Van Morrison is keeping up his anti-lockdown sentiments, now with help. Eric Clapton performs a new single, "Stand and Deliver," written by Morrison, which will be released Dec. 4 in support of Morrison's "Save Live Music" campaign, per Variety. Morrison, of Northern Ireland, has already released three of his own singles with a theme of protesting UK lockdown measures, which he argues unfairly target live music performances, prompting one health official to label the music as "dangerous." "Eric's recording ... will clearly resonate with the many who share our frustrations," Morrison says. "It is heartbreaking to see so many talented musicians lack any meaningful support from the government, but we want to reassure them that we are working hard every day to lobby for the return of live music."
England's Clapton—who performed with Morrison in London in March, just before the first UK lockdown went into effect—calls him an "inspiration" in his own statement. "We must stand up and be counted because we need to find a way out of this mess," he says. Otherwise, "live music might never recover." Proceeds from the song will go to the Lockdown Financial Hardship Fund, which Morrison launched to assist struggling musicians. Morrison announced the single on Twitter Friday, shortly before quoting the director of a UK playhouse. "I'd welcome a conversation about the science or to see the evidence as to why shops, gyms, restaurants, and football stadia can open from December and theaters, with all our COVID precautions, can't," Leeds Playhouse's James Brining had said, per the Stage. (More Van Morrison stories.)
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