Joni Mitchell has become an American citizen, after living in the US since the mid 1960s. Somehow it seems like a betrayal.

She is a Companion of the Order of Canada. She has an entry in The Canadian Enyclopedia. She just received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Junos (the Canadian equivalent to the Grammy Awards).

There is of course no reason why Joni shouldn’t become an American citizen. She has lived there most of her life. Neil Young, who left Canada for the US around the same time a Joni, has been an American citizen for decades.

It just seems weird though that anyone would want to voluntarily become an American during Donald Trump’s presidency. To some it might look like an endorsement. (Canadians may never forgive Wayne Gretzky for his friendship with Trump.)

I hadn’t given any thought to Joni’s citizenship in decades. It has been more than 40 years since I last worked at a radio station that played her music. Probably almost that long since I last bought one of her albums. And more than 50 years since I saw her briefly in concert as part of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue. I wouldn’t have been surprised to discover that she had become an American long ago, if only to cut down on paperwork when touring.

Labels do have meaning though. We identify with our birth countries. We take pride in our citizenship.

So it hurts a little when a Canadian chooses to add US citizenship when the relations between our countries are, at best, rocky. Why didn’t she do it earlier when no-one would have cared?