- Music
- 29 Apr 19
Sharon Van Etten Releases Cover of Sinéad O'Connor's 'Black Boys on Mopeds'
The American rock musician performed her version of the song in a session with Sirius XM Radio.
American rock, folk, and electronic musician Sharon Van Etten stopped by the SiriusXM Radio studio to perform a cover of Sinéad O’Connor’s ‘Black Boys On Mopeds.’ The song first appeared on O’Connor’s 1989 album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, and was inspired by the 1983 murder of 21-year-old Colin Roach by police officers in London, a murder the police attempted to cover up as a suicide.
Van Etten said, in relation to the cover, that historical significance has always been an important aspect of her art, stating that she “[tries] to live in the now, because any other time brings [her] anxiety,” despite an awareness of “how important the past is.”
Van Etten’s performance is, itself, a good example of this dichotomy of past and present, as the song resonates in the present political and social sphere, while harkening back to the lessons of the past. It juxtaposes delusions of national grandeur with harsh acts of violence against the innocent, and calls into question the urge to look away in the face of evil.
Remind Me Tomorrow, Van Etten’s stellar last album, came out in January, and you can watch the video for stand out single ‘Seventeen’ right here, along with the Sirius XM performance.
