Marina’s co-write with Woody Guthrie Color Line (Old Man Trump) is going to be aired on the show Folk Espresso – Keep Your Light On, on KBOO radio in Portland, OR! Color Line airs at 6:29am PST on Monday, February 10. Click here to tune in live — or to listen back later! Thanks to KBOO and all the folkies keeping Woody’s legacy alive in these trying times.
Click here to stream/download Color Line.
Some background on the song:
In 1950, Woody Guthrie rented an apartment from Fred Trump. Soon after moving in, Guthrie wrote some of his bitterest lyrics in response to rampant racism and discrimination against people of color seeking tenancy in the public housing complex. These lyrics went unpublished until 2016. Upon reading them, Marina Evans was struck by the uncanny resemblance between the Trump Guthrie knew and his son, the 2016 Republican nominee for President of the United States, and so she wrote this song “Color Line,” setting selections of Guthrie’s original lyrics (and adding some new lyrics of her own) to new music she composed. Finally, upon signing a co-write agreement granting her the right to use Guthrie’s lyrics, Evans collaborated with producer Bernardo Baglioni to realize the song in its current form.
All proceeds from sales of this digital track will be donated to the Woody & Marjorie Guthrie Fund at the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. Woody Guthrie passed away from Huntington’s disease in 1967 and we are still working towards a cure for this fatal illness.
Read Guthrie’s original lyrics to “Old Man Trump” here:
woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/Old_Man_Trump.htm
Read more about Guthrie and Trump Sr.’s history here:
theconversation.com/woody-guthrie-old-man-trump-and-a-real-estate-empires-racist-foundations-53026