18 September 2020
Newsdesk
The 75-year-old musician is dropping the tracks - 'Born To Be Free', 'As I Walked Out' and 'No More Lockdown' - as part of his #SaveLiveMusic campaign, and he has questioned the way the government has handled the coronavirus pandemic.
He 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 is campaigning for performance venues to be allowed to open at full capacity, and has voiced his concerns that lockdown is endangering the live music scene.
Live music was banned in the UK when lockdown was introduced in March, although it has been possible for indoor live music performances to take place with socially distanced audiences since August 1.
However, venues and artists have expressed concerns about whether this model is financially viable.
Morrison - who is set to perform at the London Palladium later this month - will be debuting the tracks at his upcoming shows.
They will be previewed on the #SaveLiveMusic social media platforms, and will be made available for download and streaming only from selected outlets.
'Born To Be Free' will drop in September, with 'As I Walked Out' following on October 9 and 'No More Lockdown' on October 23.
In the latter, Morrison claims: "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.
"Who’s running our country? Who’s running our world? Examine it closely, and watch it unfurl."
