There are very few songs that can travel from one of the darkest moments in modern Irish history to a rugby stadium filled with thousands of people singing at the top of their lungs. Yet that’s exactly what happened to The Cranberries’ Zombie.
Written by Dolores O’Riordan in response to the deaths of two children during the Troubles, the song became one of the defining rock records of the 1990s. Its distorted guitars and furious refrain carried an anger that reached far beyond the circumstances in which it was written.
More than thirty years later, Zombie has taken on a life of its own. It has become a protest song, an international anthem, an expression of Irish identity and, for a new generation of listeners, something with a meaning entirely their own.
In this episode of The Last Mixed Tape, we return to the story behind Zombie, the tragedy that prompted Dolores to write it, and the complicated legacy of a song that continues to provoke, unite and divide listeners.
The Last Mixed Tape is hosted by Stephen White, and is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
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