Eric Clapton & Van Morrison Ask “Do You Want To Be A Slave?” On New Anti-Lockdown Song
Van Morrison is not a fan of the COVID-19 restrictions intended to curb the spread of the pandemic, and he wants everyone to know it. He’s been releasing a series of anti-lockdown anthems with titles like “Born To Be Free” and “No More Lockdown” and lyrics like “No more taking our freedom/ And our God-given rights/ Pretending it’s for our safety/ When it’s really to enslave” and “No more Imperial College Scientists making up crooked facts.” Last month, Morrison announced that he was teaming up with fellow boomer rock icon Eric Clapton for another one, “Stand And Deliver.” It’s here now, and it’s more of the same shit.
Written by Morrison and sung by Clapton, “Stand And Deliver” includes lyrics like “I just wanna do my job/ Playin’ the blues for my friends/ Magna Carta, Bill Of Rights/ The Constitution, what’s it worth?” and “Is this a sovereign nation/ Or just a police state?/ You better look out people/ ‘Fore it gets too late.” (The original version, which you can find online, says “fascist state” and contains other slightly altered lyrics like “Dick Turpin wore a mask too.”) At one point, Clapton asks, “Do you wanna be a free man/ Or do you wanna be a slave?” Here it is.