We’re premiering Yoko Ono’s latest video, Why, taken from her upcoming album Warzone.
In July, it was announced that the avant-garde icon would be returning to music with an album of ‘remakes’ – 13 reconstructions of her older material spanning across 50 years and 20 albums. For it, songs such as Hell in Paradise and It’s Gonna Rain have been reimagined to address the turbulent, political landscape that shapes our current climate. A pioneering artist who’s consistently championed peace and social activism through both sound and the visual arts, Yoko Ono is an artist who’s certainly well-equipped in tracing the impact of revolutions past on our modern, sociopolitical fabric now.
“I was writing [Warzone] when things in the world were not this crazy, most of us were not living right in the war zone, but we are now,” Ono tells us via email. “Because it’s such an incredibly difficult situation, the only thing you can say is Why”.
Why is the remake of a 1970 track of the same name – the first song from her debut album Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band. An edited version later became the B-side to John Lennon’s single Mother. In her modern reimagining, Ono strips away the original instrumental, taking on a more minimal approach to enhance the sound of her soaring cries. Through her voice, she conjures up the urgency and spirit of the song’s message that was laid down over 40 years ago.
Watch the video for Why in the player above.