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Summary of "Cutting Through the (Bong) Smoke to Address the Whens of Climate Change."
by Larry Fitzmaurice
In the 2019 New York Times article "The Top 25 Songs That Matter Right Now"
Larry Fitzmaurice wrote a piece called "Cutting Through the (Bong) Smoke to Address
the Whens of Climate Change.". The article covers the importance of the song 'Before the
Water Gets Too High' by Parquet Courts in terms of climate change. Fitzmaurice begins by
discussing the relationship that protecting our planet has had with music. He discusses some
big-name musicians who have all preached for change of the treatment of Earth in their songs.
Fitzmaurice follows this with commentary on how we have been watching our world be
destroyed, whilst seemingly no-one does anything about it. He then transitions into talking
about how Parquet Courts song highlights the quickly approaching fallouts of climate change.
Fitzmaurice says that the questions posed by Parquet Courts in the song are hardly ever asked
by bands like this. He describes the song as a realization that we are about to reach a point of
no return. He concludes with the sentiment that there are no more hints that this world is
ending, as the song points out, that time is nearly here.
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Works Cited

Fitzmaurice, Larry. “Cutting Through the (Bong) Smoke to Address the Whens of Climate
Change.” 25 Songs that Matter Right Now. New York Times Magazine. March 2019.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/08/magazine/25-songs-future-of-
music.html. Accessed on 24 June 2021