FEATURE:
Groovelines
The Cranberries - Zombie
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I bonded with The Cranberries…
when they released their debut album, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, in 1993. With huge songs like Linger and Dreams included, it was not hard to see why the album sold so well and gained a tonne of positive reviews. The biggest song from the Limerick band’s second studio album, 1994’s No Need to Argue, was Zombie. The single was released in September 1994. It is the band’s most-streamed song to date. Whilst my favourite songs from The Cranberries are Dreams and Linger, Zombie has this huge importance and history. It is a much more aggressive and urgent single that, so many years later, holds weight and causes a reaction. The band’s incredible singer, Dolores O'Riordan, would have been fifty this year. Sadly, we lost her in January 2018. I don’t think the world will ever see another artist quite like O’Riordan. Zombie is a song where she puts her true heart and soul into every word. I want to draw from a couple of features that tell the story of Zombie and how it was received. It was a top-twenty single in the U.K. and hit number-one in many nations. Many critics were on board with the song:
“Tedium's editor Ernie Smith said, "O'Riordan wrote it in a moment of anger and passion", and called the song "one of the defining songs of the alternative rock era". In a different perspective, Rebecca Black of Belfast Telegraph described "Zombie" as an "outraged response to the Warrington bombs", while music reporter Mark Savage wrote that "her pain was real", describing it as "a visceral response to the death of two children". In a contemporary review, Hot Press hailed the song and its arrangements, saying that it was stylistically different from the band's previous works: "Staccato rhythms and subtle jerks and pauses in the music and the singing make this more than just business-as-usual for the Cranberries.
A slow, brooding Siouxsie-like buzzing guitar melody and dirge-like bass and drums counterpoint the elliptical and impassioned vocals of Dolores O’Riordan as she works her way through the internal psychic and external human tragedies of the Troubles [...] "Zombie" signals a growth in confidence". The Rough Guide to Rock identified the album No Need to Argue as "more of the same" as the Cranberries' debut album, except for the song "Zombie", which had an "angry grunge" sound and "aggressive" lyrics.] Music critic Evelyn McDonnell allowed that O'Riordan had a "certain naivety to her and also a real toughness". New York arts editor Graham Fuller partially echoed this view, saying "she was right, but that naivety serves a song that's an unfiltered reaction to a tragedy. It goes with Zombie's primal fury; slicker lyrics would have diluted the song's rawness". AllMusic said the song "trivialized" the events of the Troubles, and that the "heavy rock trudge" of the song did not play to the band's strengths.
Music critic Neil McCormick wrote that it was the Cranberries' "fiercest rock song... An accusatory lament, it grapples with the endless recriminations of the Irish Troubles, with a slow rolling bass line and thumping mid-tempo beat, finding tension between melodic delicacy and introspection in the verses with a keening, wailing chorus charged with distorted grungy guitars". Music & Media stated that it "combines moody soundscapes with some grunge-y guitar attacks that together make an arresting number". Josh Jones of Open Culture, described the "Gen X heyday"'s song, as "O'Riordan's stadium-size hit ... and its beautifully pained laments and pointedly unsubtle yelps and wails—a stunning expression of mourning that reverberates still some 25 years later". Martin Aston of Music Week wrote: "Having broken the UK on the back of their US success, The Cranberries continue to use their pop acumen to fashion wonderful, wistful pop nuggets. Zombie is a little heavier and less user-friendly than Linger and Dreams, but no less sublime for it”.
If you are not aware of the tale behind Zombie and what compelled O’Riordan to write it, then there are articles that explain more. In this feature, we discover more about Zombie’s importance and derivation:
“‘Zombie’’s genesis is traceable to 20 March 1993, when two bombs, planted by the Irish Republican Army, exploded in the northern English town of Warrington. The blast from the second bomb injured dozens of people, but most cruelly claimed the lives of three-year-old Jonathan Ball and 12-year-old Tim Parry: a twin tragedy that shocked and appalled both the UK and Irish public.
“I remember at the time there were a lot of bombs going off in England and The Troubles were pretty bad,” singer Dolores O’ Riordan said in a 2017 Classic Rock interview. “I remember being on tour and in the UK at the time… and just being really sad about it.”
Deeply affected by the tragedy, O’Riordan began working on a song that reflected upon the event. However, unlike many Cranberries tracks which sprang from group collaboration, the formative ‘Zombie’ was composed alone by O’ Riordan during down time from her band’s punishing tour schedule.
“I wrote it initially on an acoustic guitar, late at night,” she told Classic Rock. “I remember being in my flat, coming up with the chorus, which was catchy and anthemic. I took it into rehearsals and picked up the electric guitar and kicked in distortion on the chorus. Even though it was written on an acoustic, it became a bit of a rocker. ‘Zombie’ was quite different to what we’d done before. It was the most aggressive song we’d written.”
Recorded in Dublin with producer Stephen Street manning the console, ‘Zombie’ featured pounding drums and churning guitars, representing a radical departure from The Cranberries’ signature sound. However, as Dolores O’ Riordan later revealed, the song’s beefed-up alt.rock sound wasn’t an attempt to jump on the grunge bandwagon.
Released as No Need To Argue’s lead single, on 19 September 1994, ‘Zombie’ was promoted with a powerful video which also made a significant impact. Directed by Samuel Bayer (also responsible for Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ clip), the video was filmed in Belfast during The Troubles, using real-life footage. Dolores O’Riordan memorably appeared covered in gold make-up in front of a cross, alongside a group of boys covered in silver make-up. Though banned by the BBC at the time, the clip has since become one of rock’s most-watched music videos on YouTube, clocking up one billion views in April 2020, making The Cranberries the first Irish band to have a song reach that landmark.
Zombie’’s anti-terrorism stance struck a chord when it was first released, becoming a UK Top 20 hit and winning the Best Song award at the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards. Perhaps more significantly, The Cranberries were later invited to perform ‘Zombie’ alongside Northern Irish political leaders John Hume and David Trimble at the ceremony for the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize.
The song’s anti-violence message continues to endure. During the 90s, Dolores O’ Riordan dedicated it to citizens of Bosnia and Rwanda during live shows, while a recent BBC article reappraising the song’s accomplishments observed that “her message applies equally to recent attacks in Manchester, Paris and Egypt to name just three”.
I want to quote from the BBC. They took a look at a classic track. We discover why The Cranberries went heavier for this single - and why there was some pushback and criticism of O’Riordan’s lyrics:
“Her anger and frustration poured into the song - which she wrote alone in her flat in Limerick on an acoustic guitar, before toughening it up in rehearsals.
"I picked up the electric guitar. Then I kicked in distortion on the chorus, and I said to Ferg [Fergal Lawler, drummer]: 'Maybe you could beat the drums pretty hard?'" she told Team Rock last year. "Even though it was written on an acoustic, it became a bit of a rocker."
The heavier sound was the "right thing" for the song, said guitarist Noel Hogan.
"If it was soft, it wouldn't have that impact," he told Holland's FaceCulture in 2012.
"This was a new direction for us. And it would stand out in the set because of that."
Released in September 1994, Zombie went on to become the band's biggest-selling single, reaching number one in Germany, Australia and France; and topping the US alternative rock charts.
O'Riordan's lyrics received some criticism at the time. People called her naive and accused her of taking sides in a conflict she didn't understand.
"I don't care whether it's Protestant or Catholic, I care about the fact that innocent people are being harmed," she told Vox. "That's what provoked me to write the song.
"It was nothing to do with writing a song about it because I'm Irish. You know, I never thought I'd write something like this in a million years. I used to think I'd get into trouble."
In the UK, the song reached number 14 in the charts - its success perhaps hampered by the BBC's decision to ban the video.
The original was shot by Samuel Bayer, who had previously directed the videos for Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and Blind Melon's No Rain.
He travelled to Northern Ireland and shot footage of the troubles, including images of children holding guns, which the BBC (and Ireland's national broadcaster RTE) objected to
Instead, they broadcast an edited version focusing on performance footage, which the band disowned.
"We said it was crap but knew we were fighting a losing battle," Hogan told New Zealand magazine Rip It Up in 1995. "It's just really stupid”.
It is sad that the messages in Zombie have not resonated with everyone. To this day, we are seeing senseless violence in Northern Ireland (and around the world). Not on the same level as The Troubles in the 1990s. That said, one hopes that there will be abatement and ceasefire in years to come. I love Zombie, as it is a song that does not hold back. I feel Dolores O’Riordan’s lyrics are very striking and one can see why she was compelled to write the song. No small wonder Zombie is the band’s most-popular song. Many people might have listened to Zombie through the years but were not aware of the significance and story behind the song. I shall leave things there. I wanted to spotlight a fantastic and truly vital track from one of my favourite groups ever. Even though O’Riordan is no longer with her, she lives on through the brilliant, powerful, beautiful and timeless music that she helped create. Dolores O’Riordan, Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan and Fergal Lawler crafted an iconic song with Zombie. Although the track was written for Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry after they were killed in an IRA bombing in Warrington, one can apply it to The Troubles in Northern Ireland and what was happening in 1993/1994. I think Zombie takes on an even wider meaning and can be linked to any needless violence and injustice. Let’s hope that Zombie, one day soon, will lead…
TO some real change.