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Danielle Kraft

Professor Leonard

ENG 1201

30 September 2021

Two Bands, One Song Title

The Cranberries’ original song, “Zombie” was released in 1994 after the Irish Republican

Army (IRA) bombings in Warrington, Cheshire, England. The band Bad Wolves made a cover

of the song in 2018, expecting the lead singer of The Cranberries to star in the cover.

Unfortunately, Dolores O'Riordan unexpectedly died the day she was set to record her vocals on

January 15th. The Cranberries' song "Zombie" sheds light in a very poetic way on how the

government was unconcerned about the wellbeing of its citizens, while The Bad Wolves’ cover

focuses more on Dolores O'Riordan and how expressive her original version of the song was.

"Another head hangs lowly; Child is slowly taken" are the first lyrics sung in the song,

giving it a very eerie feeling from the start. The lyrics, combined with the way the song is being

sung, create a sense of sadness and mourning for the listeners in a musical tone that is somber

and slow. The Cranberries wrote the song in honor of Tim Parry, a 12-year-old boy, and

Jonathan Ball, a 3-year-old boy, who died in the 1993 explosion. The song is also about the IRA

and the conflict and fight to free Northern Ireland from English troops.

The Cranberries’ version of the song continues, "And the violence caused such silence/

Who are we mistaken/ But you see, it's not me/ It's not my family," she argues that despite being

Irish and living in Ireland, she and her family are not to blame for the bombs or assaults on their

nation. "They are fighting with their tanks and their bombs and their bombs and their guns,"

referring to war equipment and emphasizing bombs since the song is dedicated to the two
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children who died as a result of the bombings. While she is singing these lines, the scene shows

O'Riordan, the main vocalist, dressed as a Goddess coated in gold standing in front of a cross.

There are also children painted in gold as angels encircling her, providing a metaphor for all the

agony that was being caused and being vaguely religious.

Bad Wolves begin their video by explaining that O'Riordan was meant to come record

her vocals for this version of the song, but due to the circumstances of her death she was unable

to. They claim the song was written in her honor and that all proceeds will go to her children.

The words begin identically to the original song, but the video quickly exposes that this is a

tribute to O'Riordan by showing scenes of gold paint covering someone's body that appears very

similar to how O'Riordan was dressed up in her original music video.

The lyrics for both of the songs are the same except for one line in the second verse. In

the Cranberries’ version, O'Riordan sings, "It's the same old theme since nineteen-sixteen/ In

your head/ in your head/ they're still fightin'" and in the Bad Wolves’ newer version of the song,

they state, "It's the same old theme in two thousand eighteen/ In your head/ in your head/ they're

still fighting." The Cranberries are claiming that the war conflict has been ongoing since 1916

and that nothing beneficial has occurred or changed since. The Bad Wolves are emphasizing the

fact that little has changed in the last century since 1916 and conflict is still very prevalent today

in government in the United States.

The Cranberries’ audience is those who were affected by the war in Ireland as well as

their fans. They used pathos as a main appeal to their audience with lyrics such as "Another head

hangs lowly/ Child is slowly taken " and "Another mother's breaking heart is taking over." These

lyrics are designed to be honest and to shed attention on the gravity of the situation in the war.

They also use some ethos in their music video by incorporating pictures they took in Belfast, UK
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in their video. These accounts display genuine photos, lending credibility to the video. The Bad

Wolves’ audience is directed towards the people who loved O'Riordan and those who looked up

to her. Their video also employs pathos by dedicating the song remake to O'Riordan and

donating all earnings to her three children, making the video incredibly emotional.

 The song's chorus sings "In your head/ in your head/ Zombie/ zombie/ zombie/ hey/

hey." O'Riordan, the song's writer, was referring to IRA members being like zombies, with no

conscience or care if they injure or murder anyone in their nation, including their own people.

Both versions of this rock song shed light on how the government used to be, and how it is now,

more than a century later, in the hopes of finding a better method to deal with crises without

resorting to violence. Before O'Riordan passed, she expressed her delight at the cover because,

despite the fact that nations have changed, we are still fighting the same wars. Humanity is still

striving to establish itself, despite all of the conflicts (Kaufman, 2018).

Works Cited
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Bad Wolves. “Zombie.” Youtube, uploaded by Better Noise Music, 22

Feb.  2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XaS93WMRQQ.

Kaufman, Gil. “Bad Wolves Release 'Zombie' Cover, Promise Proceeds To Late Cranberries'

Dolores O'Riordan's Children: Listen.” Billboard.com, 19 Jan.

2018. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8095120/bad-wolves-zombie-

cover-dolores-oriordan/#:~:text=%22It's%20a%20reference%20to%20the,itself

%20despite%20all%20the%20conflicts.%E2%80%9D. Accessed 30 September 2021.

The Cranberries. “Zombie.” YouTube, uploaded by TheCranberriesTV, 16 June 2009,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts.