NORTHERN IRISH music legend Van Morrison has taken aim at the UK government in a series of new songs protesting against the coronavirus lockdown.
The veteran singer is reportedly set to claim scientists as “making up crooked facts” on one of the new tracks while on another he declares “the new normal, is not normal” adding that “we were born to be free”.
Arguably his most scathing criticism is reserved for the track No More Lockdown which sees the Belfast-born singer brand the British government as “fascist bullies”.
“No more lockdown / No more government overreach,” he sings on the track’s chorus, according to the BBC.
“No more fascist bullies / Disturbing our peace. No more taking of our freedom / And our God given rights / Pretending it’s for our safety / When it’s really to enslave.”
Another of the songs references a widely-shared Facebook post featuring a screenshot from the UK government website saying: "Covid-19 is no longer considered to be a high consequence infectious disease (HCID) in the UK".
While Covid-19 is not an HCID – a status given to viruses with a higher rate of fatalities – it is considered highly infectious. The lack of a vaccine or specific treatment adds to the dangers associated with the virus,
Van Morrison has been an outspoken critic of the lockdown.
In a previous open letter to fans, he hit out at the “pseudo-science” behind plans for socially distanced gigs.
While Van Morrison played several socially-distanced shows at Camden’s Electric Ballroom and Newcastle’s Virgin Money Unity Arena, he was keen to stress that the appearances should not be taken as a sign of “compliance”
“This is not a sign of compliance or acceptance of the current state of affairs, this is to get my band up and running and out of the doldrums,” he said.
“This is also not the answer going forward. We need to be playing to full capacity audiences going forward.
“I call on my fellow singers, musicians, writers, producers, promoters and others in the industry to fight with me on this.”
The Northern Irishman is one of several musicians to speak out against the measures put in place to stop the spread of coronavirus, following on from Noel Gallagher and Ian Brown.
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