Mandinka

Mandinka is a West African tribe with rich musical traditions. In the song, Sinéad O'Connor feels a kinship with these people, singing, "I do know Mandinka."

The song was inspired by the miniseries Roots, based on the book by Alex Haley. The series ran in 1977 and drew a huge audience (this was before cable). Set in the 1700s, it follows an African man named Kunta Kinte (played by LeVar Burton) as he is captured and sold into slavery. "I was a young girl when I saw it, and it moved something so deeply in me, I had a visceral response," O'Connor wrote in her memoir Rememberings. "I came to emotionally identify with the civil rights movement and slavery, especially given the theocracy I lived in and the oppression in my own home."

O'Connor doesn't rate herself highly as a guitarist, but she was proud of her playing on this track. "'Mandinka' was also a breakthrough for me musically," she wrote. "The recording was the first time I had the courage to play guitar properly."