Ce Gospel Oak ep est sans aucun doute le disque le plus précieux et le plus indispensable de la discographie de Sinéad O’Connor*. Ces six chansons qui sont « dedicated to the people of Israel, Rwanda and Northern Ireland » donnent l’image d’une femme de 30 ans qui a enfin, sans doute grâce à une récente maternité, pu trouver une certaine paix intérieure, après avoir vécu une enfance et une jeunesse marquées par un environnement familial d’une violence et d’une perversité inimaginables.
La plus belle voix d’Irlande a donc écrit cette admirable mélodie, propre à tirer des larmes à un caillou, et elle la chante avec un engagement, une ferveur, dont peu sont capables. Le texte joue très habilement d’une ambiguïté sur l’identité de la personne à qui Sinéad s’adresse. S’agit-il d’un enfant qu’elle désire materner, ou bien, comme cela se dévoile au fur et à mesure, d’un homme qu’elle aime et dont elle veut apaiser la souffrance ?
Quoi qu’il en soit, je tiens “This Is To Mother You” pour l’une des plus belles chansons jamais écrites.
*Voir ma chronique de “Nothing Compares 2 U”
This is to mother you
To comfort you and get you through
Through when your nights are lonely
Through when your dreams are only blue
This is to mother.This is to be with you
To hold you and to kiss you too
For when you need me I will do
What your own mother didn’t do
Which is to mother you
All the pain that you have known
All the violence in your soul
All the ‘wrong’ things you have done
I will take from you when I come
All mistakes made in distress
All your unhappiness
I will take away with my kiss, yes
I will give you tenderness
For child I am so glad I’ve found you
Although my arms have always been around you
Sweet bird although you did not see me
I saw you
And I’m here to mother you
To comfort you and get you through
Through when your nights are lonely
Through when your dreams are only blue
This is to mother you
This is to be with you
To hold you and to kiss you too
For when you need me I will do
What your own mother didn’t do
Which is to mother you
All the pain that you have known
All the violence in your soul
All the ‘wrong’ things you have done
I will take from you when I come
All mistakes made in distress
All your unhappiness
I will take away with my kiss, yes
I will give you tenderness
For child I am so glad I’ve found you
Although my arms have always been around you
Sweet bird although you did not see me
I saw you
And I’m here to mother you
To comfort you and get you through
Through when your nights are lonely
Through when your dreams are only blue
This is to mother you
To hold you and to kiss you too
For when you need me I will do
What your own mother didn’t do
Which is to mother you