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Cover of The Lion and the Cobra by Sinéad O'Connor
Cover: The Lion and the Cobra

Song · Sinéad O'Connor

“Mandinka” by Sinéad O'Connor

From the album The Lion and the Cobra (1987)

“Mandinka” by Sinéad O'Connor appears on 56 radio countdowns from 16 stations between 1987 and 2026. It was first released in 1987 on the album The Lion and the Cobra. Its best result is #5 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1988. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #9 alternative song of 1988, #194 alternative song of all time and #45 of the '80s.

56countdowns
16stations
#5best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1987–2026years charted

Watch

Sinead O'Connor - Mandinka (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (Chrysalis Records). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Mandinka" was the second single from The Lion and the Cobra, Sinéad O'Connor's 1987 debut album on Chrysalis, and it's the sound of an Irish singer-songwriter taking the wheel from the very start. She wrote it, arranged it, produced it, sang it and played electric guitar on it, with Kevin Moloney co-producing and engineering.

It rushes along on a taut, urgent groove: John Reynolds on drums and drum machine, Spike Hollifield on bass, Marco Pirroni on electric and acoustic guitars, and Mike Clowes on synthesizers and keyboards. Over the top O'Connor's voice does what it wants, cooing one second and letting out a wild, piercing cry the next, and it's that voice, fearless and slightly feral, that carries the song.

It went to number 17 in the UK and number six in Ireland, and O'Connor sang it on Late Night with David Letterman for her first television appearance in America.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1987 94 WLIR / WDRE Long Island, NY WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1987 99
1988 27 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1988 91
1988 26 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1988 106
1988 30 WLIR / WDRE Long Island, NY WLIR Top 100 Songs of 1988 100
1988 5 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1988 30

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 177 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s 200
1988 87 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1989 31 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989) 101
1989 83 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1990 72 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) 299
1991 249 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991) 302
1991 87 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1991 533 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1992 154 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1994 251 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 174 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 218 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1995 323 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1996 359 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 168 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 192 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1998 312 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 431 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 643 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 287 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 338 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 152 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 72 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 378 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 170 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2000 72 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 173 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2001 96 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 167 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 96 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 807 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 265 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 96 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 697 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 96 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 266 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 97 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2006 237 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 549 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2007 650 WTMD WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time 897
2008 529 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 534 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 524 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 540 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 561 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 571 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2023 147 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 445 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2025 207 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800
2026 418 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 946 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Charting alongside it in 1988

Best songs of 1988 →
  1. 1SuedeheadMorrissey
  2. 2DesireU2
  3. 3Beds are BurningMidnight Oil
  4. 4Route 66Depeche Mode
  5. 5Peek-A-BooSiouxsie and the Banshees
  6. 6Chains of LoveErasure

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