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Zombie (The Cranberries song)

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"Zombie"
Song

"Zombie" is a protest song by the Irish band The Cranberries from the 1994 album No Need to Argue. The song, which laments The Troubles in Northern Ireland, features a heavy guitar riff which is uncharacteristic of the band's usual sound, more akin to heavy metal than their usual alternative rock style. This song met great success in many countries, including France, Belgium, Australia and Germany where it topped the charts. Many people believe this song could also be describing Post traumatic stress.

Track listings

CD single
  1. "Zombie" — 5:06
  2. "Away" (non album, later used in the movie Clueless) — 2:39
  3. "I Don't Need" (non album) — 3:31

Recording information

"Zombie" was recorded at the Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin in 1994. It was written during the Cranberries' English Tour in 1993, in memory of two boys, Jonathan Ball and Tim Parry, who were killed in an IRA bombing in Warrington, Cheshire (North-West England) on 20 March 1993.[1]

Recognitions

"Zombie" is one of the band's biggest singles, reaching #3 in their native Ireland, and having a total chart run of 11 weeks. The song reached #14 in the UK, with a total chart run of six weeks. It topped the U.S. Modern Rock chart for six weeks, and appeared on the French Top 50 for nine weeks, with 19 weeks in the Top 10. "Zombie" placed in the German Top 100 for one week, with a total chart run of 27 weeks. It also reached number 2 in Austria, Sweden and Switzerland, and was number 1 in Australia for 8 weeks. The single has sold 2 million copies alone, and the song, since its release in late 1994, has been performed on every live tour.

"Zombie" topped the Australian music countdown Triple J Hottest 100 in 1994. "Zombie" also won the MTV Europe Music Award for best song in 1995.

In 1995, a techno cover version by French duo A.D.A.M. featuring Amy reached #16 in the UK singles chart, with a total chart run of eleven weeks. Gibraltarian Flamenco Metal band Breed 77 also covered the song as a B-side to their 2007 digital download single "Look at Me Now". They decided to record the song due to an extremely positive response after playing the song on tour.

Music video

File:Dolores zombie.jpg
Screenshot from the music video

"Zombie" was released as a music video in 1994. The video was directed by Samuel Bayer, and produced by Doug Friedman and H.S.I. Productions. In the video, Dolores O'Riordan is covered in gold paint surrounded by children. She is reminiscent of the classic image of Saint Sebastian. The video also contains shots of British soldiers on patrol in Northern Ireland. The unsuspecting troops were told that their footage was to be included in a documentary about the day to day operations of various peace keeping/occupation forces.

  • Andy Bernard sings this song in "The Return," an episode in the third season of "The Office", thus annoying his co-workers.
  • Claus Wärner sings this song while playing his guitar, drunk, on a store shelf to the zombies that have overtaken the mall in the "Radio Pleppo" episode named "ZOMBIES!"
  • Skateboarder Serge Murphy uses this song for his ending part in Thanks Camera 3
  • Zombie was performed twice on Rock Star: Supernova by Dilana

Covers

  • In 1995, the group A.D.A.M. featuring Amy covered the song in dance form.
  • In 2005, the Colorado group Drop Off covered the song.
  • In 2005, the DJ Marino covered his song as Hardstyle Version.
  • In 2006, Dallas rock band Miser covered the song.
  • In 2007, Gibraltarian Flamenco Metal band Breed 77 covered the song during their In My Blood (En Mi Sangre) promotional tour and later recorded it on their "Look at Me Now" single.
  • In 2007, Andrew Spencer & The Vamprockerz is an electronic group and are the latest group to cover the song.
  • In 2007, Argentine rap-core band Timmy O'Tool covered the song on their third album Sigo Acá De Pie.
  • In 2008, US heavy metal band Animal, formed by former W.A.S.P. guitarist Randy Piper, covered the song.
  • Canadian hard rock band Hail the Villain often covers this live.

Certifications and sales

Country Certification Date Sales certified
Australia[2] 4 x Platinum 1994 280,000
Austria[3] Gold January 22, 1995 15,000
Germany[4] Platinum 1995 300,000

Charts

Preceded by Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
October 29, 1994 - December 3, 1994 (6 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian number-one single
December 18, 1994 - February 5, 1995 (8 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"Tears Don't Lie" by Mark 'Oh
 German number-one single
February 3, 1995 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by French SNEP number-one single
March 4, 1995 - April 29, 1995 (9 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
N/A
 Belgian (Wallonia) number-one single
April 8, 1995 - April 22, 1995 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ Peter Buckley, Jonathan Buckley (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 1843531054.
  2. ^ Australian certifications [1] (Retrieved May 27, 2008)
  3. ^ Austrian certifications ifpi.at (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
  4. ^ German certifications musikindustrie.de (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
  5. ^ a b c Billboard allmusic.com (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Zombie", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
  7. ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
  8. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
  9. ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
  10. ^ 1995 Australian Singles Chart aria.com (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
  11. ^ 1995 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
  12. ^ 1995 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
  13. ^ 1995 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
  14. ^ 1995 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved April 20, 2008)
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