Cedric Gauthier

Prof. Cook

English 1201

February 14 2021

“Zombie”- The Cranberries Visual Analysis Essay

In the song “Zombie” by the Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan sends a message to the

people of the UK during the terrorist attacks of the IRA, along with a video that fits all too well.

Although this was O’Riordan’s original message, she manages to include many other important

messages in both her music video and lyrics. 25 years later, The Bad Wolves re-light

O’Riordan’s message and remind us of the purpose that “Zombie” holds. Every sentence of the

song “Zombie” by the Cranberries conveys a whole new message. While the general message

conveyed by the song, branches off of the horrors of the IRA in 1992; the remix by The Bad

Wolves carries the torch that Dolores O'Riordan lit, by keeping the messages that stay true 25

years later; however, The Bad Wolves no longer need to elaborate on the original idea that

“Zombie” conveys. Both versions convey a message of how war affects our youth, and how

those youth can then be swallowed by war creating an endless cycle. O’Riordan’s plan for

“Zombie” was to convey a message to a specific audience, yet she managed to portray some of

the most brutal truths of war.

In 1992 the IRA was a great threat to the UK as Irish extremists were killing hundreds of

British. Dolores O’Riordan writes the song “Zombie” with the band The Cranberries to convey

one message to the British: “It’s not me, it’s not my family”. During this period the tension

between the Irish and British was dangerously high, especially for Irish who lived in Britain.
What Dolores is trying to say is that the IRA is a complete exception, and they should not be

treated as Irish, rather a terrorist group that should be taken down.

Although Dolores’ original purpose for the song was to convey the horrors of the IRA

and who they shouldn’t be associated with, she created a new meaning in the song “Zombie”. In

the music video, Dolores films what seem to be victims of the IRA bombings, (children) playing

in the rubble of destroyed homes, with guns and rags. Dolores explains in the song the vicious

cycle that devours the children that are affected by war. When children are destroyed by war,

they morph a hatred for the other side and become zombies in their upbringing when they

become a part of the war. The zombie that Dolores is talking about is the zombie that destroyed

the homes of children, and the hatred that grew in those children from that bombing.

The Bad Wolves carry Dolores’ message of war to 2018 by reminding us of how this

cycle repeats itself. Although Dolores wanted to address the I.R.A. she created a message that

the Bad Wolves could carry: the zombie that partakes in war, creates more zombies.

Along with the sensation of pride and revolt in the meaning of the song Zombie, the Bad

Wolves also carry a feeling of mourning after the death of Dolores O’Riordan. After mourning,

the Bad Wolves follow up with a thrashing headbanging to carry the torch of anti-war revolution

that Dolores lit. The claim that both videos portray is that war is a repeating cycle. When the

I.R.A. attacked the U.K. they created an anger in the people of the U.K. for the Irish. The U.K.

then holds that same hatred that brought so much devastation to themselves, and
 Works Cited

“The Cranberries - Zombie (Official Music Video).” Youtube, uploaded by TheCranberriesTV,

16 June 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts. Accessed Feb 14, 2021.

Bad Wolves. “Bad Wolves - Zombie (Official Video).” Youtube, uploaded by Better Noise

Music, 22 Feb. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XaS93WMRQQ. Accessed Feb 14, 2021.