Barbra Streisand takes on 'liar in chief' Donald Trump in new song 'Don't Lie to Me': 'It's my protest'
Who said rappers — and Taylor Swift — should be the only ones to put out dis tracks? Barbra Streisand has released one of her own about Donald Trump.
The songstress, actress, and activist hinted something big was coming on Thursday, and it was the announcement of a new album. Walls will be released on Nov. 2 and will include the song “Don’t Lie to Me,” a Trump-inspired ditty co-written by Streisand. The album is her first of mostly original songs since 2005.
Thrilled to announce that my new album WALLS is coming out Nov 2nd including a song I co-wrote, “Don’t Lie To Me,” which is out now. This collection of songs reflects what’s been on my mind lately, and I look forward to sharing that with you. #BarbraWalls https://t.co/WXGXXBlchp pic.twitter.com/tmAdIYcBgm
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) September 27, 2018
While the album title itself conjures our “let’s build a wall!” president, “Don’t Lie to Me” comes at him more directly as Streisand sings, with that award-winning voice, about a powerful man who’s known to “change the facts.” It starts by asking, “Why can’t you just tell the truth?” and it’s on from there. At one point, she asks, “How do you win if we all lose?”
The song also includes the lyrics, “How do you sleep when the world keeps turning? / All that we’ve built has come undone.”
“I’ve written many articles about this … this person … who has no manners, insults everybody, makes fun of disabled people,” she told Billboard about the man she refers to as a “liar in chief” and “groper in chief.”
“What else could I think about?” she added. “It’s my protest, in a sense, about this unprecedented time in our history. What it says about America.”
The album cover features Streisand walled in — it’s the “wall of society, the walls of this presidency, the walls that obstruct justice,” she explained — and while it’s certainly political, she said the music on her upcoming release also speaks to resilience and offers a sense of hope.
“There’s a light coming in and hope for the future,” she said. “We have to grow as a nation.” (Part of the hopefulness is expressed in a cover of John Lennon‘s “Imagine,” which is also featured on the album.)
Streisand said that while she’s optimistic about the future of our country — starting with midterm elections — history has taught her otherwise.
“I’m afraid to be [hopeful], because we thought Hillary Clinton was going to win, and then she didn’t,” she noted. “And we weren’t sure about the hacking at that moment, but I’m sure that affected her not being made the president.”
She went on to say that the voting system must change.
“We have to give up the electoral college system, that’s what I know,” she told the magazine. “I think people should vote for the president of the United Status — the popular vote should count. Give people a voice; one vote, one voice.”
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