Nonesuch Records release a vinyl 7-inch single of two Randy Newman songs today, Inauguration Day 2017: "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country," from the new Randy Newman Songbook box set, b/w "Putin," a new song released digitally this past October. Pick up a copy of the 7-inch is now at your local record shop, on Amazon and in the Nonesuch Store.

"On this day," says Newman, "I would like to say a few words in defense of our country."

Randy Newman first presented the lyrics of "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" as an op-ed piece in the New York Times in January 2007, in response to a State of the Union address by then-President George W. Bush, and included the song on his 2008 album Harps and Angels. The Los Angeles Times called it a "three-decades-on bookend to 'Political Science'" that was "so funny it hurt." Here is his performance of the song from 2007:

Upon the release of "Putin," just prior to this year's presidential election, the New York Times said the song, "featuring a billowy orchestra in razzle-dazzle mode, feels uncannily well timed ... As is often the case in Mr. Newman’s satire, the tone lands somewhere in between scathing and sympathetic, making earnest points amid ridicule." You can watch the video for the song here:

The Randy Newman Songbook, a set of the first two volumes in the Songbook series—solo recordings of songs from throughout Newman's five-decade career—plus 16 songs from a new third volume and additional bonus tracks (including "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country"), was released in a four-LP box set in September and will be available in a three-CD set starting this Friday, December 16.