The Cranberries - Zombie

What this video is

Released September 19, 1994, 'Zombie' was written by Dolores O'Riordan in response to the 1993 IRA bombings in Warrington, England, which killed two young children. The music video — filmed in Belfast during the height of the Troubles — was one of the first major-label rock music videos to directly engage with live political conflict through real documentary footage. It appeared in heavy rotation on MTV at a moment…

Why it matters

A landmark of 1990s alternative rock, 'Zombie' represents a rare convergence of grunge-era sonic aggression with overt political protest content in a mainstream music video context. Its documentary-performance hybrid visual language influenced how politically engaged rock videos were subsequently…

The director

Samuel David Bayer (born February 17, 1965) is an American visual artist, cinematographer, photographer, and music video/film director. A Fine Arts graduate of New York City's School of Visual Arts (1987), he launched his career with Nirvana's 'Smells Like…