I’m a huge Cranberries fan, and “Zombie” is one of my all-time favorite songs. Cranberries lead singer Dolores O’ Riordan tragically took her own life in January 2018, but she left a lasting legacy on the rock and alternative music scenes.
So tonight I was watching “Current Rock” on YouTube on my Roku, and up pops the band Bad Wolves, with a cover of “Zombie.” The lead singer is an ethnically androgynous dude who could be Hispanic, could be African-American, or could be white. But who cares. What matters is that he has a dope voice and a dope delivery. He’s a big guy, muscular and tatted up, but that lends a strange gravitas to his whole performance.
“Zombie” was released by The Cranberries in 1994, and it made a huge impact across the English-speaking world. It’s about The Troubles, as they were known, between Northern Irish revolutionary fighters and British army troops.
What really caught my eye, and what I noticed about Bad Wolves’ version, is that they adapted one of the most pivotal sections of the Cranberries’ ballad and updated it to modern times. Dolores O’ Riordan sings:
It’s the same old thing
Since 1916
In your head in your head
They’re still fighting
With their tanks and their bombs
And their bombs and their guns
In your head, in your head,
They are dying
The lead singer of Bad Wolves, Tommy Vext, updates these verses:
It’s the same old theme in 2018
In your head, in your head
They’re still fighting
With their tanks
And their bombs
And their guns
And their drones
In your head
In your head
They are dying
So by inserting “And their drones” Vext has shifted the narrative from the Northern Irish — British conflict to the various US conflicts in the Middle East, in which American drones are deployed by the hundreds to kill poor people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, among other places.
When I first heard Bad Wolves’ version of “Zombie,” I was absolutely rocked. Because The Cranberries and in particular Dolores O’ Riordan were one of my favorite bands and singers of all-time. She had a pained, soulful, wailing voice that cut you to your core.
But Tommy Vext does a powerful version himself. He blares out a strong chorus that lets you know he is not, repeat not, OK with these freaking US wars of conquest. He’s also a huge dude, I would guess 6’2” and 215 or 220 lbs. So you wouldn’t want to mess with him. And that adds a certain gravitas to his performance.
Bad Wolves’ “Zombie” is a pretty damn dope interpretation of the 1994 Cranberries’ classic. It’s also a strong anti-war statement against the open-ended so-called US War On Terror.
Tommy Vext, you rock.
Keep on speaking truth to power.
