Home News Classic Rock News Watch video for Robert Plant’s recent song “New World,” featuring images by...

Watch video for Robert Plant’s recent song “New World,” featuring images by artist Shepard Fairey

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Nonesuch/Warner Bros. RecordsRobert Plant has tapped acclaimed graphic artist Shepard Fairey to help make an animated lyrics video for the Led Zeppelin singer’s recent solo song “New World,” which you can watch now at Fairey’s Obey Giant YouTube channel.

The clip features striking illustrations of Native Americans that accompany the song’s lyrics, which Plant explains, offer “a comment on a recent history of conquest and submission.” At one point during the video, the image of a young warrior is shown, along with the phrase, “We Belong to the Land! The Land Does Not Belong to Us.”

Reflecting on the meaning of “New World” in a Facebook post, Plant notes, “Every day our senses are assaulted by the ridiculous. It’s not so long ago that today’s plots and wrangles between nation governments would seem too far-fetched to inspire a Hollywood blockbuster. The perversions and struggles leave a shadow over the spirit of the people and the land.”

As Fairey explains in a post on ObeyGiant.com, the video features images that both he and fellow artist Ernesto Yerena created, many of which were inspired by the photos of Aaron Huey, “focusing on the impact of imperialism on Native Americans, the environment, and sacred natural resources.”

Adds Fairey, “I hope ‘New World’ nudges us to ponder the hypocrisy of some white Americans, all of whom are descended from immigrants, showing too little empathy for current immigrants or the natives whose lives have been tragically impacted by attitudes of European supremacy.”

Plant is donating proceeds raised by the tune to Honor the Earth, a charity focused on creating awareness and support for Native American environmental issues and aid to sustain Native communities.

“New World” is featured on Plant’s latest studio album, Carry Fire, and was recorded with his current band, The Sensational Space Shifters.

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