The Cranberries - So Cold in Ireland

It's In Your Head

For me, The Cranberries is one of the successful bands that truly defined my childhood. This Irish band has been around since 1996. The band consists of lead singer and guitarist, Dolores O Riordan, guitarist Noel Hagan along with his brother whom is the bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler. I could still remember the first time I heard their music which was during my primary school days. My brother returned from work with a new music CD in his bag. He turned on the stereo in our room and played the CD. My ears immediately paid full attention to the tracks "Zombie" and "Ode to My Family". The Cranberries are known for these two famous tracks of theirs. I still listen to them until this day.

The Cranberries have produced 6 studio albums namely "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?" (1993), "No Need to Argue" (1994), "To the Faithful Departed" (1996), "Bury the Hatchet" (1999), "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee" (2001) and "Roses" (2012). Among all of their albums, I really enjoyed "No Need to Argue".

What I would like to highlight in this entry is the uniqueness of their sound and inspirational lyrics. I'd like to use "Ode to My Family" as an example. The intro melody is so memorable and the verses build up to a strong chorus. Here is what the chorus sounds like:

"My mother, my mother, she hold me, did she hold me when I was out there?

My father, my father, he liked me, oh he liked me, does anyone care?"

To me, the lead singer strongly wants to convey a message for the listeners to always cherish their parents while they're still with them. I have always been listening to this song to remember all the good things my parents and family members have done for me. Now, whenever I listen to it, I always remember my late mother giving me advice about life. I could cry listening to this.

Try listening to "Ode to my family" and you'll get what I mean.

"Ode to My Family" is about the lead singer's yearning for her simple life as a child after having achieved success. The lead singer along with other band members have written really meaningful lyrics to their songs.

Other popular songs by them are "Animal Instincts", "When you're gone" and "Promises".

For musicians, their songs are easy to play especially for amateur guitarists like myself. Most of their songs are slow-paced which suits the ingenious lyrics.

It is good to listen to them during a rainy day as looking at the rain falling really sets the mood to their melancholic sound.

Here is a list of my favourite songs by them:

1. Ode to my family

2. Joe

3. When you're gone

4. I'm Still Remembering

5. Promises

6. Just my Imagination

7. I just shot John Lennon

8. Animal Instinct

9. Electric Blue Eyes

10. Zombie

This is their live performance of "I'm Still Remembering" which I truly enjoy:

Dolores can sing really well. Most of the time, her voice sounds exactly as in their records.

As a conclusion, I really hope that The Cranberries will produce more soulful music for the upcoming years! I also would like to recommend everyone out there to try fall in love with this really sweet band from Ireland. Thanks for reading this post!