Sinéad O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U

I could put my arms around every boy I see

But they'd only remind me of you

The ultimate goal of "Daily Eargasm" is to recommend or highlight good songs. So ultimately you have one of those "Songs You Must Hear Before You Die" type books, but in a blog (and with links so you can actually hear the song). Not to mention that it's completely free! So even though I try my best to pick songs that are somewhat new or that you most likely haven't heard, I'm occassionally going to also pick songs that you most probably have heard. This isn't to piss you off, although I apologize if I do. But simply to take some time and give credit to those who created hit songs. And not necessarily hit songs, but good hit songs. If you've been following my blog from the beginning, you'll know that I've done this already but I thought this time around I'd explain myself a bit. So there you have it. ANYWAY ...

"Nothing Compares 2 U," by Sinéad O'Connor is definitely one of these hits. For those who don't know, the song is actually a cover of a Prince composition, which never actually made it onto any of his own albums. What really makes this song so great for me is the music video. Firstly, I hadn't seen many, if any, bald female singers up until that point (insert Britney Spears joke). Secondly, the video is almost entirely focused on her face making it both very intimate and intense. Because here is this woman who is clearly hurt (thanks to her drummer and father of her child) and pouring her heart out to you. The feelings are clearly genuine and you even see a tear run down her face at the end. The music isn't particularly amazing, but the vocals and lyrics make up for it. I think it's the latter that really makes this song hit home for anyone whose ever been heartbroken.

"Nothing Compares 2 U" had the highest chart level performance of any song in 1990. Sinéad O'Connor is still performing live around the world and has written songs for the TV series "Bones," a French movie and other various soundtracks.

Thrice - Moving Mountains

I don't know the first thing about love

Thrice is one of those bands that have gotten better over time and shown actual growth and maturity in their music. Of course, this is up for argument, but I think it's safe to say that they definitely haven't flopped. If anything, I think their current style allows them to attract a larger fan-base that doesn't include prepubescent emo kids. Although, I admit that line from "Moving Mountains" at the top sounds a little emo. But I don't think Dustin is talking about love between two people. As their 4th LP showed, Dustin, and possibly the rest of the band members are men of higher faith. That is unless the line, "We are the image of the invisible" is referring to our stark resemblance to gravity.

Faith, however, is besides the point here. Regardless of what the band members of Thrice may or may not believe in, their last album is testament to their skills as musicians. The Alchemy Index is split into two LPs, which are split into 2 EPs. Each EP is named after the classical elements of fire water, earth and air, thus making up the "Alchemy Index." The song I chose is the first track from Vol. IV: Earth. This entire volume has a much sadder feel to it, but I just love the sound of "Moving Mountains." As much as I can enjoy their post-hardcore tracks, sometimes nothing gets me more than hearing Dustin sing over an acoustic guitar like in this song.

On that note, Dustin released his first acoustic solo album last year and is releasing a Christmas one this year. I love his live cover of Sinead O'Connors "Nothing Compares 2 U" that he did while performing under the alias "Ursus Veritas"--a play on Latin words meaning "(to) bear truth."