“Zombie” was written by Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of the Irish band The Cranberries, during the band’s 1993 tour of England. She was deeply affected by the March 1993 IRA bombing in Warrington, which killed two boys, three-year-old Johnathan Ball and 12-year-old Tim Parry. O’Riordan wrote the song as a protest against the cycle of violence and the way political conflicts could turn innocent people – especially children – into victims. The song was released in 1994 as the lead single from the Cranberries’ second album, No Need to Argue. Its central message is blunt and emotional: after decades of violence, hatred and revenge, humanity seems trapped in a destructive cycle that has to end.
The song was first performed live during The Cranberries’ 1993 European/UK tour, before it had been recorded or released. According to drummer Fergal Lawler, the band played it repeatedly on their tour with Hothouse Flowers, and the audience reaction was remarkable from the beginning. A surviving performance from January 1994 at the Astoria 2 in London provides an early recorded example. O’Riordan deliberately wanted the song to sound much heavier and angrier than the band’s earlier material, asking for more distorted guitars and harder drums.
There are several fascinating details behind “Zombie.” First, O’Riordan reportedly brought the basic song into the band’s tiny, cold rehearsal room in Limerick and told the others she already knew how it should sound – a rare moment of complete musical certainty. Second, the record company and management were initially concerned about releasing such an explicitly political song as the album’s lead single, but the band insisted. Third, “Zombie” became radically different from the melodic sound associated with the Cranberries: its distorted guitar, aggressive rhythm and O’Riordan’s almost shouted vocal turned it into one of the defining alternative-rock protest songs of the 1990s.
Zombie lyrics:
Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken?
But you see, it’s not me, it’s not my family
In your head, in your head, they are fightin’
With their tanks and their bombs
And their bombs and their guns
In your head, in your head, they are cryin’
In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie
What’s in your head, in your head?
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie-ie, oh
Doo, doo, doo-doo, doo
Doo, doo, doo-doo, doo
Doo, doo, doo-doo, doo
Doo, doo, doo-doo, doo
Another mother’s breakin’
Heart is taking over
When the violence causes silence
We must be mistaken
It’s the same old theme, since 1916
In your head, in your head, they’re still fightin’
With their tanks and their bombs
And their bombs and their guns
In your head, in your head, they are dyin’
In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie
What’s in your head, in your head?
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie-ie
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Eh-eh, oh, ya-ya
Zombie lyrics translated into Russian:
Перевод песни Зомби на русский язык:
Еще одна голова свисает низко
Ребенка медленно берут
И насилие вызвало такую тишину
Кто мы ошибаемся?
Но видишь ли, это не я, это не моя семья
В твоей голове, в твоей голове они дерутся.
С их танками и бомбами
И их бомбы и их оружие
В твоей голове, в твоей голове они плачут.
В твоей голове, в твоей голове
Зомби, зомби, зомби-т.е.
Что у тебя в голове, в твоей голове?
Зомби, зомби, зомби-т.е.-т.е., ох
Другая мать ломается
Сердце берет верх
Когда насилие вызывает тишину
Мы, должно быть, ошибаемся
Это та же старая тема, с 1916 года.
В твоей голове, в твоей голове они все еще ссорятся.
С их танками и бомбами
И их бомбы и их оружие
В твоей голове, в твоей голове они умирают.
В твоей голове, в твоей голове
Зомби, зомби, зомби-т.е.
Что у тебя в голове, в твоей голове?
Зомби, зомби, зомби