Molly Siroki

Dr. Hellmers

ENG 1201

31 March 2021

Zombie

Many musicians use their work as a means of communication with the public about an

abundance of different themes. The song “Zombie” by the rock band, The Cranberries, was

released in 1993 to do the same--communicate with the public. This was an especially

tumultuous time in England as a bombing perpetrated by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) killed

two young children. Lead singer of The Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan, who is featured in the

original video from 1993 was draped in gold and a pearl headdress. Years later, the band Bad

Wolves were in the works to release a cover of “Zombie” starring O’Riordan. The band sought

to remind the current society of the past tragedies involving the IRA bombing. Unfortunately,

Dolores passed before the plans were ever brought to life. Bad Wolves went on with the cover

and donated all profits to the children of O’Riordan. While both of these musical groups used

their platforms as a means of connecting with the public, there was a large difference in not only

which audience the groups sought to reach but also in the message they hoped to send.

The opening scene of the music video features children scrambling about, in what one

can only assume is an attempt to elude soldiers. In the beginning of the song Dolores sings “It’s

the same old theme, since 1916, in your head, in your head, they’re still fightin,” which implies
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that even after almost eighty years we are still a land controlled by war and violence. The next

scene opens with Dolores and several children who appear to be flocked to her. The scene

features a large wooden cross suggesting that she is an angel from above, someone they want to

cling to for help. The lyrics ``Another mothers’ breakin’ heart is taking over, when the violence

causes silence we must be mistaken” is a very important verse in the song. It brings light to the

children that lost their lives due to the bombings and explains that if we stay silent this viscious

cycle will never end. The producers of the song use the term “zombie” to portray the image that

if we do not change our behavior we will lose the good in humanity. This version of the song

uses pathos as the rhetorical appeal because by dedicating the song to the boys who lost their

lives to the bombing, it really makes the audience have heavy hearts and it gives a very

emotional feeling over the whole situation.

The music videos for the song “Zombie'', both the Craberries’ version and the Bad

Wolves’ version were aimed at the public of two different time frames. The Cranberries were

trying to communicate with a society who had been torn apart after a number of years of fighting

with the IRA. The group showed their support for the protests to end the war by creating their

music video. The musicians played on parts of the war that are often overlooked such as fatalities

of citizens and children, destruction of cities, etc. This is in contrast to the Bad Wolves who

targeted their video towards an audience over 20 years later, in 2018. Their video gained global

attention quickly due to different technologies than were available at the time of the Cranberries

in 1994. Due to the different societies the videos were aimed at, the messages of the videos had

to be personalized to that audience.

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The musicians had to specially craft their works to reach different parts of the populations

through using easily recognizable, relatable and thus, relevant themes, visuals, etc. One way the

Cranberries did this was through using relevant and impactful artwork shown intermittently

throughout the video; such as the different scenes of spray-painted walls and buildings. The band

also created familiarity with their location by using what appears to be footage of actual places in

the city. The Bad Wolves used the same theme of using a woman drenched in gold, however, in

their video she was alone. This, in and of itself communicates that the band is memorializing not

only the original video but Dolores herself. They used more current clothing for their woman in

gold to help make their video engaging as well as understandable for society in 2018. The fact

that no other scenery or people are shown in the video furthers the idea that this video was

mainly meant to memorialize Dolores. Using the glass between the band and the woman in gold

shows the separation not only of the time frame but also of their separation with Dolores after

her sudden death. All of these clues are confirmed when the date 1/15/18 is written on the glass

through the gold paint. This version of the song also uses pathos as the rhetorical appeal. Having

only one woman who represented Dolores, and painting the date of her death in the gold paint

really gets the audience to think about her and the tragedies that ended her life.

The original version was a personal protest against the IRA and the wars that were going

on at the time, and the Bad Wolves cover was made as a tribute to Dolores and to show people

that we still have a lot to change in our society. Both of the videos were made to stir up all kinds

of feelings and emotions about multiple things that were going on in the world at the time. The

messages were somewhat different, but mainly aimed to remind us of the lives that have been
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lost from the wars. The claim that both bands were trying to make is for violence to end and love

to spread.

Works Cited

The Cranberries. Zombie [Official Video]. Youtube, 16 June 2009,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ejga4kJUts. Accessed 3 April 2021.

Bad Wolves. Zombie [Official Video]. Youtube, 22 Feburary 2018,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XaS93WMRQQ. Accessed 3 April 2021.