As you may have noticed, there is not a new episode of the show this week. I had dental surgery on the 11th and while I'm healing up okay, my jaw is a little stiff and talking for long periods of time gets a little tiring, so I'm taking this week off. I thought in the interim, it might be good to write a post for the blog, just so there's some kind of content. Mostly, it seemed strange not to talk about something that happened last week...so I'm going to use this post to wish farewell to a great singer.
As you're probably aware, one of the bigger pieces of entertainment news over the last week is the sudden death of Cranberries front-woman Dolores O'Riordan (who--it apparently needs to be clarified to my Facebook feed--was not Sinead O'Connor). The Cranberries are best known for the single "Zombie," which was absolutely inescapable in the mid-90s. Lesser so for "Ode to My Family" and "Linger." They had a habit of finding their way onto soundtracks for a while in the 90s and early 00s. There's a good chance you've heard one of their songs and that you'd remember it if you heard it again; and there's a good chance that Dolores O'Riordan's voice is why.
She had a voice that just wasn't like anyone else's in rock music. There are a handful of traditional Celtic singers who have a similar clipped-consonant pronunciation to their vocal style...but even a lot of them just sound like they're doing impressions of O'Riordan's very specific accent and tone. Her voice was uniquely HER voice in a way that no one dared try to imitate--they'd have been called out on it immediately if they had. I heard someone last week say that the first time they heard her they were stunned because they had never heard anyone use their voice ("her instrument" is how they put it) that way before. That's just about right.
O'Riordan's voice wasn't all she had going for her. She was also an elegant songwriter. While it's easy to get lost in how catchy the Cranberries' songs are, the lyrics should not be ignored. Heartbreaking and socially conscious on the one hand, the words to the songs don't lose their feeling of spontaneity and fun on the other. Dolores O'Riordan had a way to make a sad song sound happy and an angry song sound joyful that might not be paralleled by anyone else in her generation.
I'm guilty of having taken the Cranberries for granted. I've always liked them. Like everyone else, I got burned out on "Zombie," but the band has always touched a soft spot in my heart. I don't have all of the albums, but I've got the stuff you're supposed to have. I never saw the band play live...I always figured they'd be on some bill I'd want to see someday and I'd get to see them with someone else I liked (ala Get Up Kids opening for the Descendents). I guess I thought I had time. Dolores was 46 when she died. Who knew? That's too young...
It bears saying that she was a beautiful woman as well. But that wasn't what she was about. She was easy on the eyes, but she was all substance right behind that. Would that we were all so lucky. Usually the beautiful people have so little else to offer.
I've been listening to the Cranberries since I heard, with a few breaks here and there. Their sound and words make my spirit feel better...most of the time. This week, it's been a somber listen, of course. But what a great band. What a great voice. And thank God that for her 15 minutes, Dolores O'Riordan used that voice to say things that were important to her--to fight.
Details have not been released on the cause of death yet. But of course, they're also really not anybody's business unless the family wants them to be. Whatever the cause, I choose to bow my head and bid a gentle farewell to one of the true INDIVIDUALS to come out of the 90s. Rest well, Dolores. You left too early, but you gave so much.
There'll be a new episode next week on the 25th. Thanks for your patience in the meantime!
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