Van Morrison, the prickly 75-year-old Northern Irish folk-soul singer, has written three new songs that blast away at the government, pseudoscience, incursions on liberty, and coronavirus-based hysteria. One song, “No More Lockdown,” reports the BBC, contains such lyrics as “No more lockdown / No more government overreach/No more fascist bullies / Disturbing our peace/No more taking of our freedom / And our God given rights / Pretending it’s for our safety / When it’s really to enslave.”

Morrison has declared a personal interest: He thinks socially distanced concerts are economically untenable for performers. He has sung at three such concerts this month and is evidently irritated by the restrictions on ticket sales necessitated by social distancing. “I call on my fellow singers, musicians, writers, producers, promoters and others in the industry to fight with me on this,” he has said. “Come forward, stand up, fight the pseudo-science and speak up.”

The health minister for Northern Ireland has denounced Morrison. Says Robin Swann, “I don’t know where he gets his facts. I know where the emotions are on this, but I will say that sort of messaging is dangerous.”

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