Van Morrison has announced the impending release of three songs protesting the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
As reported by the BBC, the tracks are set to be released over two-week intervals, with the first dropping September 25.
The song, titled ‘Born To Be Free’, features lyrics including: “The new normal, is not normal/ It’s no kind of normal at all/ Everyone seems to have amnesia/ Don’t need the government cramping my style/ Give them an inch, they take a mile.”
Another song, ‘No More Lockdown’, denounces “fascist bullies” amongst the pandemic: “No more lockdown/ No more government outreach/ No more fascist bullies/ Disturbing our peace.”
The third track, ‘As I Walked Out’, references confusion around the severity of coronavirus: “Well, on the government website from the 21st March 2020/ It said COVID-19 was no longer high risk/ Then two days later/ They put us under lockdown.”
The news of the tracks comes after Morrison described socially-distanced concerts as “pseudo-science”.
Despite having played three socially-distanced shows in the last few weeks, he said such gigs are not “economically viable.”
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“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 last month.
“This is also not the answer going forward…We need to be playing to full capacity audiences going forward.”
In a statement regarding the new songs, Morrison said they were based on his belief in “freedom of choice.”
“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,” he said.
Check out ‘Days Like This’ by Van Morrison:
