"Zombie" by The Cranberries, Wednesday, March 17, 2021

I first heard The Cranberries' "Zombie" when I was at a 4-H state presentation. All the different counties of North Carolina sent their qualifiers in different categories to Charlotte to compete with other counties. My presentation was about coin collecting, which was something I was kinda-sorta into, and I'm pretty sure I qualified for State only because I was the only one in the category in that section. It was a good experience with public speaking; however, I realized that there was a talent show which was far more interesting than anything I could have presented. The only talent I remember was the gothic people, members of a 4-H group from another county. They performed "Zombie," and may have won the talent show.

IT'S NOT ME; IT'S NOT MY FAMILY. Today is St. Patrick's Day. I like to pick Irish artists; however, this song is not a cheery song about drinking in the pub and dying the river green. Instead, this song delves into the issues in Irish history. Although the sectarian violence was formally resolved in 1997, I don't remember hearing about the conflicts until I listened to U2's War in the early '00s. Later in college I took a course on English history, but the course is kind of a blur, covering over 1000 years of history in a semester. Other semesters, I read the poems of William Buttler Yeats, who writes about the 1916 Easter Rising, referenced in this song. Religion and nationalism both played a large role in these events, and the conflict that "Zombie" is based on took place in Northern England. Singer Delores O'Riordan, stated: "It's not Ireland; it's some idiots living in the past."

AND THE VIOLENCE CAUSED SUCH SILENCE. I wish I didn't have to keep bringing everything back to America, but something about this sporadic, yet organized violence makes me think of the attacks that happen almost daily in Anytown, USA. Just today a man was arrested for shooting and killing eight Asian Americans. The more and more I hear about hate crimes, I think of the "idiots living in the past." All too often I hear about another racially motivated shooting in America, all targeting a group of people white people think are a threat to their existence. When O'Riordan says "it's not me; it's not my family," that becomes a mantra of people in the United States and continues to perpetuate the problems as no one takes responsibility for the violence. Silence equals compliance, and things get worse. It may not be fair to compare American problems to the fighting in Ireland, but there are certainly lessons we can learn. Love is love as hate is hate.

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