THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

595-The Cranberries-Zombie.

1994-Number 14 single.

Best Bit-At 0.14. In April 2020 The Cranberries became the first Irish band to surpass 1 Billion views on You Tube with this song.

The Cranberries were formed in Limerick, Ireland, in 1989, originally called,’The Cranberry Saw Us,’ by Niall Quinn (vocals,) Noel Hogan (guitar,) his brother Mike Hogan (bass,) and Fergal Lawler (drums.) In 1990 Quinn left the group and was replaced as vocalist by Dolores O’Riordan (1971-2018.) The Cranberries were active until 2003, but got back together in 2009, and then were again active until the band retired in 2019. They released eight studio Albums between 1993-2019, and 22 singles, of which 10 entered the UK top 40.’Zombie’ was taken from The Cranberries second studio Album ‘No Need to Argue’ from 1994 and was written by Dolores O’Riordan. She was born on September 6th, 1971, in Ballybricken, County Limerick, she died on January 15th, 2018, when she drowned while under the influence of alcohol.

‘Zombie’ is a protest song, inspired by the ‘IRA’ bombing in Warrington, England, on March 20th, 1993, when two children, Johnathan Ball who was 3, and Tim Parry who was 12, both lost their lives, when two devices hidden in litter bins were detonated. O’Riordan had previously been on a tour bus in London, and had heard a bomb going off close by, and this, along with her Irish heritage inspired her to write this song. Musically the song was a departure from the bands previous output, as the band had been known for a more mellow sound, but O’Riordan wanted to get her point across with a ‘harder’ sound, hence the elements of ‘Grunge,’ which was very popular at that time.

The ‘IRA’ (Irish Republican Party) is a militant group, that were determined to remove British troops from Northern Island. On August 31st, 1994, just a few weeks after the song was released, the ‘IRA’ declared a ceasefire after 25 years of conflict.

‘It’s the same old theme since 1916, in your head, in your head, they’re still fighting. With their tanks, and their bombs, and their bombs, and their guns.’