Recently, legendary singer Barbra Streisand released her 36th studio album, Walls. Fans of the legendary gay icon view her as one of America’s most popular recording artists. Her record-breaking sales include a total of 34 top-ten albums since 1963, winning Streisand ten Grammy awards.
The LGBTQ activist takes a political approach with her latest album. The album features several tracks that criticize President Trump’s actions. Through the midst of the chaos, the singer hope to bring hope and inspire people to change the world.
"We will not sacrifice the liberties we cherish or hunker down behind walls of suspicion and mistrust.” – President @BarackObama
Go Behind The Song on WALLS ▶️https://t.co/Xw4rsq7ctR pic.twitter.com/yWd1tm7h4L
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) November 7, 2018
The two-time Academy award winner’s first single, “Don’t Lie to Me,” expresses her political beliefs and questions on President Trump. “You can make castles in the sky. You can use smoke and mirrors and old cliches … don’t lie to me,” the lyrics read.
The chorus continues her concerns, expressing, “How do you sleep when the world keeps turning? All that we built has come undone, how do you sleep when the world is burning?”
In an interview with Billboard, Streisand said she found inspiration in the political climate to write songs, saying it was time to express her political beliefs through music.
“I’ve written many articles about this, this person, who has no manners, insults everybody, makes fun of disabled people,” she said. “It’s my protest, in a sense, about this unprecedented time in our history.”
Fans find another album track, “Love’s Never Wrong,” as a pro-LGBTQ anthem that seeks to diminish hateful rhetoric. The song expresses staying true to oneself, with lyrics that include, “You know what’s true, be true to you, be proud, be strong, ‘cuz love’s never wrong.”
The mother of an openly gay son fears that the President is dividing the world. Streisand speaks in an interview with Maclean’s on the influence Trump’s actions have on the younger generation. “I think this is what hurts me the most about Trump: his influence on what children see and hear and possibly emulate,” she said. She also spoke on the dangers of toxic masculinity, saying, “It is the kind of behavior that produces sexism and racism.”
Streisand finds diversity to be the country and world’s greatest strength. “To say people are how they are because of how they were born – it’s that thinking that is wrong. I believe different shouldn’t be judged by any other kind of meter,” she told PinkNews. “Statistically, in terms of genome studies, people have 99.9 percent of the same genetics. We are alike. We all want peace and happiness and family and love and understanding.”
The 76-year-old artist also told Maclean’s that her latest album is not just a protest, but a combination of despair and hope. Instead of building walls to tear families apart, Streisand believes people should want to build bridges.