On zombies
- Oct 14, 2022
- 4 min read
The Troubles in Northern Ireland began in the late 1960s and continued until 1998. They arose after many years of disagreements between the Unionists and Nationalist over the sovereign status of Northern Ireland. Over the thirty years of complex and brutal fighting, more than 3,500 people were killed and thousands were injured. Cities throughout both Ireland and England were targets for terrorist attacks. Generally speaking, these were bomb attacks; over 10,000 were carried out by the IRA.
On Saturday, 20th March, 1993, a bomb threat was issued in Warrington, UK. At 12:25, on a crowded street, two bombs exploded. Both were put into cast iron bins, to cause as much shrapnel as possible. 54 people were injured, 4 seriously. To add to the tragedy, two young boys were killed. 3-year-old Johnathon Ball died on scene, and 12-year-old Tim Parry died 5 days later after being pronounced brain dead. The Indie Rock / Grunge group The Cranberries released the song Zombie in protest to this attack, in September 1994.
I tend not to look into the meanings of songs. Like other forms of art, I consider the meanings behind the pieces to be private to the artist who created them. What listeners take away from a song, is equally as private to them. Everyone could take a different meaning from the same song. How a song resonates with you, is really only important to you. However, this song, in my opinion, resonates just as strongly today as it did back in 1994.
Dolores O’Riordan, the late lead singer of The Cranberries, stated that she was affected by the deaths of innocent children in such a violent way. Being Irish, in the UK at that time, could be difficult. The line “...It’s not me…” was her way of saying, ‘I may be Irish, but this wasn’t my doing I’m not the IRA'. Highlighting the fact that a culture, or ethnic group, shouldn’t be tarred by the same brush as used on a small, violent, minority.
My takeaway from the song is less about placing, or mitigating blame, and more a reflection on humanity as a whole. To continue with the earlier quote from the song:
“But you see, it’s not me,
it’s not my family.”
These lines stand out to me. If it hasn’t happened to me, or you, personally, how can we appreciate a catastrophic event, understand its impact and empathize? It may appear to be a very selfish perspective, but is it? Can you honestly understand a mother’s pain over the loss of her child? Can you understand the fear of fleeing your homeland, the only place you’ve ever known, in a time of war? I think the majority of the population would struggle.
Maya Angelou famously said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I believe this also applies to events. I vividly remember the towers falling on 9/11, and the reported news of the death of Princess Diana in 1997. I wasn’t present for either, I didn’t personally know anyone involved, but I remember how I felt when they both occurred.
Harvard cognitive scientist, Steven Pinker, wrote in The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century, “For us to go from ‘I think I understand’ to ‘I understand,’ we need to see the sights and feel the motions. Many experiments have shown that readers understand and remember material far better when it is expressed in concrete language that allows them to form visual images.” Adele Goldberg, a linguist at Princeton University, conducted a study that suggests, “metaphorical sentences may spark increased brain activity in emotion-related regions because they allude to physical experiences.” Her study demonstrated that the emotional areas of participants’ brains were affected more strongly by metaphorical links, than direct association. ‘Sweet’ and ‘Bitter’ drew stronger responses than ‘Kind’ and ‘Mean’.
What these studies suggest is that even if we’re not directly experiencing something, seeing footage of it on the news, with explanations in more colorful language, can help us appreciate the gravity and the seriousness of the event. Watching footage from an event on the news is more impactful than hearing about it on the radio. This brings me back to Zombie.
Ironically, the song, and the official music video, were both censored in the UK. The reason; they may promote violence. The music video was directed by Samuel Bayer. He shot footage of actual British soldiers on patrol in Belfast showing real streets with the famous murals, depicting events and people relating to The Troubles. The music was purposefully aggressive; more distortion on the electric guitars and heavier drumming. The video was handheld back and white, giving it an ‘edgier’ feel. Watching the music video with the thoughts I have on humanity’s lack of empathy for distant events (natural disasters, wars in foreign lands, public shootings, terrorist attacks), it really brings home the distance and disconnect humans have with each other. Unless you personally experience a dreadful event, you have no way of relating to it, or its victims. It’s human nature to push it out of your mind, with thoughts similar to, “Oh goodness, that is terrible. Glad it didn’t happen here.” I’m not suggesting that we should all put ourselves in harm’s way, to be able walk in others’ shoes, but maybe next time something horrendous appears on the news, spare an extra thought for those involved. How scary it must have been for them, how surreal the experience likely felt and, how it may have changed their lives forever. If music, and a music video can help with that, why should it be censored? It should be publicized to help highlight just how atrocious certain things can be. Maybe, given time, those things will happen less.
As a related side note, Dolores O’Riordan was working with band Bad Wolves to produce a modernized cover of Zombie. The day she was going to share her vocals for the cover with the managing director of the band she was found unresponsive in her London hotel room. She died 15th January 2018 of accidental drowning relating to alcohol intoxication. The cover was released 3 days later, and all proceeds were put into a trust fund for her children. The cover subtly changes the chorus to make it more relatable to the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I have included links to the official music videos of both versions. Have a listen and take away from them what you will.
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