EXAMPLE for Art Inspires Art
Marwan Rechmaoui. Monument for the Living. 2001-2008. Concrete and wood. The Tate
Collection. The Tate Modern. London, England.
Zombie by The Cranberries. Album: No Need to Argue (1994)
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 crying
In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie
What's in your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie, oh
Du, du, du, du
Du, du, du, du
Du, du, du, du
Du, du, du, du
Another mother's breaking
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 fighting
With their tanks, and their bombs
And their bombs, and their guns
In your head, in your head, they are dying
In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie
What's in your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie
Although war is a subject widely explored in the worlds of art and music across a wide
range, few pieces delve into war the way as Marwan Rechmaoui’s 2001-2008 statue Monument
for the Living, and The Cranberries’ 1994 hit song “Zombie.” Rechmaoui’s statue is a model of a
famous building called the Burj al Murr in Beirut, Lebanon. It was a beacon of power for the
many political and social groups who used it over the years, and during the Lebanese Civil War
(1975-90) it became a highly active sniper tower that left it damaged beyond use. After the war,
the building’s size and proximity to the buildings surrounding it made it impossible to demolish.
The Burj al Murr will still exist into the future as a reminder to the people of Lebanon of a
conflict that never had a sense of unity afterwards. Rechmaoui’s model of the Burj al Murr
captures its symbolism as a monument to a war that never truly ended and still affects the people
of Lebanon today. The Cranberries’ 1994 song "Zombie” focuses on a different conflict, but
holds the same theme. It was inspired by the 1993 bombing of Warrington, England by the
Provisional Irish Republican Army as they tried getting rid of Britain’s influence in Northern
Ireland. The bombing killed two boys and injured many others. The song references the death of
the two boys and uses the term zombie as a way to point out that the conflict of war is an undying
presence that affects the future generations just as much as the older ones. In this way, both
Rechmaoui’s statue and The Cranberries’ song are the same; they both discuss how war is not a
contained part of history. A war doesn’t just end with the people affected moving on as if
nothing had happened, or living a now-peaceful life. War has lasting effects that carry forward
and are, in most cases, irreversible. It’s as The Cranberries’ song goes, “in your head, in your
head, they’re still fighting.” The psychological, economic, political, cultural, and personal
ramifications of bloody conflict are long-lived, and should be talked about seriously.
Citations:
Braca, Nina. “Here Are the Lyrics to 'Zombie' by The Cranberries.” Billboard, Billboard, 8 Feb.
2018, www.billboard.com/articles/news/lyrics/8096352/the-cranberries-zombie-lyrics.
Tate. “'Monument for the Living', Marwan Rechmaoui, 2001-8.” Tate, The Tate Modern,
www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/rechmaoui-monument-for-the-living-t13193.