Oscar-winning composer Randy Newman has released a controversial new song, 'I'm Dreaming', in which he sings that he's dreaming of a white president.
No, the beloved Pixar collaborator hasn't suddenly revealed himself to be a racist; he's simply mocking what he sees as racially motivated vitriol towards President Barack Obama (it might come as a surprise to younger readers, but Newman was a great satirical songwriter long before you had a friend in him).
The track sees Newman's intentionally ignorant narrator claim that no brilliant men come from Africa, because they are picked off by lions as boys. "I'm dreaming of a white president / Someone who we can understand," he sings. "Someone who knows where we're coming from / And that the law of the jungle is not the law of this land."
"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," Newman said in a press release explaining the motivation behind the track. "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."
In an interview with Slate, Newman confessed his fear that children won't understand the satirical nature of the song, and encouraged listeners to donate to the United Negro College Fund to make his stance clear.
"You can't really hide the internet from kids," Newman said. "It worries me some particularly because I've done Disney and Pixar stuff. In Toy Story, there's my voice saying, 'You've got a friend in me'. And then here's my voice singing that I want 'A real live white man who knows the score'. I'd like it to be clearer which side I'm on. Of course, it comes a little late."
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
