Eric Clapton has shared a new song called ‘This Has Gotta Stop’ which hears the guitar legend seemingly frustrated with coronavirus protection measures.
The veteran rocker has been publicly vocal about his opposition to lockdown restrictions and vaccinations in recent months and last December he teamed up with fellow sceptic Van Morrison for the track ‘Stand and Deliver’, one of many anti-lockdown songs Morrison recorded and which were met with significant backlash.
Now, Clapton has shared ‘This Has Gotta Stop’, a new song on which he appears to air his frustrations with the measures in place to help curb the spread of COVID-19 while criticising the vaccine.
“I can’t take this B.S. any longer/ It’s gone far enough/ You wanna claim my soul, you’ll have to come and break down this door,” Clapton sings on the track.
Appearing to touch on his “disastrous” reaction to the vaccine – which he detailed in May after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine – he continues: “I knew that something was going on wrong/ When you started laying down the law/ I can’t move my hands/ I break out in sweat.”
The track comes with with a video that features illustrations of an evil puppeteer, hypnotised people, and protesters displaying signs that say “Liberty” and “Stop”. You can watch it below.
Last month, Clapton said he will not perform concerts that require proof of vaccination, after the government lifted restrictions last month.
He said in a statement posted on Robin Monotti Graziadei’s Telegram account: “Following the PM’s announcement on Monday the 19th of July 2021, I feel honour bound to make an announcement of my own: I wish to say that I will not perform on any stage where there is a discriminated audience present. Unless there is provision made for all people to attend, I reserve the right to cancel the show.”
In June, Clapton revealed that during the first UK lockdown he began to consume “alternative data” about the pandemic on YouTube from the group of academics behind the Great Barrington Declaration, whose call for ‘focussed protection’ for those at risk from coronavirus and a return to normal life for all others has been widely criticised by numerous public health bodies including the World Health Organisation.
“The more I got into that, the more I realised I was distancing myself not only from the government but from the rest of the public too,” Clapton said. Later he said he became involved in anti-lockdown communities on apps like Telegram.
Describing the fact he had to cancel a world tour as “devastating,” Clapton said he considered leaving the UK entirely, but had received backlash in America over his collaboration with Morrison. “The minute I began to say anything about the lockdown here, and my concerns, I was labelled a Trump supporter,” he said. “I got some pretty heavy feedback.”
Meanwhile, Queen‘s Brian May has shared his thoughts on Clapton and his COVID anti-vaxxer stance in a new interview.
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