Zombie Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken

And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken?

[Pre-Chorus]
But you see, it's not me, it's not my family
In your head, in your head, they are fightin'
With their tanks and their bombs and their bombs and their guns
In your head, in your head, they are cryin'

[Chorus]
In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie
What's in your head, in your head?
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie-ie, oh


[Post-Chorus]
Du, du, du, du
Du, du, du, du
Du, du, du, du
Du, du, du, du

[Verse 2]
Another mother's breakin'
Heart is takin' over

When the violence causes silence
We must be mistaken

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About

Genius Annotation

The Cranberries describe the violence in “The Troubles,” the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland between nationalists (mainly self-identified as Irish or Roman Catholic) and unionists (mainly self-identified as British or Protestant).

Dolores O'Riordan wrote the song during the band’s English tour in 1993 in memory of two young boys, Tim Parry and Johnathan Ball, who were killed in an IRA bombing in Warrington, England.

“This song is our cry against man’s inhumanity to man, inhumanity to child,” she said.

During a performance of “Zombie” in January 1994 at The Astoria in London, Dolores O'Riordan said:

This song is our cry against the violence in London, against the war in the north of Ireland. And we want it to stop.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did The Cranberries say about "Zombie"?
Genius Answer

What have the artists said about the making of this song?
Genius Answer

In an interview with Louder Sound, O'Riordian recalls:

It was extremely busy and we were working all the time around the clock,” she said. “That song came to me when I was in Limerick, and I wrote it initially on an acoustic guitar, late at night. I remember being in my flat, coming up with the chorus, which was catchy and anthemic. So I took it into rehearsals, and I picked up the electric guitar. Then I kicked in distortion on the chorus, and I said to Ferg [Fergal Lawler, drums]: ‘Maybe you could beat the drums pretty hard.’ Even though it was written on an acoustic, it became a bit of a rocker….It came organically because we were using our live instruments, we were plugging in a lot, and we started to mess around with feedback and distortion. When you’re on tour you start to mess around a bit more with the live side of things. There were a lot of bands around that were part of the grunge thing, and this wasn’t grunge, but the timing was good. We couldn’t have really fitted in with grunge, because we were just a different type of a band. We were Irish and from Limerick, and we had a lot of our own ideas. A lot of the grunge bands were very similar to each other.

Is there a live performance video for this song?
Genius Answer

Yes! The Cranberries performed “Zombie” at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.

Is there another live video performance of this song?
What happened to the band now that Dolores has died
Credits
Bass Guitar
Video Director
Recorded At
Windmill Lane Studios (Dublin, Ireland)
Release Date
September 14, 1994
Zombie Covers
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