Carole King has become the latest musician to release music as a statement of protest against Donald Trump’s presidency. King has put out a version of her 1982 song One Small Voice, which is based on Hans Christian Andersen’s tale The Emperor’s New Clothes.

“The emperor’s got no clothes on / No clothes? That can’t be; he’s the emperor,” she sings. “Take that child away / Don’t let the people hear the words he has to say.”

Writing in the Huffington Post, King explained that she composed One Small Voice in 1982, then rerecorded it more than 20 years later without synthesisers – only to forget about the later recording until 20 January this year.

“On 21 January 2017,” she wrote, “men, women, and children of all ages with a variety of political views marched peacefully in women’s marches on seven continents around the world. I marched in a snowstorm in Stanley, Idaho (pop. 63) with 29 other people, comprising half the town. I carried a handmade sign that said ‘One Small Voice’ because I’ve never stopped believing that one small voice plus millions of other small voices is exactly how we change the world.

“I’m making the updated recording of One Small Voice available to everyone because it will take the strength and persistence of many small voices to overcome the lies of the loudest voice with our message of truth, dignity and decency.”

Though it is many years since the peak of King’s success, she retains a huge and adoring following. When she performed her 1971 album Tapestry in full last summer for the first time, she attracted a sellout crowd of more than 50,000 to Hyde Park in London.