VIDEO: Randy Newman’s “I’m Dreaming”
Just when you thought Randy Newman traded in scathing commentary for Oscar gold (thanks to those treacly Pixar ditties), the man who once took on short people just released a biting new song. The politically-charged “I’m Dreaming” re-imagines Irving Berlin’s Christmas staple (I’m Dreaming Of A White Christmas) as an anti-Obama anthem. While Newman supports the president, the narrator in the satirical song is “dreaming of a white President/Someone whom we can understand/Someone who knows where we’re coming from.”
Newman is offering the song as a free download on his website where he explained: “No other Western industrialized nation would’ve elected a black president. I’m proud of this country for having elected Obama in 2008. But from the beginning of his term, I noticed a particular heat to conversations that wouldn’t ordinarily generate that kind of passion: The budget, appointments, health care. I think there are a lot of people who find it jarring to have a black man in the White House and they want him out. They just can’t believe that there’s not a more qualified white man. You won’t get anyone, and I do mean anyone, to admit it.”
He also encourages listeners to donate to the United Negro College Fund.
