The Lion and the Cobra

The Lion and the Cobra is the 1987 debut album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor on Ensign/Chysalis records. O'Connor, age 20 at the time, recorded the album while heavily pregnant with her first child.

Contents

• Sinead o connor jackie
• Track listing
• Personnel
• Songs
• References

The photograph of O'Connor on the album cover was taken by Haysi Fantayzee member Kate Garner. The North American cover differed from the European release, as it was decided a more subdued pose would present a "softer" image of O'Connor.

The first single 'Troy', was released in 1987, it peaked at #8 in The Netherlands and #12 in Belgium. The second single was 'Mandinka'. The video for "Mandinka" was shown heavily after debuting 24 January 1988 on 120 Minutes on MTV. The single was a mainstream pop hit in the UK, peaking at #17 in the singles chart, as well as #6 in her native Ireland. "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" debuted in May 1988 on the same show, featuring a rap interlude by MC Lyte. The song was featured in the 1988 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.

The album charted worldwide, reaching #27 in the United Kingdom for 20 weeks, #4 in New Zealand for 13 weeks, #37 in Australia for 21 weeks, #12 in Switzerland for 6 weeks, #52 in Germany for 3 weeks, #37 in Sweden for 2 weeks, #4 in The Netherlands for 43 weeks and #36 on the US Billboard Top 200, staying on the charts for 38 for weeks.

The album featured prominent session musicians John Reynolds on drums, former Adam and the Ants guitarist Marco Pirroni, former Japan guitarist Rob Dean and Mike Clowes from Friction Groove on keyboards.

The title of the album is from Psalm 91:13 "you will tread upon the lion and cobra", and the track "Never Get Old" opens with an Irish language recital of Psalm 91 by singer Enya.

Additional single b-sides include "Still Listening" and "The Value of Ignorance".

The album sold 2,500,000 copies worldwide.

Slant Magazine listed the album at #46 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s saying "The Lion and the Cobra is regal, majestic, and allegorical, an album rife with images of war, slain dragons, and ghosts, and it's one of the most electrifying debuts in rock history".