Linger

Cranberries guitarist Noel Hogan wrote the music for this song before lead singer Dolores O'Riordan joined the band. Originally, it had lyrics written by the group's first singer, a bloke named Niall Quinn. When O'Riordan auditioned for the band, she had some ideas for the song, and after she was hired, she wrote her own set of lyrics, turning it into a song of regret based on a soldier she once fell in love with. The emotional, girlie sound was a huge departure for the band but wildly successful. The song got lots of airplay from radio stations looking for an alternative to rap or grunge, and MTV put the video in heavy rotation. The Cranberries went on to become one of the best-selling bands of the mid-'90s.

Dolores O'Riordan wrote this song about her feelings following the breakup with her first boyfriend, the soldier who broke her heart. She said the song is about "the way I reacted to infatuation."

In a Songfacts interview with Dolores O'Riordan, she described "Linger" as "a love song." In the lyric, she describes being mistreated by her love and seeing him with another girl, yet unable to break free because he lets their relationship linger. This hardy seems the stuff of dreams, but the feeling of first love is what O'Riordan keyed in on. It brought her back to a time of innocence.