"The Emperor's New Clothes" is a song written and recorded by Irish singer-songwriter

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

for her second studio album, ''

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got ''I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got'' is the second studio album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, released in March 1990 by Ensign/Chrysalis Records. It contains O'Connor's version of the Prince song " Nothing Compares 2 U", which was released a ...

'' (1990). The song was released as the album's second single on 5 June 1990 by

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

and

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

and reached number three in Canada, number five in Ireland, and the top 20 in Australia, Italy and Switzerland. In the United States, the song topped the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart for a week. Its music video was directed by

John Maybury John Maybury (born 25 March 1958) is an English filmmaker and artist. He first came to prominence as the director of the music video for the Pet Shop Boys 1984 single "West End Girls". In 2005 he was named as one of the 100 most influential gay ...

Composition

Lyrically, the song is about personal tribulations amid the oppression of the world around her, while she sings: ''I will live by my own policies/I will sleep with a clear conscience''.

Critical reception

Jodi Cleesattle from ''American Eagle'' felt that "The Emperor's New Clothes" is "the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

's closest thing to a typical rock song", and "an up-front autobiographical song with even, somewhat gritty vocals and strong backing on both electric and acoustic guitars." Bill Coleman from ''

'' described it as a "jangly", "clever, guitar-laced rocker

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

is a fine choice as a follow-up". He also stated that it "should confirm O'Connor's status as a viable pop radio star."

Tom Moon Thomas Raphael Moon (born November 3, 1960) is an American saxophonist, author and music critic. He is best known for his 2008 book '' 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die''. He has won two Deems Taylor Awards from the American Society of Comp ...

from

Knight-Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

declared it as a "show-stopping moment" and a "bitter what-I-learned-on-the-road song".

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his career at ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He subsequently worked as a freelancer and published a number of books on music and popular culture. Reynold ...

from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' felt that "this shrill statement of independence (so radically minimalist it doesn't have a tune)", "could be directed either at a male lover or at a public that keeps foisting their expectations on her slight shoulders." Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' viewed it as "hard-hitting pop". David Giles from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' remarked that it's "a rockier track", more like "

Mandinka Mandinka, Mandika, Mandinkha, Mandinko, or Mandingo may refer to: Media * Mandingo (novel), ''Mandingo'' (novel), a bestselling novel published in 1957 * Mandingo (film), ''Mandingo'' (film), a 1975 film based on the eponymous 1957 novel * ''Man ...

" than "

Nothing Compares 2 U "Nothing Compares 2 U" is a song written by the American musician Prince for his band the Family. It first appeared on their only album, '' The Family'' (1985). Its lyrics express the feelings of longing expressed by an abandoned lover. The I ...

", "though without any of the former's quirkiness." William Shaw from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' named it "the most confessional record ever", describing it as "goose-pimplingly honest".

Retrospective response

In a 2020 retrospective review, Matthew Hocter from Albumism said that the song "shows a conviction that is part anger and part middle finger to the never-ending judgement the singer faced at the time with her star sky rocketing, scrutiny around her

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

faith, and her role as a newly single mother."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

described it as one of several "moments of brilliance" in his review of the compilation album '' So Far... The Best Of''. In 1998,

David Quantick David Quantick (born 14 May 1961) is an English novelist, comedy writer and critic, who has worked as a journalist and screenwriter. A former freelance writer for the music magazine ''NME'', his writing credits have included '' On the Hour'', ' ...

from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' wrote that it is a song "very heavy on specifics and is full of not very obscure lines like. ''He thinks I just became famous and that's what messed me up'' and the splendidly un-rock 'n' roll ''You know how it is/And how a pregnancy can change you''." The lyric ''It seems like years since you held the baby/ While I wrecked the bedroom,'' according to Mark Richardson from ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' in 2009, "is delivered with a muted lilt, O'Connor's voice bright and possibly a little hopeful, confident in her strength despite the weight of the past". In a 2015 review, Pop Rescue wrote that the song itself is "a rockier song" than the others on the album, adding that "it really has a great rhythm and shows that Sinéad is equally at home of these harder

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

songs. This is a brilliant track!"

Track listing

* US CD single # "The Emperor's New Clothes" (LP Version) – 5:16 # "The Emperor's New Clothes" (Main Mix) – 4:37 # "What Do You Want?" – 2:58 # "Mandinka" (Jake's Remix) – 5:58

Personnel

– vocals, songwriter, producer, acoustic guitar * John Reynolds – drums *

Andy Rourke Andrew Michael Rourke (17 January 1964 – 19 May 2023) was an English musician best known as the bassist of the 1980s indie rock band the Smiths. Regarded as one of the greatest bassists of his generation, he was known for his melodic and funk- ...

– bass *

Marco Pirroni Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni (born 27 April 1959) frequently credited simply as Marco, is a British guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, Siouxsie and the Banshees and many others from the la ...

– electric guitar * Chris Birkett – engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emperor's New Clothes (song) 1990 singles 1990 songs Alternative pop songs Chrysalis Records singles Ensign Records singles Music videos directed by John Maybury Sinéad O'Connor songs Songs written by Sinéad O'Connor 1990s in Irish music