Zombie

And then even when I am at work and play the Spotify, like a just regular Halloween list, you know, of course, you've got Michael Jackson's Thriller.

You've got Zombies by...

Cranberries.

Thank you.

But when I listened to the Zombies by the Cranberries, I was like...

I never thought of that when I heard it years ago.

Of course, Michael Jackson, yeah, Thriller.

Yeah.

. . .

Hey everyone, today on Krista Makes a Podcast, my trusted co-host Chris Fafalios and I break down the writing, recording, and legacy of the Cranberry smash hit single, Zombie, taken from their 1994 album, No Need to Argue, written solely and sung by Dolores O'Riordan.

Heavy wasn't the first word I would have used to describe Zombie.

But getting it under the fine-tuned lenses here, that's the only word I would use to describe this song.

The guitars, bass, and drums are thunderous in the choruses.

Nobody sounded like Dolores.

She was truly in a league all of her own.

Written on an acoustic guitar about the Troubles, a conflict stemming between people who wanted to stay part of the United Kingdom and those that wanted a united Ireland, Zombie is a desperate cry for a solution.

And this song kind of sets that down.

I know there's some bigger ones, you know, Dreams, obviously Zombie is iconic.

But for me, there's something just incredibly beautiful about Linger and this kind of story of of kind of lost fleeting love that really, really works.

And another one that's got a fascinating story in reading about it, that this is basically the song that gets Dolores O'Riordan into the Cranberries.

And, you know, I'm not gonna sit here and say, oh, I'm a huge Cranberries fan.

Like, I know the same three songs that most people know.

Zombie, Dreams, and this, but...

What a trio of songs.

I wondered if he wrote that for the Cranberries or whatever.

But the tune Zombies from the Cranberry comes through in that song quite a bit.

So I loved the album.

Of course, I love Brad and his music anyways.

The band were incredible.

You can have this disparate vibe to their songs where you have something like Zombie that hits such a difficult topic.

And now...

All these years later, you'll have a soccer stadium full of people just belted out on a whim.

I did have a bit.

I was going to do an instant reply where I sing Cranberries by the Zombies.

But I did it for Ethan.

He said, oh, shit.

What, just the song? So instead of Zombie by the Cranberries, it's Cranberries by the

Zombies.

So he's, yeah, saying Cranberries.

I

I feel like

Zombie was 95, don't

you? I don't know the years, too.

You nailed it.