Mama didn’t tell me there’d be days like this
Singer-songwriter has produced three tracks protesting against pandemic restrictions
Van Morrison is releasing three protest songs raging against lockdown. The singer-songwriter believes the Government is spreading “fear and loathing” in its response to the pandemic. He is particularly aggrieved at the effect on live music. The three songs, No More Lockdown, Born To Be
Free and As I Walked Out, take aim at the Government, celebrities and having his freedom curtailed, and will be made available for download and streaming from Sept 25.
‘It’s about freedom of choice. I believe that people should have the right to think for themselves’
HAVE I TOLD you lately that I hate the Government’s Covid restrictions?
That is the message from Van Morrison, who is releasing three protest songs raging against lockdown.
The veteran singer-songwriter believes the Government is spreading “fear and loathing” in its response to the pandemic.
He is particularly aggrieved at the effect on live music. Morrison recently played three socially distanced gigs, including one in Newcastle at which the audience was confined to individual pens stationed 2m apart.
The three songs, No More Lockdown, Born To Be Free and As I Walked Out, take aim at the Government, celebrities and having his freedom taken away. The three tracks will be made available for download and streaming, beginning with Born To Be Free on Sept 25.
Morrison, 75, known for the classics, Have I Told You Lately, and Bright Side of the Road, said: “I’m not telling people what to do or think – the Government is doing a great job of that already. It’s about freedom of choice. I believe people should have the right to think for themselves.”
In one of his more recent interviews, the star said: “I’ve got nothing to say about politics and I’m not going to start now.”
But the effect of the pandemic on music venues and musicians prompted him last month to launch a campaign on his website asking fellow artists, producers and promoters to help him fight for the resumption of live music with full capacity audiences. “Come forward, fight the pseudoscience and speak up,” he wrote. The singer is said to be frustrated that few in the industry, besides Lord Lloyd-webber, have complained publicly about the effect that lockdown is having on live music. Explaining why he had begun playing gigs to socially distanced crowds, he said: “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. “This is also not the answer going forward. We need to be playing to full-capacity audiences going forward.”
The Music Venue Trust say that more than 400 grassroots UK music venues are at imminent risk of closing down if the Government does not give the go-ahead for gigs to be played in front of full crowds.
Morrison will perform the tracks live for the first time at the London Palladium in November, where he will play four gigs postponed from March.
His gig at Newcastle Racecourse two weeks ago was one of a series in which audience members watched from raised platforms, heralded as the industry’s first steps towards resuming gigs with large crowds. Other acts to perform there included Ronan Keating, Jason Manford and Jimmy Carr.
But the promoters announced yesterday that future shows have been cancelled after the Government imposed new lockdown measures in the North East.