The Fiddle and the Drum

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"The Fiddle and the Drum"
Song by Joni Mitchell
from the album Clouds
LanguageEnglish
Released1969 (1969)
RecordedA&M Studios, Hollywood, CA
Genre Folk rock
Length2:50
Label Reprise
Songwriter(s) Joni Mitchell
Producer(s) Joni Mitchell, Paul A. Rothchild

"The Fiddle and the Drum" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell; it was first recorded by Mitchell on her 1969 album Clouds . It was one of the songs performed by Mitchell on The Dick Cavett Show on August 19, 1969, when Mitchell appeared with some of the performers from Woodstock. [1]

Contents

The song's lyrics lament, from the position of an outsider, that America is "fighting us all" and has "[traded] the fiddle for the drum"; however, the singer can "remember/All the good things you are" and asks "Can we help you find the peace and the star?" As an anti-war song, it was one of the songs that became associated with opposition to the Iraq War; in particular, through the 2004 cover by A Perfect Circle.

The song provided the title for the 2007 ballet The Fiddle and the Drum which Mitchell authored with Jean Grand-Maître, the artistic director of the Alberta Ballet Company. [2] The ballet was filmed for an hour-long 2007 film with the same title. [3]

Covers

The song has been covered a number of times:

See also

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References

  1. Blog post on "Woodstock Show", with detailed rundown of the music
  2. Seattle Times, February 24, 2010, review of American premiere
  3. Rotten Tomatoes entry for movie