Andrea Salyer

Professor Tyler

ENG 1201

11 February 2021

Zombies by The Cranberries and Bad Wolves

“Another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken and the violence, caused such silence”

(The Cranberries) is the opening lyric to the song “Zombies” by The Cranberries. This is a strong

statement because the lyric is trying to tell us that when violence happens many people are quiet

and they don’t speak out about it. The Cranberries came out with “Zombies” in 1994 shortly

after two young lives were lost in a bombing. In the music video, it shows the lead singer of

“Zombies”, Dolores O’Riordan, covered from head to toe in gold makeup standing in front of a

cross with young boys sitting before her covered in silver makeup. The cover of “Zombies” by

Bad Wolves came out in 2018 to continue to raise awareness and pay tribute to Dolores

O’Riordan. In the Bad Wolves music video, it shows a lady covered in gold makeup that is

supposed to represent Dolores O’Riordan from the original music video. Bad Wolves’ cover of

the song “Zombie” pays respect to the Cranberries and their lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan, who

released the song following the 1993 IRA Bombing in Warrington that took the lives of two

young victims (Darnton).

The Cranberries’ music video shows many different scenes of children running around

during a war time and soldiers walking around this environment. The main scene of the music

video is the lead singer, Dolores O'Riordan, covered in gold makeup with the cross behind her

and the young boys, who are covered in silver makeup, sitting in front of her. This scene pays

tribute to Jonathan Ball and Tim Parry, the two young boys that died in the bombing. The
message of this music video is told through the images that are relayed throughout and the lyrics

that are being sung. The Cranberries were trying to bring awareness to the political unrest of this

time and they viewed the government as people that don’t always have it’s citizens best interest

at heart. This is obvious because of the young children that died in the midst of the violence. The

Cranberries’ music video uses the appeal pathos because it causes the audience to give an

emotional reaction because of the images of children in the warzone and because it pays tribute

to the young lives that were lost.

The band Bad Wolves were given an offer by Dolores O'Riordan herself to feature in a

cover of her original song “Zombies”. On the same day, she tragically passed away. On January

19th 2018, Bad Wolves released their cover of the song to pay their respects to the late Dolores

O’Riordan. At the beginning of the music video, there’s messages explaining the original plan

for this cover, but unfortunately, O’Riordan died before they could execute that plan. The video

then shows the band wearing all black, standing in front of a black background, playing all black

instruments. This signifies that they’re paying tribute to The Cranberries and O’Riordan and her

friends and family. They’re performing the song in this all black room while the image cuts back

and forth of gold paint being poured on a woman. Eventually, the woman is fully revealed and is

covered in gold makeup, similar to the original music video. The woman is wearing a very

similar dress and headpiece that O’Riordan was wearing in the 1994 video. In a part of the video,

the woman draws the date 1-15-18 on this glass that is dividing her from the band. The date is

significant because it’s the day that Dolores O’Riordan passed away. The purpose of this music

video is to pay tribute to Dolores O’Riordan and also to bring awareness to the message of the

original music. This video uses the appeal pathos because it makes the audience emotional

because the whole purpose is to pay tribute to the passing of O’Riordan.

 The point of these two music videos is to pay respect to the lives that were lost and to

inform the viewers of the political unrest of the time. In the 1994 music video by The

Cranberries, they seemed to be giving their condolences to the two young lives lost in the

bombing in Warrington. With this, they were trying to make the violence issue known and that

even children were being affected by this. In the cover music video by Bad Wolves, they were

also giving their condolences, but to Dolores O’Riordan who suddenly passed away. They

wanted to let the world know that the message that The Cranberries were trying to get across in

1994 still reigns true today.

 Works Cited

Bad Wolves. “Zombie.” Zombie, Eleven Seven, 2018.

YouTube, 22 February 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XaS93WMRQQ.

Accessed 21 February 2021.

The Cranberries. “Zombie.” No Need to Argue, Windmill Lane Studios, 1994.

YouTube, 16 July 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts. Accessed 21

February 2021.

Darnton, John. “Rage at I.R.A. Grows in England As Second Boy Dies From a Bomb.” The New

York Times, The New York Times, 26 Mar. 1993,

www.nytimes.com/1993/03/26/world/rage-at-ira-grows-in

-england-as-second-boy-dies-from-a-bomb.html.