Zombie (song)

"Zombie"
Standard artwork (CD/Vinyl edition pictured)
Single by The Cranberries
from the album No Need to Argue
Released	19 September 1994
Format	CD single video single
Recorded	1994 at Windmill Lane Studios
Genre	Alternative rock grunge alternative metal
Length	5:06 (album/video version #1) 4:11 (video version #2/radio edit)
Label	Island
Writer(s)	Dolores O'Riordan
Producer(s)	Stephen Street
The Cranberries singles chronology
"Linger" (1994) "Zombie" (1994) "Ode to My Family" (1994)
Music sample Zombie Music video "Zombie" on YouTube

"Zombie" is a protest song by Irish rock band The Cranberries.^[1] It was released in September 1994 as the lead single from their second studio album, No Need to Argue (1994). The song was written by the band's lead singer Dolores O'Riordan, and reached No. 1 on the charts in Australia, Belgium, France, Denmark, and Germany.

It won the "Best Song" award at the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards.^[2]

Composition

According to the sheet music published at musicnotes.com, "Zombie" is composed in the key of E Minor with a tempo of 84 beats per minute.^[3]

Production

Zombie was written during the Cranberries' English Tour in 1993, in memory of two boys, Jonathan Ball and Tim Parry, who were killed in an early-1993 IRA bombing in Warrington.

Reception

The Rough Guide to Rock identified the album No Need to Argue as "more of the same" as the Cranberries' debut album, except for the song "Zombie", which had an "angry grunge" sound and "aggressive" lyrics.^[4] The Cranberries played the song on their appearance on the U.S. show Saturday Night Live in 1995 in a performance that British author Dave Thompson calls "one of the most powerful performances that the show has ever seen".^[5]

Greil Marcus wrote that Zombie created a "displacement" by reference to the 1916 Easter Rising, and that it was "bizarre" for a song of the pop genre to refer to events before the lifetime of the target audience.^[6] Allmusic said the song "trivialized" the events of the Troubles, and that the "heavy rock trudge" of the song did not play to the band's strengths.^[7]

Track listings

UK and European CD1 Single^[8]

UK and European CD2 Single^[9]

UK and European 7" Single^[10]

US 2-Track Promo CD (PRCD 6857-2)^[11]

UK VHS Single (PRCD 6857-2)^[12]

Music video

"Zombie" was released with a music video in October 1994. The video was directed by Samuel Bayer, and produced by Doug Friedman and H.S.I. Productions.

In the video, Dolores O'Riordan is covered in gold makeup and appears in front of a cross. The video also includes clips of children playing war games, and of British soldiers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (as evident from their thin red line tactical recognition flashes) on patrol in Northern Ireland.

The unsuspecting troops were told that their footage was to be included in a documentary about the day-to-day operations of various peace-keeping forces. The video was filmed in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

As of November 2016, the video has over 440 million views on YouTube, and is one of 250 most viewed videos on the site.

Cover versions

• In late 1994, a cover version by Spanish mákina group Ororo was released in conjunction with the original version. This version reached number-one in Spain and number 16 in Austria.^[13]
• In 1995, a Eurodance cover version by Italian quartet A.D.A.M. featuring Amy reached No. 16 in the UK singles chart,^[14] No. 20 in France, No. 9 in Italy and No. 35 in Belgium.^[15]
• In 2005, the winner of the Super Girl singing contest in China performed the song in the final contest.^[16]
• In 2006, Miser (band) covered the song on their album Colors.
• In 2009, Jay Brannan included a cover of the song on his album of covers In Living Cover.^[17]
• In 2009, the Gibraltarian group Breed 77 covered the song on their album Insects.
• In 2009, Skott Freedman released a slow, haunting cover of "Zombie" recorded on an old church organ.^[18] His version was featured in the 2016 finale of the popular Italian talent show, Amici di Maria De Filippi.^[19]
• In 2011, Mohombi interpolated the chorus of the song for his single "In Your Head" which is included on his UK edition album MoveMeant.
• In 2011, Christina Parie covered the song on X Factor Australia. After her performance, the song re-entered the ARIA Charts Top 100 at No. 69.
• In 2012, The Crying Spell covered the song on their album Disgraceland.

Appearances in other media

The Cranberries used the song as the background for the main menu on their multi-media CD-ROM.^[20]

The 1997 Australian film Blackrock features the song "Zombie" as well as "No Need To Argue", another song by The Cranberries.^[21] The 2008 film Battle of the Bone has a scene in which a woman is playing "Zombie" on the piano and is devoured by zombies.^[1]

Ed Helms's character, Andy Bernard, sings a segment from the song "Zombie" in The Office episode "The Return".

UFC fighter Chan Sung Jung, also known as "The Korean Zombie," enters the cage to "Zombie"

On their 2011 album Knife Man, folk punk band Andrew Jackson Jihad titled a track "Zombie By The Cranberries by Andrew Jackson Jihad". However, this is an ironic title of an original song, and not a cover of "Zombie".

In 2014, The Voice contestant Clarissa Serna sang "Zombie" as her audition.

In 2015, Golos (The Voice of Russia) contestant Era Kann (Russian: Эра Канн)/Team Basta sang "Zombie" (mix. "One of Us") as her audition.^[22]

In 2016, The Voice contestant Lacy Mandigo sang "Zombie" in the knockout round.

Charts and sales

Certifications

Chart successions

References