BY RICK WINSTON

Editor’s note: Back in 2017, at the start of Trump’s first term, I put together for this blog a pair of Trump YouTube playlists (see here and here, but, alas, some links no longer work).  My second list included Bob Dylan’s anthem “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” performed here at the Obama White House, and followed that with Billy Bragg’s “The Times They are A-Changing Back,” written shortly after Trump’s first inauguration.  Now my old college pal Rick Winston has rewritten lyrics that Trump might sing (if he even could).  I thought people might enjoy it.  Rick says “there could be twenty more verses” and invites contributions.  Let’s all work hard to make these changes as fleeting as can be.–Hank Reichman

THE TIMES THEY HAVE A-CHANGED

The figures are drawn, the votes will be cast
The poor ones lose more when the budget is passed
The wealth of my friends will be ever more vast
Who cares at the fortune I’m thieving.
FDR’s safety net will be shredded at last,
For the times they have changed past believing.

Come Hegseth and Bondi, well-groomed and well-fed,
I’ll give you a job that’s way over your head,
You’ll both lie to the Senate and lose all your cred
And then use Signal Chat indiscreetly.
I wanted Matt Gaetz, but now Pam’s in his stead,
For the times have changed so completely.

Come all you law firms who filed the wrong suit,
I’ll make you bow down and I’ll gather your loot.
Retribution, I say, and I’m in hot pursuit.
It’s a new world that you’re not conceiving.
Is that legal, you ask, but the point it is moot
For the times they’ve changed past believing.

Come all shithole countries all over the earth
No more programs for you, your lives have no worth
Scientists fired, a cause for more mirth
Since we’ve shut NIH down so neatly.
The new Dark Ages –  We’re seeing their birth,
For the times have changed so completely.

Come all you grad students from faraway lands
Don’t write any op-eds or take any stands.
Soon ICE will arrive, best obey their commands,
For El Salvador jail you’re soon leaving.
Your fate is now in Bukele’s hands,
For the times they have changed past conceiving.

Come artists and writers with a liberal stance
Better save up your money, you’re not getting grants.
Your DEI projects they don’t stand a chance.
Get that racial stuff out, I mean fleetly.
Who cares about music and painting and dance,
For the times they have changed so completely.

Rick Winston co-founded Montpelier, Vermont’s Savoy Theater in 1981 and was co-owner until 2009.  His memoir, Save Me a Seat!: A Life With Movies, was published in 2023.  He currently teaches film history throughout Vermont.