Linger was rejection therapy for Dolores
CRANBERRIES singer Dolores O’Riordan, right, has revealed that the band’s breakthrough hit Linger was all about the heartbreak she felt after being dumped by the guy who gave her her first kiss.
Dolores, 45, said the lyrics for the song were inspired by an incident when she had her first kiss in a nightclub, called Madonna’s, with a guy who she thought at the time ‘was lovely’.
However, at the next disco, the same man ignored Dolores on the dancefloor and instead asked her friend to dance with him.
She explained: ‘I couldn’t wait to see him again. But at the next disco he walked straight past me. I was devastated. Everyone saw me being dumped, publicly.
‘Everything is so dramatic when you’re 17, so I wrote about being rejected. I never imagined that it would become a big song.
‘After I was married, the guy Linger is about wrote me a long letter, saying, “I know the song’s about me. I never meant to hurt your feelings. Can we meet?”
‘I thought, “It’s too late. You dumped me!” So I didn’t reply.’