Friday Song: “Linger”
The Cranberries classic still resonates with ache and melancholy
The lyrics you may know for “Linger” — the Cranberries’ breakthrough 1993 hit — were not the first written for the song. The music written by guitarist Noel Hogan, and then the band’s first singer wrote lyrics for it. But he didn’t record it, departing the band soon after. Then Dolores O’Riordan auditioned for the band, sang his lyrics, had some notes, and ended up writing completely different lyrics about her lost love, a soldier she’d once known.
The female-led sound — emotional, tender — was a huge departure for the band, but wildly successful. “Linger” reached #8 on the US charts, #14 on the UK charts, and began a run of success for the Cranberries, an Irish rock band that dominated parts of the 1990s and delivering at least one other classic (“Zombie”).
The band dissolved in the early 2000s, and O’Riordan pursued a solo career to some success. They reunited in 2009, some music was made, some drama ensued, but it all ended when O’Riordan died unexpectedly in 2018, drowning in her hotel bathtub while intoxicated.
The story and O’Riordan’s music did not end there. During 2017-18, O’Riordan and Noel Hogan had written and demoed 11 tracks. Her recorded vocal demos for the album were stored in her personal hard drive in her NYC home. Using these, the band crafted an album called In the End, with the first single released in January 2019 (“All Over Now”). In April, the band released the full album and the title track as a single — it was the last song O’Riordan had recorded before her death.
The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.
Enjoy!