Troy (song)

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"Troy"
File:Sinead OConnor Troy single cover.jpg
Single by Sinéad O'Connor
from the album The Lion and the Cobra
B-side "Still Listening"
Released 1987
Recorded 1986
Studio Oasis Studios
(London, England)
Genre
Length 6:34
Label Chrysalis
Songwriter(s) Sinéad O'Connor
Producer(s)
Script error: The function "ucfirst" does not exist. singles chronology
"Heroine"
(1986)		 "Troy"
(1987)		 "Mandinka"
(1987)
Music video
"Troy" on YouTube

"Troy" is the debut single by Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor, released in 1987 from her debut studio album The Lion and the Cobra. Written by O'Connor, the lyric is based on the poem No Second Troy by William Butler Yeats.[citation needed] In 2002, a dance version of the song was released as "Troy (The Phoenix from the Flame)", becoming a top-ten hit on several international dance charts, including the US Dance Club Songs chart.

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted in his review that songs like "Troy", "Jackie" and "Jerusalem" "are compelling because of their hushed, quiet intensity".[1] Mark Richardson from Pitchfork described the song as an "epic and visceral psychodrama", adding it is "lushly orchestrated, painting the story of desire and betrayal on a wall-sized canvas".[2] Sal Cinquemani from Slant wrote: "...the fierce melodrama of young love and betrayal is imbued with the surrounding violence in 'Troy,' the song's crumbling romance equated with the burning of the famous Greek city." He added the song "is, perhaps, the album's defining moment, exhibiting all of the traits—vulnerability, fury, conviction, theatricality—the infamously outspoken singer-songwriter would become known for in the years that followed".[3] In the documentary Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares (2022), she explained that the song is about a traumatic experience during her childhood involving her mother.[citation needed]

Music video

The video featured O'Connor, completely bald and covered with gold and silver body paint, singing to a background of moving images including flames. The building featured in several shots is on Montpelier Hill, just south of Dublin, known as the Hell Fire Club.

Live performances

O'Connor sang "Troy" live only during the year after it was released at Pinkpop Festival in the Netherlands,[4] subsequently refusing to do so[citation needed] until 2008, when she performed at the Night of the Proms in Belgium and the Netherlands.

"In Dublin I was doing this show one night," she recalled, "and somebody yelled out, 'Troy, Troy.' And I went, I'm fucking troying."[5]

Charts

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Sinéad O'Connor - Troy (Pinkpop Festival 1988) Youtube.com, 4 maart 2007
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Sinéad O'Connor – Troy" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  7. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 4, 1988" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  8. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Sinéad O'Connor – Troy" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  9. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Sinéad O'Connor – Troy (The Phoenix From The Flame)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  10. ↑ "Archive Chart: 20020818" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "Sinead O'Connor – Chart history" Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs for Sinead O'Connor. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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