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Source: The Independent
The once-great Irish singer has trashed his reputation by preaching extremism around Covid. Oliver Keens worries that Glastonbury's involvement with him could hurt the world's greatest music festival’s impeccable reputation
The once-great Irish singer has trashed his reputation by preaching extremism around Covid. Oliver Keens worries that Glastonbury's involvement with him could hurt the world's greatest music festival’s impeccable reputation
Cantankerous pop star: Van Morrison performs in March 2020, before coronavirus struck (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
What connects the town of Glastonbury in Somerset and professional sourpuss Van Morrison? Well for starters, they both have god-given gifts: Glastonbury is blessed with the mythical Tor, the Vale of Avalon and an abundance of natural beauty. Few would say that Van Morrison is blessed with natural beauty, but he does own a singing voice in the realm of the divine.
They're also joined by the Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza – an annual event organised by the Eavis family, who also run the Glastonbury Festival. Van is an Abbey favourite. He's played the community-oriented event three times before, and will headline again this September. But this time feels different. Why? Because Van Morrison has become a stain on music, an anti-social menace and someone who probably shouldn't have access to a platform for a while. As a fan of the festival, I'm worried that Glastonbury's reputation could be damaged by working with such a toxic human right now.
Despite being prevented from gigging, Van Morrison has managed to have what you might call an active pandemic. Back in March 2020, as the deadly respiratory virus was starting to take hold in the UK, the singer told The Independent in an interview: "Like everyone else, I'm following the guidelines." That was perhaps the last time Van acted "like everyone else".
Lately, he's decried scientists and their "crooked facts", urging people to "fight the pseudoscience" surrounding Coronavirus. He thinks governments "enslave" people with their silly lockdowns, and points fingers at people in power "who haven't missed a pay cheque since this lockdown began".
Some of this nonsense is served via social media, but most has been in the form of song lyrics. After a career where the drama of Irish politics seldom featured in his work, Van Morrison now describes his deeply paranoid offerings as "protest songs". He's even teamed up with fellow Covid-sceptic Eric Clapton (under the name – kill me – The Rebels) to release dull songs that compare lockdown to historic slavery. For good measure, Van also likes to hint strongly at another ancient conspiracy theory: one song on his latest album is called "They Own The Media". Wink wink, nudge nudge. I'm not saying that Van Morrison is peddling anti-Semitism, but he also sang in 2005 about how being "sold out for a few shekels" was "the oldest story ever told". Make your own mind up, as conspiracy theorists are often wont to say.
As controversy around Morrison's lyrics grew, Rolling Stone magazine – in what was surely a first – reached out to Northern Ireland’s Health Minister Robin Swann for comment about the singer's views. He classed them as "dangerous". Last week, at a fancy five-course dinner at the Europa Hotel in Belfast, at which he was meant to perform, Morrison was filmed trying to lead a chant against a democratically elected official, slapping his hand down on a podium and encouraging the room to chant "Robin Swann is a dangerous man". The bemused attendees had paid hundreds to hear his sumptuous voice and instead were being told to use their own. No matter that Swann had previously been threatened with beheading by an internet troll over the response to Covid, Van wanted vengeance served with a riotous chant.
I am aware that "famously cantankerous pop star has problematic views" is a spectacularly unoriginal story. What makes this more unusually awkward, though, is that Glastonbury Festival is choosing to put on this clown.
Please go to The Independent to read more.
Despite being prevented from gigging, Van Morrison has managed to have what you might call an active pandemic. Back in March 2020, as the deadly respiratory virus was starting to take hold in the UK, the singer told The Independent in an interview: "Like everyone else, I'm following the guidelines." That was perhaps the last time Van acted "like everyone else".
Lately, he's decried scientists and their "crooked facts", urging people to "fight the pseudoscience" surrounding Coronavirus. He thinks governments "enslave" people with their silly lockdowns, and points fingers at people in power "who haven't missed a pay cheque since this lockdown began".
Some of this nonsense is served via social media, but most has been in the form of song lyrics. After a career where the drama of Irish politics seldom featured in his work, Van Morrison now describes his deeply paranoid offerings as "protest songs". He's even teamed up with fellow Covid-sceptic Eric Clapton (under the name – kill me – The Rebels) to release dull songs that compare lockdown to historic slavery. For good measure, Van also likes to hint strongly at another ancient conspiracy theory: one song on his latest album is called "They Own The Media". Wink wink, nudge nudge. I'm not saying that Van Morrison is peddling anti-Semitism, but he also sang in 2005 about how being "sold out for a few shekels" was "the oldest story ever told". Make your own mind up, as conspiracy theorists are often wont to say.
As controversy around Morrison's lyrics grew, Rolling Stone magazine – in what was surely a first – reached out to Northern Ireland’s Health Minister Robin Swann for comment about the singer's views. He classed them as "dangerous". Last week, at a fancy five-course dinner at the Europa Hotel in Belfast, at which he was meant to perform, Morrison was filmed trying to lead a chant against a democratically elected official, slapping his hand down on a podium and encouraging the room to chant "Robin Swann is a dangerous man". The bemused attendees had paid hundreds to hear his sumptuous voice and instead were being told to use their own. No matter that Swann had previously been threatened with beheading by an internet troll over the response to Covid, Van wanted vengeance served with a riotous chant.
Van Morrison and Ian Paisley Jr would like you to know Robin Swann "is very dangerous", and they'd like you to know it repeatedly pic.twitter.com/q1ZOUX6f7K
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 11, 2021
Please go to The Independent to read more.
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