Van Morrison announced he’s releasing three new protest songs that voice his opposition to various lockdown measures put in place by the U.K. government.
Per Morrison’s official website, the songs are titled “Born To Be Free,” “As I Walked Out” and “No More Lockdown,” with each song being rolled out to major digital platforms on September 25, October 9 and October 23, respectively.
In a statement about the song, Morrison 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.”
Morrison has been very vocal about his opposition to lockdown measures, especially when it comes to live music. The announcement of the protest songs also states, “The singer-songwriter, who is campaigning for performance venues to open at full capacity again, feels strongly that lockdown is in danger of killing live music. Without a date for reopening fully in 2020, many venues will shut down for good…Live music was banned completely when the lockdown was imposed in March. It has been possible for indoor live music performances to take place with socially distanced audiences since August 1. But very few gigs have taken place in the UK and most venues remain shut.”
Morrison is currently slated to perform at the London Palladium on September 23 and 24 and will debut his new songs during those performances.