John I Love You

Album: Universal Mother (1994)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The John in this song is John Stokes, who was Sinéad O'Connor's piano teacher. She sings his praises, letting him know she loves him and thinks the world of her.

    Although Sinéad was madly in love with him, he resisted her advances. "He wasn't interested in me at all because he was quite sensible and knew that I was completely out of my mind," she wrote in her memoir Rememberings. "Still, we were friends and I was really fond of him, loved him very, very much."
  • Many fans thought this song was about O'Connor's brother John, or her first husband, John Reynolds, who played drums on the track.
  • The piano that lead the song is by Phil Coulter. There's also a cello in the mix, played by John O'Kane.
  • The song is part of O'Connor's Universal Mother album, released in 1994 four years after her breakthrough I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. She had a much lower profile by this time, especially in America where she accumulated some bad press for tearing up a photo of the Pope on live TV.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Brenda Russell

Brenda RussellSongwriter Interviews

Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.

Who Did It First?

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?

The Fratellis

The FratellisSongwriter Interviews

Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.

Carl Sturken

Carl SturkenSongwriter Interviews

Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.

Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee JonesSongwriter Interviews

Rickie Lee Jones on songwriting, social media, and how she's handling Trump.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.