Playlist & Listening Guide
The Cranberries. "Zombie" from No Need to Argue. Island Records: 1994.
The Cranberries. “Ode To My Family” from No Need to Argue. Island Records: 1994.
The Cranberries. "When You’re Gone" from To The Faithful Departed. Island Records: 1996.
John Lennon. "Imagine” from Imagine. Apple Records: 1971.
U.S.A for Africa. “We Are the World” from We Are the World. Columbia Records: 1985.
Radiohead. “Creep” from Pablo Honey. Capitol Records: 1993.
Listening Guide
Bright red flames engulf the city with no control and darken the streets in crimson blood. Shiny buildings crumble into scattered piles of black ash. Children crawl the streets, searching for their parents who are just as disabled as them to escape the horrific situation. Love is diminished. Limbs are gone. Hearts are torn. We all know the wound of violence cuts deep and lasts long, but pulling the sword out on the enemy to settle conflict has been a common practice of humans for the entirety of our existence. Likewise, people standing on the side/people unrelated to conflict getting hurt is no new phenomenon either. But, the key point is that light isn’t completely absent: peaceful yet firm voices sing against terror and bloodshed in unison. While there are multiple ways where we try to fight against violence and war (sometimes using violence to fight violence), music is a powerful and peaceful way of speaking against bloodshed. It unifies people by offering a space for people to sing healing melodies containing the same message that they all want to deliver. Of course, there is always uncertainty in whether the light or the dark will prevail. Sometimes, justice does not get the favor and violence trumps the voices of the innocent. Yet, music does not think about the probability of winning. It’s more so about putting the message out there and attempting to fight the force. The Cranberries attempt to be on the frontiers of this using their music and voice, with the principal song of this playlist “Zombie” being their most iconic example. “Zombie”, which was created by the band in response to a terrorist attack in their home country Ireland, demands for peace and laments the innocent people who were sacrificed from an unrelated conflict. The playlist isn’t the solution to violence; instead, it is an attempt and the representation of the innocents’ outcry against war.
The main song of the playlist, “Zombie”, aggressively condemns violence. It was inspired by the Irish Republican Army’s terror attack that killed innocent children. The premise of the song is to express frustration for the repeated occurrence of violence and the perpetual cycle of innocent people being harmed. The voice of Dolores O’Riordan, the lead singer, alternates between a hollow, haunting voice to a spiteful, intense vocal throughout the song to demonstrate the multitude of emotions felt. The rough guitar and bass riffs combined with the powerful vocals howl, “What’s in your head, Zombie, Zombie, zombie” to push back against violence.
Many of the other songs on the hit album No Need to Argue differ from “Zombie” in terms of sound. “Ode To My Family” is the prime example of this as it discusses the nostalgia for familial connections and longing to return to childhood when things were more simple in a mellow way: “My mother, my mother, she’d hold me…I miss you ‘cause I liked it.” The beginning of “Ode To My Family” and “Zombie” especially contrast each other where “Zombie” starts off roughly and powerfully while “Ode To My Family” begins with a soft, acapella-like harmony. They both complement each other in the album since it shows that The Cranberries do not just lean towards one style of music and are intentional with their sounds and tempo. Therefore, while the song itself is quite different from “Zombie”, “Ode To My Family” should be listened right after “Zombie” since it gives the idea of the wide range of sounds the band can cover and highlights the particular ruggedness of “Zombie”.
“When You’re Gone” is from the subsequent album of The Cranberries, To The Faithful Departed. This piece is like a sequel to “Zombie” since it describes the process of missing someone dearly after they are gone. In a way, these songs connect by showing a progression in the stages of grief. While “Zombie” relates more to the anger and frustration of loss right after an event of violence, “When You’re Gone” deals with this loss in the long term. It is more collected and contemplative with calmer vocals, yet still directly expresses emotions: “But I’ll miss you when you’re gone. That is what I do.” The lyrics can apply to missing those who were lost in events of violence and carries an anti-violence spirit although this isn’t as evident as in “Zombie”.
The playlist transitions to creations by other artists. “Imagine” by John Lennon depicts a world where there is no violence. It deals with the same ideas as “Zombie” – asking for a world with peace and reconciliation. However, the message is delivered in a mellow and indirect way. For instance, John Lennon sings, “Imagine all the people livin’ life in peace.” Instead of directly holding the culprits of violence accountable like “Zombie” (“With their tanks and their bombs..they are dyin’ ”), “Imagine” is more subtle in its call for peace. The use of the word ‘imagine’ itself is an indirect way of evoking the image of peace. On top of this the calm repetition of the piano bars contrast that of the rough and quick-tempoed accords of “Zombie”.
“We Are the World” extends the peace-promoting spirit of “Imagine”. “We Are the World” first varies from The Cranberries and John Lennon in that multiple voices were used in the song. While the previous songs in the playlist were only sung by a single voice, “We Are the World” brings together voices from different backgrounds, races, and gender. Hence, without even having to discuss that it is anti-war, a scene of peace and unification is evoked. It also directly taps into reaching out to people who are dying like “Zombie”: “There are people dying, and it’s time to lend a hand.” The relation of this message is further than that of “Imagine” since the song is not just referring to wars/violence and just people in general. However, the core idea is similar. Also, “We Are the World” is completely different from all the previous songs in the playlist in that the song has a hopeful and bright melodic line. These musical contrasts will show that similar messages can be delivered in different tones.
Finally, “Creep” is placed at the end of the playlist as it is not necessarily an anti-violence song; it deals with the frustration and the sorrow of not being liked back by someone. However, the tone of the song is very similar to “Zombie”. The grunge and rough guitar riff after “I wish I was special.” is nearly identical to the part at the start of “Zombie”. The distraught, wailing of the vocals also remind that from the climax part of “Zombie” (“In your head, in your head, zombie, zombie, zombie, ie-e-e). While the messages of the two songs differ, the angry and regretful emotions that are transferred from the songs are related. This example shows a different kind of connection to “Zombie”; songs with different messages can confer similar feelings when they have matching instrumentals.
Bullets fill the sky. One by one, children fall to the ground like autumn leaves. The metallic electric guitar is no match for the explosives. It’s not about overpowering, but rather voicing it out. One voice is significantly weaker than a missile, but a large crowd singing words against arms and blood in unison may perhaps be effective. Until the day when we all hold hands in peace, we sing the tunes of brotherhood – both rough and mellow – to give us hope and power to endure through the violence. And one day, maybe they will cease fire. Or maybe not, but at least they know that we wanted to embrace each other and it is them that seeked destruction.