-of-the-90s/

[Lescharts-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Nothing Compares 2 U", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved 7 April 2008)

[5] "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 7, 1990". Retrieved 2008-10-28.

[6] German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved 7 April 2008)

[7] Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved 7 April 2008)

[8] Italian Single Chart Hit parade Italia (Retrieved 30 May 2008)

[9] UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved 7 April 2008)

[Billboard-10] Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved 2 September 2008)

[11] 1990 Australian Singles Chart aria.com (Retrieved 3 September 2008)

[12] 1990 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved 3 September 2008)

[13] "Single top 100 over 1990" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 12 April 2010.

[14] 1990 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved 3 September 2008)

[15] "Billboard Top 100 - 1990". Retrieved 2009-09-15.

[16] Austrian certifications ifpi.at (Retrieved September 3, 2008)

[17] German certifications musikindustrie.de (Retrieved 3 September 2008)

[18] Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved 11 September 2008)

[19] UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved 3 September 2008)

[20] U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved 3 September 2008)

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@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 == The Family version ==
-In 1985, [[The Family (band)|The Family]], a [[funk]] band created as an outlet to release more of [[Prince (musician)|Prince]]'s music{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}, released their first and only album, the self-titled ''[[The Family (album)|The Family]]''. "Nothing Compares 2 U" appeared on the album, but was not released as a single and received little recognition.
+In 1985, [[The Family (band)|The Family]], a [[funk]] band created as an outlet to release more of [[Prince (musician)|Prince]]'s music,{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} released their first and only album, the self-titled ''[[The Family (album)|The Family]]''. "Nothing Compares 2 U" appeared on the album, but was not released as a single and received little recognition.
 == Sinéad O'Connor version ==