Cranberries - Zombie analysis

Task 1: Zombies

Zombie is an anti-war song written by the Irish rock band The Cranberries, in 1994. The group’s vocalist, Dolores O’Riordan has claimed that Zombie speaks about “The Irish fight for independence that seemed to last forever.”
When talking about the conflict in Ireland, it is important to bear in mind that it is not only political, but also religious. The suppression of Catholics in the country can be dated all the way back to the Reformation in 1517, and the struggle between the two religious groups lasted up until the uprising in Ireland in the beginning of the twentieth century. When Ireland was liberated in the beginning in 1921 (Republic or Ireland, Wikipedia), the country was separated so that Ulster – a province in Northern Ireland – did not become a part of the free Irish republic, but remained under British rule. Here, the suppression of the Catholics continued, and along with not being a part of the rest of Ireland, this led to a huge conflict between unionists that wanted to remain in union with Great Britain and the Catholics that wanted to be free from British rule.
The conflict kept escalating and in 1969 a riot started in London-Derry, North-West in Ireland. This was followed up by British invasion in North-Ireland, which again led to a bloody civil war that lasted all up to Good Friday in 1998, where both parts put down their weapons. Within the period 1969 to 2001, there have been 3526 casualties as a result of the civil war (The Troubles, Wikipedia).
The song is directly referring to the Easter Rising Rebellion with the line ‘It’s the same old theme since 1916.’ The Ester Rising Rebellion was a failed attempt to bring the British rule in Ireland to an end. It started in Dublin, Monday during Easter, in a time where the British spent almost all their resources on World War 1, and the riot lasted for six whole days. The uprising was incredibly extensive, and organizations involved was among other the Irish Republican Army, the IRA, a military liberation group that has used violence in a response to violence to free Northern Ireland. Other groups created with the same purpose as IRA, however, include the Irish National Republican Army and the Irish People’s Liberation Organisation.
Furthermore, Zombie is also about the Warrington Bomb attacks, two separate bomb attacks that happened early in 1993, in the city Warrington in England. This is evident in the lines, ‘Another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken,’ and ‘when another mother’s breaking heart is taking over.’ It was the IRA that performed the bombings. One of them was on a gas facility in February, where no one was harmed in the explosion. The other one was more brutal, however. It was directed toward people who were shopping in Warrington’s centrum. The bombs were tactically placed in garbage bins, and this led to a huge amount of splinters. According to Wikipedia’s article about the Warrington bomb attacks, there were 56 people who were injured and 2 deaths. Both of the casualties were children. Jonathan Ball, who was a three-year old boy out to bye a Happy Mother’s Day card, died immediately. Tim Parry, on the other hand, had been sitting on one of the exploding garbage bins and died five days later. This is why the song says, ‘Child is slowly taken.’ Tim Parry did not get a quick death, but died slowly. Cranberries’ vocalist has stated that the song is dedicated to these two children.
‘And if violence causes silence, we must be mistaken.’ This is a reference to the silence death causes. Britain used violence to silence the Irish rebellions. During all those years of civil war, suffering and dying, no one ever did something about it. The British saw the bloodshed but did nothing to stop it. This led to more and more violent riots to get statements across. When this statement is silenced, the violence becomes meaningless. In addition, if there is silence, that means the situation will not get any better.
The use of the word ‘Zombie’ can be referring to two different things. A person that kills and goes to war is a zombie. In other words, you become a zombie if you believe in violence. Besides, violence creates violence, and therefore it never ends. However, this line is also addressing another issue. After the Troubles there were people suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is a serious anxiety disorder that develops after being exposed to traumas. This trauma can be created because of a threat of your own life or someone else’s. When you have PTSD, a part of the symptoms is to relive what originally created your trauma through flashbacks or nightmares.
The line ‘In your head, they are fighting,’ is highlights this. During the war in Northern Ireland, people were shot, beaten to death and injured/killed in bombings. There was such a huge bloodbath, and the people saw horrible things. And then there is the line, ‘In your head, they are still fighting.’ Even though the war is over, people are still suffering from the memories of it, reliving the suffering because of PTSD.
In conclusion, the song Zombie is definitely about the Irish struggle for independence that started with the Easter Rebellion in 1916. Following this riot came the Irish War of Independence that resulted in the liberation of five sixth of Ireland, only excluding a province in the North. A new civil war broke loose because the people being suppressed in Northern Ireland wanted freedom and civil rights as well, just as Ireland had gotten. These riots were incredibly violent, and has led to many people developing post traumatic stress afterward, so that the war never really ends, even though the civil war ended with Good Friday.
Like movies, songs can be a great way of rising awareness on a topic. Artists and performers usually has an audience they are addressing, and when you have a message and someone to listen to it, then you can spread consciousness. This means that it is easier for a famous performer to raise awareness than for a group less people have heard about, and many famous singers today sings about topics such as gay marriage and equality. Moreover, when a song gets publicity, so does the message the singer wants to raise awareness about.
Sources:

Republic of Ireland, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland, read 5th of December
Partition of Ireland, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_Ireland, read 5th of December
Irish Republican Army, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Republican_Army, read 5th of December
Liberation of Ireland, IOL, http://www.iol.ie/~dluby/history.htm, read 5th of December
The Troubles, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles, read 4th of December
Irish War of Independence, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_War_of_Independence, read 2nd of December
Warrington Bomb Attacks, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrington_bomb_attacks, read 3rd of December