When I read about or personally encounter people who have willingly and actively aligned with the insanity that has sadly become part-and-parcel of the here and now, the following question inevitably bobs to the surface of my mind,
"What's in your head?"
The question is a common one, but in my mind it appears as Dolores O'Riordan's haunting refrain from the Cranberries 1994 alternative-rock hit, Zombie. A protest song, Zombie, was written in memory of two boys - Jonathan Ball and Tim Parry - who were killed in the 1993 Warrington Bombings carried out by the IRA. The disquieting subject matter of the song coupled with O'Riordan's soul-stirring delivery packs an undeniable emotional punch, which the music video - replete with black and white images of war and violence juxtaposed with color snippets of Ms. O'Riordan as golden mythic goddess standing before a cross surrounded with silver-skinned boys with bows and arrows in a possible allusion to Saint Sebastian - only intensifies.
Still one of the most gut-wrenching rock songs and videos from the 1990s - perhaps ever.
Whenever I hear the song today, it transcends the Warrington Bombings and superimposes itself on the unfolding tragedy and zombies of our own time and place.
What's in your head, indeed.
Note added: Dolores O'Riordan passed away tragically a little more than two years ago; thus, Zombie will forever remain the Cranberries biggest hit.
"What's in your head?"
The question is a common one, but in my mind it appears as Dolores O'Riordan's haunting refrain from the Cranberries 1994 alternative-rock hit, Zombie. A protest song, Zombie, was written in memory of two boys - Jonathan Ball and Tim Parry - who were killed in the 1993 Warrington Bombings carried out by the IRA. The disquieting subject matter of the song coupled with O'Riordan's soul-stirring delivery packs an undeniable emotional punch, which the music video - replete with black and white images of war and violence juxtaposed with color snippets of Ms. O'Riordan as golden mythic goddess standing before a cross surrounded with silver-skinned boys with bows and arrows in a possible allusion to Saint Sebastian - only intensifies.
Still one of the most gut-wrenching rock songs and videos from the 1990s - perhaps ever.
Whenever I hear the song today, it transcends the Warrington Bombings and superimposes itself on the unfolding tragedy and zombies of our own time and place.
What's in your head, indeed.
Note added: Dolores O'Riordan passed away tragically a little more than two years ago; thus, Zombie will forever remain the Cranberries biggest hit.
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