Van Morrison has officially fallen down the black hole of COVID-19 conspiracy theories, and Eric Clapton is willfully joining him for the ride. This afternoon, the two veteran musicians teamed up to release a new anti-lockdown song called “Stand and Deliver”. Spoiler alert: it’s truly awful.
“Stand and Deliver” is an original song written by Morrison and sung by Clapton. The mild blues rock track is all about how the government is preventing people from living their daily lives, and how it’s up to those people to stand up for their rights before they become brainwashed. “I just wanna do my job/ Playing the blues for my friends/ Magna Carta, Bill of Rights/ The Constitution, what’s it worth?” sings Clapton. “Do you wanna be a free man/ Or do you wanna be a slave?” There’s a generic guitar solo thrown in for good measure, too.
When the pair teased the track a few weeks ago, it had a slightly different set of lyrics. The official version of “Stand and Deliver” out today replaced the term “fascist state” with “police state” in the line, “Is this a sovereign nation/ Or just a police state?/ You better look out people/ Before it gets too late.” It also nixed the phrase “Dick Turpin wore a mask too” in favor of “Not a word you heard was true.”
Most artists would hesitate to work with a musician who believes socially distancing is “pseudo-science”, but not Clapton. A few weeks ago, he was full of pride when it came to collaborating with Morrison. “There are many of us who support Van and his endeavors to save live music; he is an inspiration,” said Clapton. “We must stand up and be counted because we need to find a way out of this mess. The alternative is not worth thinking about.”
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On a more positive note, proceeds from the song will benefit Morrison’s Lockdown Financial Hardship Fund, which supports musicians whose income have been impacted by the UK’s lockdown measures. If you want to subject yourself to the ignorant lyrics in real time without paying, feel free to stream the song below.
This is the latest track Morrison has shared from his anti-lockdown song series. In previous months, he released numbers like “Born to Be Free” and “No More Lockdown”, and both echoed similar sentiments about how people are being oppressed by the science-backed mandate to wash their hands, wear masks, socially distance, and stay home whenever possible. On the latter offering he sang, “No more Imperial College Scientists making up crooked facts,” which says all you need to know about his terribly ill-informed stance.
Editor’s Note: Stay safe by picking up one of our custom face masks. A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares’ COVID-19 Artist Relief fund supporting independent musicians.
