One thing that will always linger is fans’ love for The Cranberries. The Irish rock group’s 1993 single “Linger” has just joined the Spotify Billions Club, becoming their second song to hit the milestone, after their 1994 hit “Zombie.”
Originally released on their album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?, “Linger” was the Cranberries’ first big hit, bringing them attention on both sides of the Atlantic. Though the song was the world’s introduction to the band, it was also somewhat of the band’s introduction to each other. In 2019, drummer Fergal Lawler recalled meeting eventual lead singer Dolores O’Riordan when she came to audition for the band. After the audition, Lawler gave her a cassette tape with the “Linger” instrumental on it. “The following week she came back, and she had lyrics written out and melodies and she sang along to what we were playing, and it was like, ‘Oh, my God. She’s great,’” the drummer remembered in a 2019 interview with Rolling Stone.
“Initially, it was just a chord shape, with no real melody or lyrics. I took a tape of it home and came up with a verse and chorus. I wrote about being rejected. I never imagined that that it would become a big song,’ O’Riordan said in a retrospective interview with The Guardian in 2017. The songwriter channeled her experiences feeling like an uncool teenager and how a boy onetime picked her friend over her. The feelings that O’Riordan tapped into were universal. “’Linger’ was a worldwide smash. Fans were chasing me all over. Once, I was in a shop buying underwear and about eight people spotted me. I started running and after three blocks hid behind a skip.” Co-songwriter and guitarist Noel Hogan agreed. “The magnitude of ‘Linger’’s success was overwhelming,” he recalled. “I remember at this massive gig gazing out at 50,000 people and thinking: ‘Not so long ago I was sat in my parents’ kitchen.’”
Buy “Linger” by The Cranberries on vinyl now.
