Skinner 1

Samuel Skinner

Ms. Hunter

English 1201-507

February 21 2021

Analysis of Two Different Versions of “Zombie”

“Zombie”, as a song, is relatively boring. Its lyrics alone are vague and purposefully left

up to interpretation. But when combined with a music video, those lyrics are interpreted, and the

song is able to tell an incredible story. “Zombie'' was originally written and sung by Dolores

O’Riordan from The Cranberries, with a music video being released in October of 1994. That

music video sends a powerful anti-war message that tells the story of children caught in violence

while their guardian angels are forced to watch; powerless to change anything. After her abrupt

passing, the Bad Wolves took her most popular song, made a few minor changes to its lyrics, and

created a new music video that tells a story about the sadness and loneliness created from death

by illustrating Dolores and her struggle to come back, or at least communicate with the real

world. This second version profoundly changes the meaning of the original song as a tribute to

Dolores’ passing, while also telling people that she died too young.

The Cranberries’ version of “Zombie'' was designed to introduce The Troubles to a wider

audience that might not have heard of them. The Troubles were a very violent and complicated

set of conflicts that generally took place in Northern Ireland from the 1960s up until the early

2000s when all sides signed agreements to make the conflict nonviolent. The video tells this

story by showing the interactions between the four different scenes in the music video: The band

performing the song, Dolores painted gold with the children’s guardian angels, the children

playing, and the British Armed Forces soldiers.

 Skinner 2

In contrast to The Cranberries’ version, the Bad Wolves took the song and in light of

Dolores’ passing changed its message to be about how difficult it can be to deal with the death of

another. They achieved this in two ways. First, they made some minor changes to the song’s

lyrics and composition. Second, and more importantly, they completely remade the video itself

to tell the story they wanted. That music video consists of two scenes in the same room: The

band performing the song and a woman painted gold with both sides touching a central piece of

glass that separates the two of them. This golden woman is extremely important in the video’s

story, as she serves as a callback to the original “Zombie” music video where Dolores played a

character covered in gold paint.

Both songs share similar lyrics and musical composition; however, their specific

meanings are different because of their respective music videos. They both extensively use the

lyric “what’s in your head, zombie?” as a backbone, but that lyric has different meanings in each

song. In The Cranberries’ version of the song, almost every time that line is uttered, either a

soldier or a civilian holding a firearm is on screen, implying that the line should be asking that

soldier what they are thinking and why they are acting like a zombie. In contrast, in the Bad

Wolves’ version of the song, whenever that lyric is sung, Dolores’ metaphor is on screen. This

golden woman, serving as a representation of Dolores, forces the line “What are you doing,

zombie” to be interpreted as the band asking how Dolores is doing in the afterlife. This

interpretation of the word zombie as a more generic term, referring to a dead person, is very

different from the other video’s interpretation of the line as referring to mindless troops blindly

following orders. This change in the line’s meaning is only possible because the music videos are

different as the lyrics alone do not provide enough information.

 Skinner 3

Almost all of the differences in meaning between the songs are up to the interpretation of

their music video. There are a few exceptions to this, such as the word “guns” in The

Cranberries’ video being changed to “drones” in the Bad Wolves’ version to more reflect modern

warfare. But there is one two-word change that proves the meaning of the Bad Wolves’ version

of “Zombie” is different. In the original song, the lyric goes “It's the same old theme, since

nineteen-sixteen.” The year 1916 is when The Troubles began. While, in the Bad Wolves’

remake, this line is changed to say, “It's the same old theme, In two thousand eighteen.” At the

same time, Dolores' metaphor draws the numbers 1-15-18 on the piece of glass separating her

from the band. January 15th, 2018 is the date that Dolores died, signifying that she probably

wants to communicate with the living world. This piece of glass, serving as the centerpiece of the

song, gives the song its meaning. It’s a song about realizing and learning how to deal with the

permanence of death.

All of these small details added along with both videos' gloomy and depressing

atmospheres combine to elicit a strong emotional response through the use of pathos at their

respective energy peaks or main hits. The Bad Wolves’ main hit is the moment when the golden

model writes Dolores’ date of death on the piece of glass. It sends a message that reminds the

watcher that their time on earth is finite and that one day they too will lose the ability to

communicate with everyone. The Cranberries’ original version of “Zombie” has an even stronger

main hit. It starts suddenly when the music cuts down to a very quiet bass guitar solo, to which

an electric guitar with a synthesizer is added until everything suddenly resumes at full volume.

At the same time as the music suddenly increases in volume, a soldier gets on one knee, aims his

rifle, and fires. In the next camera shot. a child is shown falling to the ground and the camera

cuts to the guardian angels screaming. The song then abruptly ends, showing the guardian angels
 Skinner 4

in despair, as the camera shows a child on the ground clutching an improvised firearm and

struggling to breathe. Both of these main hits in the music videos are gut-wrenching examples of

reality where death exists. These events cause a strong emotional reaction that would force

anyone from any demographic regardless of their past, age, gender, etc., to think back and truly

process and learn from what you just watched. This video is designed to introduce the true horror

of The Troubles to everyone else in the world that doesn’t have experience with it.

Violence and anger are never the first options, but oftentimes they are the easiest. Both of

these songs and their accompanying music videos take this central idea and through some

interpretation, come out with two different stories. One about children and people caught up in

domestic warfare and one about how difficult it is to deal with death. Everyone needs to realize

that there are more peaceful options that may not be as easy, but in the end, will leave everyone

far better off.

 Skinner 5

Works Cited

“The Cranberries - Zombie (Official Music Video).” YouTube, uploaded by TheCranberries, 16

June 2009, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XaS93WMRQQ.

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

Music, 22 Feb. 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XaS93WMRQQ.