The Cranberries Essay

Written analysis- part two- song
Zombie- the cranberries
Schools of criticism: New Historical and Archetypal
Questions for schools of criticism:
New historical-What language/characters/events present in the work reflect the current events of the authors day?
Archetypal- Does the writer allude to biblical or mythological literature? For what purpose?
A bit about the song:
The song was released in September 1994 by The Cranberries as the lead single from their album No Need to Argue, and was written by the band’s singer, Dolores O’Riordan.
Answers:
New historical:
The song was directly influenced by the conflict between Ireland and England, especially by the second IRA (Irish Republican Army) bombing in Warrington, Cheshire in February 26th 1993. The IRA is a militant group whose goal is to remove British troops from Northern Ireland. In the Warrington bombing, 2 children, named

The rising was started by Irish republicans to end the British rule in Ireland.
The lines “Another head hangs lowly, child is slowly taken” is a reference to the two children that were killed in the bombing. The repetition of the word bombs in the line “with their tanks, and their bombs, and their bombs, and their guns” is a reference to the first and second Warrington bombings.
The line “and the violence cause of silence” is a declaration that violence and war is a cause of death and silence among other things, and the next line, “who are we mistaken?” is a question about the cause of war, isn’t it a mistake?
These lines repeat in the fourth stanza, but with a twist, “when the violence ‘causes silence” which means that no matter how hard we try we won’t be able to stop war, and the next line “we must be mistaken” is now not a question but a statement that we are wrong when turning to violence as the answer to our problems.