Ridiculous Thoughts

"Ridiculous Thoughts"
Single by The Cranberries
from the album No Need to Argue
Released	31 July 1995 (UK)
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	4:31 (album version) 3:36 (radio edit)
Label	Island
Writer(s)	O'Riordan, Hogan
Producer	Stephen Street
The Cranberries singles chronology
"I Can't Be With You" (1995) "Ridiculous Thoughts" (1995) "Salvation" (1996) No Need to Argue track listing "Disappointment" (8) "Ridiculous Thoughts" (9) "Dreaming My Dreams" (10)

"Ridiculous Thoughts" is a song by The Cranberries, released as the fourth single from their second studio album No Need to Argue. In North America, it was the third single of the album, as "I Can't Be With You" was released only in Fall 1995 in this territory.

Song profile

"Ridiculous Thoughts" was recorded at The Manor Studios, Oxford and Townhouse Studios, London, during the 1994 sessions for No Need to Argue.

The music for "Ridiculous Thoughts" was written by Dolores O'Riordan and Noel Hogan. The lyrics were written by O'Riordan about her problems with British press and journalists. It was produced and engineered by Stephen Street.

Single release and chart performance

"Ridiculous Thoughts" was released as a single in July 1995. It had mild success in Ireland reaching #23 and some success in both the UK and the U.S.

As most of the Cranberries' singles in the United States, a physical CD single was not released commercially, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. It did peak at number fourteen on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart, and number twenty in the UK.

Track listing

CD single UK, Australia, Spain

1. Ridiculous Thought (LP version) 4:31
2. Linger (LP version) 4:34
3. Twenty One (Live at The Point, Dublin) 3:05
4. Ridiculous Thoughts (Live at The Point, Dublin) 6:08

CD single France, Japan

1. Ridiculous Thought (LP version) 4:31
2. I Can't Be With You (Live at The Point, Dublin) 3:10
3. Twenty One (Live at The Point, Dublin) 3:05
4. Ridiculous Thoughts (Live at The Point, Dublin) 6:08

7" single

1. Ridiculous Thoughts
2. Linger

Music video

The video clip for "Ridiculous Thoughts" was directed on May 1995 by Samuel Bayer, and later redone by the band, using the pseudonym "Freckles Flynn".

The band was shown as the freaks of a circus (the elastic man, the bearded woman, etc.) on a deserted location. It features a young Elijah Wood, who tries to follow some kind of radio signal (which seems to be guided by O'Riordan's voice), all around the ruins of a building.

O'Riordan stated that the band did not understand or identify with the concept that Bayer had shown in the video, and thus, they decided to redo it, mixing the original tape with live footage from their American Tour.