"Zombie" is a protest song by Irish alternative rock band the Cranberries, written by the band's lead singer Dolores O'Riordan in memory of Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry, who were killed in the 1993 Warrington bombings. It was released on 19 September 1994 as the lead single from their second studio album, No Need to Argue, two weeks ahead of the album's release. Music critics have long recognised "Zombie" as "a masterpiece of alternative rock".

The song was written in response to the death of Johnathan Ball, 3, and Tim Parry, 12, who had been killed in the IRA bombing in Warrington, northwest England, when two devices hidden in litter bins were detonated. Ball died at the scene of the bombing as a result of his shrapnel-inflicted injuries and, five days later, Parry lost his life as a result of head injuries.56 others were injured, some seriously. Parry died in his father's arms in Liverpool's Walton hospital. The two boys had gone shopping to buy Mother's Day cards on one of the town's busiest shopping streets.

There were a lot of bombs going off in London and I remember this one time a child was killed when a bomb was put in a rubbish bin – that's why there's that line in the song, 'A child is slowly taken'. [ ... ] We were on a tour bus and I was near the location where it happened, so it really struck me hard – I was quite young, but I remember being devastated about the innocent children being pulled into that kind of thing. So I suppose that's why I was saying, 'It's not me' – that even though I'm Irish it wasn't me, I didn't do it. Because being Irish, it was quite hard, especially in the UK when there was so much tension.

— Dolores O'Riordan in 2017, on writing "Zombie".

Lyrics

Another head hangs lowly

Child is slowly taken

And the violence caused such silence

Who are we mistaken

But you see it's not me

It's not my family

In your head, in your head

They are fighting

With their tanks and their bombs

And their bombs and their guns

In your head, in your head

They are cryin'

In your head, in your head

Zombie, zombie, zombie, hey, hey

What's in your head, in your head

Zombie, zombie, zombie, hey, hey, hey, oh

Dou, dou, dou, dou

Dou, dou, dou, dou

Dou, dou, dou, dou

Dou, dou, dou, dou

Another mother's breakin'

Heart is taking over

When the violence causes silence

We must be mistaken

It's the same old theme

Since nineteen-sixteen

In your head, in your head

They're still fightin'

With their tanks and their bombs

And their bombs and their guns

In your head, in your head

They are dyin'

In your head, in your head

Zombie, zombie, zombie, hey, hey

What's in your head, in your head

Zombie, zombie, zombie, hey, hey, hey

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Hey, oh, ya, ya-a