"Zombie" is a protest song by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries, written by the band's lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan, in response to and in memory of two young victims of a bombing in Warrington, England, that occurred during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

As a Scot with Irish heritage and having grown up through the troubles, this song always affects me deeply. It was a protest to the IRA bombings in Warrington, England which killed 2 boys aged 3 and 12. Dolores sings bombs, bombs for both boys. I remember going shopping in Glasgow in the 80's with my mum aged 10 and having to leave stores regularly because of bomb scares. It became quite common. It was much worse in Northern Ireland where people had to check under their cars for detonators every time before driving off. When people didn't check, that's when casualties would happen apart from the planting of bombs in places in Northern Ireland and mainland Britain where the general public were. The 2 boys who died were buying Mother's day cards and the bombs were planted in rubbish bins. The footage of the children playing was real life and so was the footage of the soldiers. The band told them they were making a documentary. The band were offered a lot of money not to release the song or video. Dolores is using the Irish tradition of *keening* in her voice which is sung as a funeral lament and sounds similar to yodelling. The Scots Gaelic have a similar traditional lilt to their voices at funeral lament too. R.I.P. Dolores!

In Essence this song is about the Troubles and how it turned generations of people into Zombies, people pointlessly killing each other over religion basically. And if you listen to the lyrics its a narrative of hoe the mothers/parents felt whenever yet another child was lost. The chorus is basically talking about the collective PTSD suffered by people living through it. The whole song is sung by her in the "Keening Style" which is an old Irish/Celtc tradition, where you would pay someone to cry/sing about the person you are burying.

2 bombs were planted in Warrington , both exploded , thats why bomb is sung twice

@ddperks1131

2 ай бұрын

You are the first to explain that! Thank you

RIP Dolores, Ireland misses you

A lot of reactors lately remind me of my mother when TV was newish and we were watching such things as Callan, Z-cars or Emergency Ward 10. It was always: who's that; why did he do that; what did she say that for; where did he come from. My father used to take this calmly, but one night I remember him bursting out (or as Arthur Conan Doyle would write "ejaculating") "for Heaven's sake, shutup, listen and use your bloomin' gumption, woman!"

after 7 min. 30 s "I'm guessing this is about war."

Thank you!

I found the video rather disturbing. I'm from the UK. A question people might know the answer to is, is that a homage to the children, or just profiteering from it? I just don't know!

@QueenBabylonnia

3 ай бұрын

The song was written because the boys had died, and all because they kept fighting in Northern Ireland. Her chorus oh oh oh sound is , Keening, its Irish lament/wailing,It’s about the futility and the senselessness of fighting for fighting sake. As you know they were setting off bombs in England and they didn’t care who they killed… she is Irish, and it sadden her. I would not say it profiteering. And Although Dans voice is great, the Keening - Irish lamenting of the dead, (lamenting, of the mothers, that Dolores does, brings you the awareness of the deaths involved and the people it is deeply hurting. Not many can do this and just sing oh oh oh, …. Not realising the deeper devastating hurt it was there to show.

@pamelariker5525

3 ай бұрын

@@QueenBabylonnia thank you for helping me to understand. The IRA set off quite a lot of bombs in the UK. The biggest was in Manchester, I believe. Used to live in Manchester. It was all very frightening.

@mubbles1066

3 ай бұрын

here’s what Delores said about why she wrote the song. “There were a lot of bombs going off in London and I remember this one time a child was killed when a bomb was put in a rubbish bin -- that's why there's that line in the song, 'A child is slowly taken,'" O'Riordan told Songwriting Magazine. "We were on a tour bus and I was near the location where it happened, so it really struck me hard - I was quite young, but I remember being devastated about the innocent children being pulled into that kind of thing. So I suppose that's why I was saying, 'It's not me' - that even though I'm Irish it wasn't me, I didn't do it. Because being Irish, it was quite hard, especially in the UK when there was so much tension." She told Vox magazine in 1994 that the song was written in part as a mechanism to grapple with her identity as an Irish citizen that did not support the actions of the IRA. "The IRA are not me. I'm not the IRA. The Cranberries are not the IRA. My family are not. ... When it says in the song, 'It's not me, it's not my family,' that's what I'm saying. It's not Ireland".

@AthDara62

2 ай бұрын

If you can't hear and feel Dolores' raw emotions in the song, I suggest there is something wrong with you. Most reactions the reactors start off all chirppy but get overwhelmed with the emotion, often ending up crying, unable to talk as the message hits them. The music company wrote her a cheque for $1 million NOT to publish but she tore up the cheque, long before she knew the song would be a success. Of course the video is disturbing, children being killed for a political cause IS disturbing.

Dig your reaction dude. Written after the IRA planted a bomb in Warrington that killed two young boys / just asking why? Paul Brady / the island (animated version) is fantastic and worth a reaction.

@ddperks1131

3 ай бұрын

Oh ok.. thank you for clarifying!! I’ve seriously been wanting to know!! 50 years and I’m just now finding out!

Do your research?

This is ok..... but..... lol compared to Dan's tho....