BARBRA STREISAND - DON'T LIE TO ME

DON'T LIE TO ME

BARBRA STREISAND

SONGWRITERS: BARBRA STREISAND; JOHN SHANKS; JONAS MYRIN & JAY LANDERS

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: WALLS

LABEL: COLUMBIA

GENRE: POP

YEAR: 2018

 

        Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (/ˈstraɪsænd/; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, and filmmaker. With a career spanning six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment and is one of the few entertainers who have been awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award (EGOT).

                 Streisand began her career by performing in nightclubs and Broadway theaters in the early 1960s. Following her guest appearances on various television shows, she signed to Columbia Records and released her debut album, The Barbra Streisand Album (1963). It won two Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. Throughout her recording career, Streisand has topped the US Billboard 200 chart with 11 albums—a record for a woman—including People (1964), The Way We Were (1974), Guilty (1980), and Higher Ground (1997). She has attained five number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart: "The Way We Were", "Evergreen", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)", and "Woman in Love".

            After becoming an established recording artist in the 1960s, Streisand ventured into film by the end of that decade. She starred in the critically acclaimed Funny Girl (1968), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other films include Hello, Dolly! (1969), The Way We Were (1973), Nuts (1987), The Prince of Tides (1991) and A Star Is Born (1976), for which she won her second Academy Award, composing music for the love theme "Evergreen", the first woman to be honored as a composer. With the release of Yentl (1983), Streisand became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. The film won an Oscar for Best Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical. Streisand also received the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, becoming the first and only woman to win that award.

        With sales of over 150 million records worldwide, Streisand is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) lists her as the highest-certified female album artist with 68.5 million album units in the United States. Billboard honored Streisand as the greatest Billboard 200 female artist of all time. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, ten Grammy Awards including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Grammy Legend Award, five Emmy Awards, four Peabody Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and nine Golden Globes.

            "Don't Lie to Me" is the lead single from the 2018 Barbra Streisand album Walls, notably critical of the Trump administration. A remix by Dave Audé spent twelve weeks on the US Dance Club chart.

           The song was released on the 2018 album Walls, the first featuring primarily new material since 2005. Co-written by the singer, Streisand felt a need to write the song to help her cope with the Trump administration. Don't Lie To Me is the album's first single. It was inspired by a road trip when Streisand was listening to the radio and becoming disgusted by the content of the news. She originally wanted to create a subtle song, but ended up writing "Bombastic" lyrics. 

Why can't you just tell me the truth?

Hard to believe the things you say

Why can't you feel the tears I cry today

Cry today, cry today?

 

How do you win if we all lose?

You change the facts to justify

Your lips move, but your words get in the way

In the way, in the way

 

Kings and queens, crooks and thieves

You don’t see the forest for the trees

Head and heart, on our knees

You can’t see what we all see

 

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?

Everyone answers to someone

 

Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me

You lie to me

Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me

You lie to me

 

You can build towers of bronze and gold

You can paint castles in the sky

You can use smoke and mirrors, old clichés

Not today, not today

 

Kings and queens, crooks and thieves

You don’t see the forest for the trees

Hand on heart, down on knees

You can’t see what everyone sees

 

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?

Everyone answers to someone

 

Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me

You lie to me

Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me

You lie to me

 

Can’t you see I’m crying?

Can’t you see we’re crying?

Where’s the new horizon?

Where’s the new horizon?

 

How do you sleep?

How do you sleep?

How do you sleep?

 

How do you sleep when the world keeps turning? (How do you sleep?)

All that we built has come undone (enough is enough)

How do you sleep when the world is burning? (How do you sleep?)

Everyone answers to someone

 

Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me

You lie to me

Don’t lie to me, don’t lie to me

You lie to me

 

Can’t you see I’m crying?

(Can’t you see we’re crying?)

Can’t you see we’re crying?

Everyone answers to someone.