“The Magdalene Song”
Previously unreleased song by Sinéad O’Connor presented in TV series
The Woman in the Wall series is available on the BBC website. Sinéad O’Connor’s “The Magdalene Song” provides the accompaniment to the finale of the last episode (archive image from 2020).
© Pacific Press Agency / Imago Images
Singer Sinéad O’Connor, who died in July this year, produced a song for a British TV series before her death. Now it can be heard for the first time – a composition full of “pain and defiance”.
The BBC-produced drama series “The Woman in the Wall” documents the cruel conditions in the Catholic Church-run homes for unmarried pregnant girls and women in Ireland – the so-called Magdalen Homes. These facilities have been run by nuns since the mid-1920s and often functioned as “religious labor camps,” as the Guardian published in Great Britain summarizes.
Sinéad O’Connor’s lyrics between pain and defiance
Sinéad O’Connor herself also caused a stir at the beginning of her career with her accusations against Catholicism in Ireland. She justified her rejection with the history of this form of belief in the specific form in her home country in the form of abuse and oppression.
“The first half of the piece is completely heartbreaking pain and the second half is pure defiance,” says David Holmes, who served as O’Connor’s producer in her final years, describing the impact of the piece in an interview with the Guardian. “I I reduced the song to Sinéad’s voice and then let it unfold its full power in the second half. “It’s incredible how the meaning of the song came together with this story,” he adds.
Magdalene Homes
O’Connor personally had been sent to a facility similar to the Magdalen Homes when she was once caught shoplifting at the age of 15. “She never really talked about the meaning of her songs. She always joked about it and often told people that her songs were about something completely different than what others interpreted into them. But this song here – well – it’s called That Magdalena Song.”, Holmes explains the genesis of the songs and thus proves the clarity of the piece in relation to O’Connor’s intention in recording this piece and describes her combative defiance: “In the lyrics, Sinéad wanted to express, in my opinion, that despite great difficulties in life, she would not be prevented from being who she wanted to be”.
The Woman in the Wall series is available on the BBC website. Sinéad O’Connor’s “The Magdalene Song” provides the accompaniment to the finale of the last episode.
Sources: “Guardians”, BBC