for your (re)consideration: the cranberries’ “i just shot john lennon.”

never really known for their powerful and sublime lyrics, the cranberries—with their tanks, and their bombs, and their bombs, and their guns—were nonetheless fairly popular when their third album, to the faithful departed, was released in 1996. despite featuring the screechy, anti-heroin semi-hit,”salvation,” it was crap. bland, poorly written, over-earnest crap.

and though “war child” and “bosnia” were equally loaded with cringe-worthy attempts at profundity (“war child, victim of political pride/plant the seed, territorial greed/mind the war child/we should mind the war child”), the real winner in this category is “i just shot john lennon,” which is about exactly what it sounds like. in addition to hilariously suggesting that lennon “perceptively” knew he was going to be killed (and that it wouldn’t be “nice”), lead singer dolores o’riordan also posits that, prior to his death, lennon’s life was somehow in “debate.”

oh, and the studio version has fucking gun shots, just to make it clear what happened on that fearful night.

I Just Shot John Lennon

It was the fearful night of December 8th.
He was returning home from the studio late.
He had perceptively known that it wouldn’t be nice.
Because in 1980, he paid the price.

John Lennon died.

With a Smith & Wesson 38,
John Lennon’s life was no longer a debate.
He should have stayed at home,
He should have never cared,
And the man who took his life declared,

He said I just shot John Lennon.
He said I just shot John Lennon.
What a sad and sorry and sickening sight.
What a sad and sorry and sickening night.
What a sad and sorry and sickening sight.
What a sad and sorry and sickening night.

Ah, ah ah ah, ah…

I just shot John Lennon.
He said I just shot John Lennon.
What a sad and sorry and sickening sight.
What a sad and sorry and sickening night.
What a sad and sorry and sickening sight.
What a sad and sorry and sickening night.

Ah, ah ah ah, ah…