Farewell to Dolores

It was news that ruined my whole day.

I didn't get into The Cranberries until 1999, shortly after I had returned from Korea. My brother had a few of their CDs—No Need to Argue and To The Faithful Departed—and because I hadn't yet retrieved all of my music from storage, I would throw these discs onto the player when DW and I stayed with my folks, while we searched for jobs and a house.

I was familiar with this Irish band, instantly recognized the lead singer's wailing, haunting voice. There is no voice quite like that of Dolores O'Riordan: the power and the softness. Strength and beauty.

The shock of Dolores' sudden death at a far, far too young age, currently surrounded in mystery, caught us all off guard.

I was late in falling for The Cranberries but I was hooked. I downloaded Dolores' two solo releases and was excited when she and her band reunited.

With the tributes that came on the radio and TV, it was inevitable that someone would play my favourite song. I heard it, on the radio, with DD16 in the back seat. She couldn't see the tears welling, didn't know about the lump in my throat, preventing me from saying a word.

For my blog post, I lost my inspiration to write creatively. Instead, I'll lament the loss of Dolores, and honour her by sharing the video of my favourite song, "Ode To My Family."