CJ Nesbit

English 1201

Professor Leonard

February 19, 2022

Rhetorical Analysis Final Draft

“Another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken.” The Cranberries’ song ‘Zombie’ was written in

response to the death of two children caused by the Warrington Bombings. Its popularity helped spread

awareness about political issues between Britain and Ireland. When the Cranberries’ lead singer died in

2018, a band known as The Wolves’ covered the song. The Cranberries' version shows distressing

situations to appeal to emotions through pathos, while the Wolves' cover uses a more intimate music

video to create a different kind of pathos. This is caused by the change of purpose - one was in response

to a bomb attack, and another to a lead singer passing away.

In the Cranberries’ song, shots of a ruined town are shown in greyscale with people wandering

among the rubble. Armed soldiers patrol the areas as fights break out. This scenery is a metaphor for the

government and the terrorist events. The kids fighting are representative of the Irish Republican Army

and the innocent citizens of Northern Ireland. While the chaos and violence ensue, the soldiers that are

supposed to guard people oversee the situation and do nothing. This is representative of the

government and how it often overlooks the needs of the people and prioritizes power and money. This

could be viewed from multiple perspectives. Citizens could be frustrated because of the bombings. The

IRA could be frustrated because of the government’s irresponsiveness to their demands, which was the

impetus for the bombings. Either way, the soldiers are representing the government and its lack of

taking responsibility.
 In the next scene of the Cranberries’ song, a golden woman is shown guarded by several golden

cupids. She is supposed to represent love, pathos, or emotion. She sings, “But you see, it’s not me, it’s

not my family.” This states that the bomb attacks were not her fault, her family’s fault, or any citizen’s

fault. The attacks were targeted at innocent people on behalf of a terrorist organization rebelling against

the government. In the Wolves’ video, the golden lady is the main character. As the band sings their

song, she approaches them. She cannot reach them; there is a glass wall separating them. With every

hand touch she makes, she covers the glass in gold until they cannot see each other anymore. The

golden woman represents the Cranberries’ main singer. Her anti-violence message was unable to get

across.

Both videos implement pathos to communicate their messages. For the Cranberries’ video, the

message is anti-violence and peace. For the Wolves’ video, it is the same message as the lyrics are the

same, but it is also a mourning for the loss of the singer. Pathos is used in the lyrics of the song multiple

times. Two children passed from the Warrington bombings. One died on impact. The other survived with

severe injuries but passed after life support was terminated due to minimal brain activity. “Child is

slowly taken” refers to this period. Another influential lyric is, “It’s the same old theme since nineteen-

sixteen.” This is referring to the Easter Rising, or Eastern Rebellion, which took place in April of 1916.

Irish republicans rebelled against British rule in Ireland; essentially the same cause that the Irish

Republican Army fights for. That rebellion was unsuccessful and was shut down by the English army.

Since it was unsuccessful, the lyrics are implying that the attacks will not convince the government to

succumb to the IRA’s demands. Since they were unsuccessful, the lyric is suggesting that violence and

war should be stopped due to its ineffectiveness. The Wolves’ music video appeals to pathos by using a

dark and void recording room. It is dark and difficult to tell the room’s size. It most likely is supposed to

represent the feeling of grief and oblivion that comes with the loss of a treasured person.
 The target audiences of the songs are nearly the same. The Wolves’ cover appeals to long-time

fans of the Cranberries’ who were also mourning the loss of the lead singer. It also appeals to people

who might be at an impasse in life or have difficult and unsure circumstances. The dark void described in

the last paragraph could also be representative of said circumstances. The Cranberries’ original song

appeals to everyone in the Wolves’ audience and more. It appeals to the generation that experienced

the attacks firsthand. The Cranberries’ geographical audience is primarily residents of Great Britain, but

since the song also preaches an anti-war message, it could appeal to everyone across the globe. This

means it appeals to any audience during a war, like the Iraq War or Vietnam War.

The two songs have the same lyrics and same characters but communicate different points using

different elements in their videos. Due to the settings of the music videos and the time they were

released, they appeal to different audiences. They have different purposes for writing but were both

recorded in responses to recent events. They both appeal to pathos using visual elements in the music

videos and through song lyrics. They feel like different songs, but also feel one in the same.
 Works Cited

Bad Wolves. “Bad Wolves - Zombie (Official Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Feb. 2018,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XaS93WMRQQ. Accessed February 11, 2022

TheCranberriesVEVO. “The Cranberries - Zombie (Official Music Video).” YouTube,

YouTube, 16 June 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts. Accessed
February 11, 2022