But then R.E.M wrote Stand. Not exactly the deepest of concepts, but damn, it was a catchy little tune. 10,000 Maniacs wrote Like the Weather and These are Days. Everyone took a dip in the pop pool back then, even if it was just a prelude to sipping three fingers of bourbon at a jazz club.
The 80's were not notorious for political statements of any kind of nature, heavy-handed or otherwise. If your song made it onto the pop charts, it was probably pretty sanitary, cleansed of any real political or philosophical import. To be fair, though, that was the charm of the 80's, the eclecticism. You could get into it deep with 10,000 Maniacs, R.E.M, the Smiths, the Cure, and then throw on a Bangles album in a stunningly unironic way. Sure, the record industry pushed the pop pretty hard and MTV drove the style and the culture, but there seemed to be something for every taste, no one intentionally left out.
To be fair, Sinead's other stuff tends to be more "statement oriented" than the songs that made the charts, but again, it is the political as seen through the eyes of a 20 something still apparently trying to a handle on her own feelings and thoughts. Perhaps with a bit more life experience, taking a bit of time refining her message, she could have actually gotten around to the kind of profundity she mistakenly thought she was achieving through tearing up a picture of the Pope. If she'd given it more of a chance, I am certain that the 90's alt-indie environment would have seen her well received.
I look at her bowing out of music due to her missteps and the poor way they were received as a bit sad. She had a singularly unique and powerful voice, and clearly had something brewing in her to say, even if her failed attempts spoke more to her youth and inexperience in their expression.
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