CULTURE

Barbra Streisand Makes Her Glorious Return With an Anti-Trump Song

Listen to “Don’t Lie to Me.”


Barbra Streisand new song
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As one of the Proverbs clearly states: When Babs sings, we listen.

Giving us a temporary refuge in our current political hell, Barbra Streisand has released a new song — her first in quite a while — and this one serves as the musical equivalent of a savage Donald Trump takedown.

Enter “Don’t Lie to Me,” which, at its heart, serves as a message to the president on why he’s so hell-bent on tearing the country apart. “How do you sleep when the world is burning?” she croons in one of the stanzas. “I just went ballistic. I just can’t stand what’s going on,” Streisand told the Associated Press in a corresponding interview. “His assault on our democracy, our institutions, our founders — I think we’re in a fight. … we’re in a war for the soul of America.”

The song comes in anticipation of the icon’s upcoming November album Walls, which, the AP notes, is her first album of new material since 2005. “I wanted to talk about the things that were making me feel so sad, heartbroken,” she said of the album. “I’m a kind of fierce American. I don’t know who we are anymore as a country. Are we embracing people who flee oppression? Or are we separating children from parents, putting them in cages? I don’t know if people care about the planet, the survival of the planet. Do they care about clean air? Clean water? Clean food? If they do, how could they vote for somebody like Trump, who believes it’s a hoax. I’m frightened for this country. And yet, I have hope. It’s important that people believe in the power of their own voice and how much that changes things.”

The Best of Babs: The Original Red Carpet and Front Row Risk-Taker

Streisand attends the 1969 Academy Awards ceremony in a see-through, sequined two-piece suit. She tied for Best Actress with Katharine Hepburn for her role in “Funny Girl.”

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Streisand attends a Chanel fashion show in Paris with photographer Richard Avedon, wearing a leopard skin suit in 1966.

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Streisand wears white knee-high lace-up boots in 1966.

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Streisand in a three-piece suit, stands in front of a folding screen with her hands on her hips in 1965.

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American singer and actor Sammy Davis Jr. stands with presenter Barbra Streisand, who wore a sequined gown and choker at the 1968 Academy Awards ceremony.

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Streisand drinking coffee at a New York restaurant wearing a newsboy cap in 1963.

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Streisand wearing a tuxedo and bowtie at the after party for the 1976 New York premiere of “A Star Is Born,” which took place at Tavern on the Green.

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Actor John Wayne and Streisand at the 42nd Annual Academy Awards in 1970.

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Streisand wearing a matching polka-dot dress and headscarf at her townhouse in New York City in 1970.

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Streisand walks with her boyfriend, Jon Peters, in London Airport before the premiere of “Funny Lady” in 1975 wearing an ensemble that was emblematic of the decade.

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Streisand arriving with her husband, actor Elliott Gould, at a party for the film, “Bullitt” in 1968. Streisand wears large sunglasses, and Gould wears a dapper trench.

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Streisand looking easy and breezy in 1966.

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Streisand attends the premiere and after party for “Hello, Dolly!” in 1969 look like the queen of New York in all-white and fur.

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Streisand dressed in white with a mink fur hat and trimmings in December 1969.

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Streisand stands out at a pro-Israel rally at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, to raise emergency funds for Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967.

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Streisand wearing a fuchsia pink silk dress with a scoop neckline and a matching bow around the waist, circa 1965.

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Streisand attends the 1992 U.S. Open Tennis Championship with Michael Bolton wearing a white bucket hat and round sunglasses.

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Streisand at “The Prince of Tides” Los Angeles Premiere in 1991 wearing a white lace busier underneath a white suit jacket.

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Streisand wearing a red-and-white wool dress and cardigan, circa 1965.

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Streisand wears a velvet cape and turban in the 90s.

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Streisand attends the 57th Annual Golden Globe Awards wearing a shimmering sweater dress in 2000.

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James Brolin and Streisand attend the 56th Annual Emmy Awards in 2004, where she wore yet another velvet cape — this time in pink.

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Streisand showed some leg at the premiere of “A Guy Thing” in 2003.

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Streisand wears her now-signature suit and bowtie to the 23rd annual Glamour Women Of The Year gala in 2013.

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Streisand is all sparkles in head-to-toe blue at the American Society Of Cinematographers 29th Annual Outstanding Achievement Awards in February, 2015.

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Streisand heads to the Renaissance fair, aka LACMA’s 50th Anniversary Gala, in yet another choker and a loose head of curls in April, 2015.

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Streisand puts on a choker and and matching green gown for the 42nd Chaplin Award Gala in New York in April, 2015.

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Streisand crimps her hair and throws on a tasseled necklace to be honored at the Hollywood Reporter‘s Women in Entertainment Breakfast in Los Angeles in December, 2015.

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Streisand channels the ’90s in ruffled cuffs and another choker at a town hall with SiriusXM and the cast of School Of Rock in New York in August, 2016.

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Before spreading out her flowing gown onstage at the opening night of her 2016 tour, “Barbra: The Music, The Mem’ries, The Magic!*, Streisand shows off her beads backstage in Los Angeles in August, 2016.

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