NOW LISTENING: CRANBERRIES

I remember exactly the first time I heard Doloros O’Riordan’s (lead singer of the Cranberries) voice- I was working my way through an older cousin’s music binder. You know the big black Cd binders people used to store their music in. He had what I thought of then as “interesting taste” in music cos he listened to bands like REM and Hootie & the blowfish, while I was still very much in my Boyz II Men, Tevin Campbell, Toni Braxton, En Vogue and Mariah phase.

And I remember so well, wondering what kind of music a band called the Cranberries would make and hearing Zombie, and that voice, that much emotion, it just hit me sooo hard. I knew so little about Ireland at that time, but I made sure to read up. I must have used up dial-up to read more about the lead singer- shocked to find out that she suffered from such debilitating stage fright early on in her career that she would sing and play with her back to the crowd. She just seemed fearless, and so boss, short hair and all, not pretty girl restrained singing, just being vicious. She also wrote most of the bands songs- as the cd liner notes told me.

There’s something about music that can so effortlessly take you back to a specific point time in your life- I think about it and it’s sweet and sour- the melancholy of it all. I literally remember how it felt to sing the lyrics to Linger over and over again in my bedroom.  And that’s just one of the reasons, I’m so sad to hear that we lost Doloros today at the very young age of 46. She leaves behind 4 children, friends, family and so very many distraught fans. But the music- that will LIVE on.