The singer Joni Mitchell said made America “stupid”
You might think that to qualify as a countercultural legend, one would have to preach the values of peace and love until one’s dying breath. Not Joni Mitchell, though. Somehow, the Canadian visionary has managed to maintain her status despite offering many vitriolic comments on her most esteemed hippie peers and later stars that emerged after them.
Do not be fooled by the mellifluous flow of her voice and the captivating spin she’s put on folk and jazz over the years, though. Beneath the choral splendour and artistic talent, there’s a razor-sharp mind and an acid tongue so vitriolic it even rivals that of music’s other resident corvid, Keith Richards. While she might be the mythical lady of the canyon and have an otherworldy backstory when she wants to, Mitchell can be so brutally cutting, taking no prisoners, as her opinions wreak havoc among those she deems lesser beings.
While her most lauded target has been fellow folk pioneer Bob Dylan, who she’s trashed on numerous occasions for reasons ranging from his honking breath to her claim that everything about his public character is a fallacy, there’s an extensive list of people she’s also torn into. It includes everyone from Sylvia Plath to fellow countercultural boundary-pushers, Janis Joplin and Grace Slick.
Aside from Dylan, there is another globally renowned artist for whom Mitchell harbours deep disdain: pop star Madonna. This tension isn’t entirely surprising, as the two artists embody opposing realms of the music industry. Mitchell, a countercultural icon driven by her passion for art, has always pursued her own path. In contrast, Madonna represents the more commercial, bombastic side of mainstream music, especially emblematic of the MTV era.
This is all relatively expected, but Mitchell’s comments about Madonna, particularly as a fellow female artist, remain shocking, despite her swift takedowns of peers Joplin and Slick. Mitchell believes that Madonna embodies the malaise of postmodernity and the “stupid” American masses, who lap up her ostensibly hollow sound. She even compared her to Emperor Nero.
Stating that artists enter “a tragedian period” in middle-late age, she told the Los Angeles Times in 2010: “Things start losing their profundity; in middle-late age, you enter a tragedian period, realizing that the human animal isn’t changing for the better. In a way, I think I entered straight into my tragedian period, as my work is set against the stupid, destructive way we live on this planet.”
“Americans have decided to be stupid and shallow since 1980,” she added. “Madonna is like Nero; she marks the turning point.”
Although that take is immensely harsh, this wasn’t the first time Mitchell had sent for Madonna. In 1991, when asked whether she was a feminist hero like herself, Mitchell showed her traditionalistic values when she asked Rolling Stone, “That’s an interesting idea, but what’s the difference between her and a hard hooker, you know? Who’s being exploited there?” Then describing the ‘Like a Virgin’ singer as a bad role model, she called her a “whore”.
I said Mitchell could be mean. She likened Madonna to a living Barbie doll who was depressed inside, leaning into the outdated fallen woman archetype, a surprising comment even for her. While her general point about Madonna being fake and representing the stupidity of America is something that most can get behind, the way she went about it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.
