'The Climate Change Denier' is a visual ode to one of music's undying messages. In 1969 Joni Mitchell recorded a song called 'The Fiddle and the Drum', at the peak of the Vietnam war. She wrote the song as a Canadian living in America. It explained her lament, from the position of an outsider, that America was "fighting us all". It explained how America turned on any obstacle that stood in the way of the nation's desires. Today the song remains just as poignant as it was in 1969. -- For me the song, paired with the illustration is an observation on the duplicity of a nation. The country stands for so many things we all believe in, yet its dedication to do the opposite saddens the world. The rest of the world knows of the country's beauty, but as a result of its hypocrisy the enemies it has earned continue to pile up. It's not hard to see that the country will stop at nothing to appease its insatiable desire for dominion over the universe. -- The excerpt that the title of the song comes from, and the inspiration for this illustration, is as follows: And so once again Oh, America my friend And so once again You are fighting us all And when we ask you why You raise your sticks and cry and we fall Oh, my friend How did you come To trade the fiddle for the drum You say we have turned Like the enemies you've earned But we can remember All the good things you are And so we ask you please Can we help you find the peace and the star Oh my friend We have all come To fear the beating of your drum. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- #thefiddleandthedrum #politics #jonimitchell #OrientalSurrealism #Vietnamwar #illustrator #war #America #American #Canada #Vietnam #internationalism #donaldtrump #climatechange #music #visualmusic #illustration #blacklines #art #artist #peace #worldpeace #fineart #ukiyoe #linework #samuelhumphreys (at Vietnam)
