|
Provider: Rose Chen / 陳虹吟 Written on March 31, 2003
Since 1916, the storm of violence has been overwhelmingly spreading through out Ireland, and brought death, hatred, and fear upon people, no matter adults or children. Arguing over the same old issues: conflicts of religions, races, national-identities, and political benefits, the war hawks in Ireland has been using the least admirable and peaceful ways to fight against their opponents for almost a century in order to fulfill their hopes, which has already caused many innocent people’s deaths. The song “Zombie,” sang by Dolores, vocalist of Cranberries, was written by her in memory of two British children who died in the bombs accident made by IRA (Irish Republication Army). Dolores said she wrote this in memory of the two boys in England who died accidentally of the hatred between England and Ireland, but actually the director of the music video says more by illustrating the military violence- the potential menace in Irish people’s life which puts them in constant danger and fear.
The lyrics present the imagery of war (bombs, guns, tanks, fighting, dying) and the fear (crying, heart-breaking) that the war and soldiers brought to people (child, family, mother), and people’s feeling toward a war (people are mistaken, violence cause silence). The lyrics are simple and easy to understand, clearly screaming out loud angry feelings of Dolores, but also of the Irish people. The word “zombie” is used repeatedly to present the soldiers or the war itself as cold-blooded, heartless, and violent while the repetition of “in you head” enhances the sense of endless nightmares (or zombies) that haunts people lingering in their brains and occupying their thoughts like a shadow that could never be wiped away. From the lyrics, “Bombs, guns, tanks, fighting,” moreover, appears several times as lively images of war, which appear in our mind as haunting documentary film clip.
The video, on the other hand, follows and transform the lines into rich images that accuse the war. The music video is basically composed of two interlacing parts, the imagery of life and Death, and the historical events presented by the wall-paintings serving as the narrator, both of which try to reveal how the endless wars and assassination are threatening the lives of Irish people.
In the very beginning of the video, a boy in black shown up and then suddenly the screen shifts into a piece of glass on which has been written the words “life Die,” as if setting the key notes for what’s going to happen. The visual image could be divided into two categories: 1)Life during wartime: armed soldiers searching everywhere, children playing with each other and imitating the fighting by using sticks and guns, and 2)Death caused by the war: children painted in golden standing in front of the giant cross, three children tied on the cross, screaming painfully or angrily, etc. Suppose the child in black is one of the victims whom Dolores claims to sing for, then this part can be seen as a comparison of the victim’s life and death. Although children should be symbols of hope and innocence, the children in the video are put in crumbling walls and dilapidated houses, in black hues, which reveals a hopeless signal for the children’s environment. In this world, the soldiers are everywhere, using their guns to search for the enemies and, ready to destroy them. The boys use sticks and guns to playfully fight with each other, happily. The playground of the children thus serves ironically as a metaphor of the battlefield of the soldiers, because if a playful activity among children is turned into a real fight, these bare-handed and innocent children might become armed armies with fatal weapons, and the fake death is going to be real and bloody ones. So in the end the kid in black lied on the ground in a close-up, as if he was dead, by which director used as a double meaning: surrender in the kid’s game or shot dead by the soldiers in real life. The director might wants to tell the audiences, playing with peers might be common in Taiwan or in other peaceful nations, but in Ireland, it’s always possible to be shot while you’re playing in front of your yard!
As for the death part, the director tries to illustrate how people died in the war might react when they recall their own misery. Generally speaking, angels are supposed to be in heaven, but these golden, angel-like children are sitting around the cross, and wearing brambles on their heads, which are implications of carrying the sin for people, as what Jesus Christ did. But who brought the sins and pressures on these inexperienced children? They seem so afraid that some of them use bow and arrow outward as if they try to protect themselves against some invisible threats. Instead of bringing blessings, the golden angels are using weapons. Here again the director conveys that the wars scared these children, therefore even they’re dead they couldn’t forget the ruthless violence. The three children tied on the cross firstly have their heads down, raise their heads, and then scream painfully but silently, especially the one in the middle who is just the boy in black. The image of this boys’ screaming, then, intersects with another one: the boy’s falling down on the ground. The golden screaming boy may be thinking of the moment of his death, and that’s why he is so painful. Also the vocalist of Cranberries is shouting out loud her anger to the soldiers (Zombie), in both modern and classic dressing, which implies that the ideas against the wars apply to all times and all countries.
Another narrative function of this music video is fulfilled by the wall-paintings in it. Wall-paintings are records of events and for a certain period, so these wall-paintings are best evidences and story-teller of the political conflicts and wars in Ireland. The first 3 wall-painting shown in the music video are pictures of a royal-like symbol of the capital of Northern Ireland, a soldier in black surrounded by “For God, UVF, Ulster,” and a solider in blue. These pictures seem to claim the greatness of the Northern Ireland government, by the following stronger images: giant flags of IRA, and the volunteers on its side. And then another dread painting appears: 2 soldiers using guns pointing at a woman on her bent knee, entitled “Falls/Clonard, 25 Years of Resistance,” which is a claim of the cruelty of war. And then comes a painting of two men’s head and names, who are actually two capitals who were shot by IRA, in inhumane and abusive way. Right up on this two men’s heads, a soldier was using a gun pointing at the two heads. Although they’re paintings, we can still smell the bloody taste of violence. When Dolores sings the part, “We must be mistaken…” the director gave a close-up at one of the men’s heads, which is Derek Wood. Cranberries and the director skillfully comment on these paintings through the combination of lyrics and images.
According to a survey in Ireland, children of different religions go to different schools. Their taking sides, in this way, has been determined by the education of they receive from not only their church, family, but also their school. This might tell us why the political instability would last for so long in Ireland, and why the director uses children in the music video. I’m thinking, if these children who once played happily together with their mates, and then after they become youth, found out their political or religious ideas differ and they had a fight, would their future gathering be on the battlefield? “Zombie,” both the song and video, condemns these bloodless killers in the wars, no matter in Ireland, in Vietnam, or in Iraq, by saying that they are haunting as like zombies. What’s making me afraid is, would these innocent children become zombies in the future under the great influence of endless fighting?
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
