When Dolores O’Riordan heard the news about bombings in Warrington while on the United Kingdom leg of The Cranberries’ tour, she sat down and wrote “Zombie”. The provisional Irish Republican Army or IRA set off a bomb in Warrington killing two young boys, which sparked the inspiration for the band’s song.
Another Mother’s breaking
Heart is slowly taken over
When the violence causes silence
We must be mistaken
It’s the same old team
since 1916
In your head, in your head
They’re still fighting
O’Riordan’s lyrics shed light on the aftermath of what disasters like this do to people. The line “it’s the same old team, since 1916” is referring to the IRA’s terrorism on the United Kingdom due occupation in northern ireland. “Violence causes silence, we must be mistaken,” she is calling out the fact that violence is not the answer. It kills people silencing their voices and rendering healing almost impossible.
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