Cranberries Trivia

1. In which Cranberries song will you find the lyrics: "And the violence, caused such silence Who are we mistaken?"

From Quiz Ode to The Cranberries

Answer: Zombie

"Zombie" was the first single released from the second Cranberries studio album, "No Need To Argue." It was written as a protest song after the death of two very young victims (a three year old and a twelve year old) as a result of bombings in the UK in 1993. The song reached number one in a number of countries, including Australia, Denmark, France and Germany. It also reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song is a statement against violence that won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song. The video was nominated for Best Alternative Video at the MTV Europe Music Award but was banned by the BBC for violent images. The song was banned in Britain during the Iraq war because of the fear that it might be seen as a statement against the war!

From Quiz The Cranberries: Songs and Lyrics

Answer: Linger

"Linger" was released in the early 1990s and soon became one of the most famous songs by The Cranberries. Band members stated in interviews that the song was about O'Riordan's first kiss and a negative romantic experience with a young soldier. The song, part of the album "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?", was notably played on a frequent basis on MTV. O'Riordan herself even said that she remembers hearing her own song constantly on that music channel.

From Quiz A Quiz About The Cranberries

Answer: The Cranberry Saw Us

Before The Cranberries were known under that name, the band was called The Cranberry Saw Us (which sounds like "cranberry sauce"). The band was originally made up of Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan, Fergal Lawler, and vocalist Niall Quinn. However, when Quinn left the band and Dolores O'Riordan replaced him, she persuaded the other members to change the band's name to The Cranberries.

From Quiz Ode to The Cranberries

Answer: Linger

"Linger" was released as a single from the debut album by The Cranberries called "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?" The song was a top ten hit in Ireland and in the United States and stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for over twenty weeks. The story behind the writing of the song is quite interesting. Apparently when sing Dolores O'Riordan auditioned for the band, she was given a tape with the music for the song "Linger" and came back a week later with lyrics she had written about regret and a first love. The popular Cranberries song has been covered quite a bit, including by Canadian band The Philosopher Kings and American punk band Screeching Weasel.

From Quiz The Cranberries: Songs and Lyrics

Answer: Dreams

"Dreams" was the first single released by The Cranberries. Also part of their album "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?", the song was received positively by critics and performed relatively well on international charts. The song was written by Dolores O'Riordan and Noel Hogan. It has been used in several films and TV shows over the years, especially productions from the 1990s like "Mission: Impossible", "You've Got Mail", "Boys on the Side", and "My So-Called Life".

From Quiz A Quiz About The Cranberries

Answer: Limerick

All of the original members of The Cranberries grew up in the Irish city of Limerick, which is located in southern Ireland. The Hogan brothers and Fergal Lawler were soon joined by Niall Quinn, the original lead singer of the band. Dolores O'Riordan, who substituted Quinn, was born in Ballybricken, which is part of the County Limerick that is pretty close to the city of Limerick. Limerick is one of the biggest cities in Ireland in terms of population. Its name is often associated with a type of humorous, typically five-line poem popularized by English author Edward Lear.

From Quiz Ode to The Cranberries

Answer: Dreams

"Dreams" was the very first single released by The Cranberries. It was released in 1992 as the first single from their debut album "Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?" The song broke into the top ten in Ireland and reached number fifteen on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart. Toward the end of the song there are backing vocals that are sung by singer O'Riordan's ex-boyfriend, Mike Mahoney. This is another very popular Cranberries song that's been covered a number of times. Electronic music trio Dario G covered it and changed the title to "Dream to Me" in 2001. In 2020 a number of female Irish singers released a version of the song to raise funds for victims of domestic abuse (as a result of an increase in domestic abuse violence during COVID-19 lockdowns).

From Quiz The Cranberries: Songs and Lyrics

Answer: Go Your Own Way

A wide array of successful artists like Elton John, Matchbox Twenty, The Corrs, and the Goo Goo Dolls collaborated on the album "Legacy: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac's Rumours". As its name suggests, the album contained covers of Fleetwood Mac songs by other musicians. "Go Your Own Way" was originally released by Fleetwood Mac in 1976 and has since been covered many times. The Cranberries played a live version of "Go Your Own Way", for example, in a 1999 concert in Paris. Interestingly, Fleetwood Mac and The Cranberries both have a song called "Dreams". In the Fleetwood Mac tribute album, that song was covered by The Corrs.

From Quiz Ode to The Cranberries

Answer: Salvation

"Salvation" is a short track with an upbeat tempo and a serious message. Clocking in at under two and a half minutes long, the lyrics talk about drug abuse and the idea of not being controlled by substances. The song reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock chart and stayed there for four weeks. In Ireland, Italy, Australia and New Zealand it reached the top ten. There have been some interesting cover versions of this song, tied to its anti-drug sentiment. The Christian rock group Earthsuit performed it live in concert. Hardcore vegan and clean living group Prayer For Cleansing also covered it for their 2004 EP "The Tragedy."

From Quiz Ode to The Cranberries

Answer: I Just Shot John Lennon

This is an up tempo rocking track that is included in the 1996 album "To the Faithful Departed." The song details the events of the murder of John Lennon and ends with the sound of gun shots. The lyrics "What a sad, and sorry and sickening sight" are included throughout the song. The title of the song comes from the words of the killer who was asked "do you know what you've done?" The song was performed live by the group on "The Late Show with David Letterman" in 1995. A live recording of the song is included as a B-side to the single "Salvation" on some of the singles released in Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom.

From Quiz The Cranberries: Songs and Lyrics

Answer: Promises

"Promises" was the first single from "Bury the Hatchet", the fourth studio album by The Cranberries that was released in 1999. The album version is a few minutes longer than the radio version. The song had a good performance on international charts, especially in Spain. "Promises" is about a relationship that was broken up. More specifically, O'Riordan once said in an interview that this song was about divorce.

From Quiz Ode to The Cranberries

Answer: Free to Decide

"Free to Decide" was the second single released from the 1996 album "To the Faithful Departed." It reached number twenty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number two in Canada (it charted the highest in Canada). It reached the top ten in Iceland the Czech Republic. The song is about the treatment of the band by the media judging their actions and the band being able to make the decisions that they want to.

From Quiz The Cranberries: Songs and Lyrics

Answer: Free to Decide

"Free to Decide" was released as a single in 1996 and was also part of the album "To the Faithful Departed". Written by O'Riordan, the song was a response to certain members of the press (mainly paparazzi) who Dolores felt were harassing her and spreading rumors about her. The lyrics, such as those repeated in the question, send a clear message to the press that there must be more important things to do than harassing her.

From Quiz Ode to The Cranberries

Answer: When You're Gone

"When You're Gone" was the third single released from the 1996 album "To the Faithful Departed." It is a beautiful ballad about love and loss and carrying on despite missing someone who's no longer around. The song reached top ten in Iceland, Norway and Belgium and reached number twenty-two on the Billboard Hot 100. In January 2018, singer Dolores O'Riordan suddenly and tragically passed away at the age of forty-six and this song was played at the end of her funeral. A number of Irish radio stations played the song on the radio at the same time.

From Quiz The Cranberries: Songs and Lyrics

Answer: Animal

"Animal Instinct" is a single that opened the "Bury the Hatchet" album, released in 1999. The "animal instinct" that O'Riordan is referring to, according to a 1999 interview, is connected to parenting and how deeply having a child changed her. Dolores also mentioned that she thought that being able to give birth and feed children with her own body was extraordinary. The lyrics refer to the animal instinct as "a lovely thing that we have".

From Quiz A Quiz About The Cranberries

Answer: Turkey and cranberry sandwiches

When The Cranberries returned from their hiatus in 2009, they went on a North American tour that had them play in various cities in the U.S. One of them was Las Vegas, and while the band was there, guitarist Noel Hogan had an interview with a local newspaper, the Las Vegas Sun. In the interview, Hogan (somewhat surprisingly, perhaps) revealed that he had never actually eaten cranberries until he visited the U.S. Hogan said that cranberries are not commonly consumed in his home country of Ireland, but that he tried a turkey and cranberry sandwich while touring in the U.S. and "thankfully, liked it."

From Quiz Ode to The Cranberries

Answer: Animal Instinct

'Animal Instinct" was released as the second single from the fourth studio album by The Cranberries called "Bury the Hatchet." It was released in 1999 and didn't do particularly well on the charts. It reached number fifty-four in the United Kingdom, becoming the first single by the band to not make the top forty (not including the original release of their song "Linger.") It broke the top one hundred in France, Germany and the Netherlands. The lyrics deal with the topic of motherhood.

From Quiz The Cranberries: Songs and Lyrics

Answer: Uncertain

The band's first EP recording was "Uncertain", released in 1991. It was a nearly 15-minute long EP that had four songs, all with lyrics by Dolores O'Riordan and music by O'Riordan and Noel Hogan. The other three tracks were "Nothing Left at All", "Pathetic Senses", and "Them". Though the band had previously released some works under the name The Cranberry Saw Us, "Uncertain" was the first EP that they released officially as The Cranberries.

From Quiz A Quiz About The Cranberries

Answer: John Lennon

The Beatles are arguably one of the most popular bands in history. In December of 1980, Mark David Chapman shot and killed John Lennon outside of his home in New York City. The murderer cited Holden Caulfield (a character from J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye") and Lennon's statement that "the Beatles were more popular than Jesus" as reasons why he committed this crime. Many artists paid tribute to John Lennon following his assassination; for example, Stevie Nicks in "Edge of Seventeen", Queen and Freddie Mercury in "Life is Real", and The Cranberries with "I Just Shot John Lennon". The song by The Cranberries vividly tells the story of how Lennon was murdered and repeatedly calls the incident "a sad and sorry and sickening sight".

From Quiz Ode to The Cranberries

Answer: All Over Now

"All Over Now" is a song on the eighth and final Cranberries studio album called "In the End." The album was not finished when O'Riordan tragically passed away and so the surviving band members mixed and completed the recordings after her death. O'Riordan had recorded demo versions of the songs that were used for the album. "All Over Now" was released as a streaming single on the first anniversary of O'Riordan's death and reached number twenty-five on the Adult Alternative Songs chart.

From Quiz The Cranberries: Songs and Lyrics

Answer: William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats inspired the song "Yeats' Grave", which was included in The Cranberries' second studio album, "No Need to Argue". One common interpretation of the lyrics is that Dolores O'Riordan, like Yeats, used her painful life experiences to create her fantastic art. William Butler Yeats is one of the most influential Irish poets in history. Two of his poems, "No Second Troy" and "The Lake Isle of Innisfree", inspired the song by The Cranberries.

From Quiz Ode to The Cranberries

Answer: Ode to my Family

I'd like to finish my quiz with the beautiful song "Ode to My Family." The song showcases singer Dolores O'Riordan's very unique voice and lilting vocal style. It was released as the second single from the second studio album by the band, "No Need to Argue." The song was released in 1994 and reached top ten in New Zealand, France, Australia and Iceland (reaching number one there). The song is about yearning for the simpler times of life as a child. In 2011 singer O'Riordan's father passed away and for a while, she was so grief-stricken that she couldn't perform the song.

From Quiz A Quiz About The Cranberries

Answer: Coffee

"Wake Up and Smell the Coffee" was released in October 2001 and was the last album by The Cranberries before they went on a long hiatus. The album was not as popular as some of their previous ones but did include the singles "Analyse" and "Time Is Ticking Out", as well as a song named for the album. Live versions of "Dreams", "Zombie", and other Cranberries hits were added as bonus tracks for some countries. The album's producer was Stephen Street, who was also behind the band's first, second, sixth, and eighth studio albums.

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Last Updated Nov 16 2024 5:44 AM

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