Editorial

The Ongoing Tantrum Against Eric Clapton And Van Morrison For Daring To Question The Liberal Orthodoxy Is Amazingly Fun To Watch

Music For The Marsden 2020

(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Katie Jerkovich Entertainment Reporter
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The ongoing tantrum against Eric Clapton and Van Morrison for daring to question the liberal orthodoxy around the pandemic has been fun to watch.

Clapton was the focus of a recent article by the Washington Post titled, “What happened to Eric Clapton? The guitar legend has long been inscrutable, but his covid turn has friends and fans puzzled like never before.” The piece was published Thursday.

The report said it spoke to numerous friends and people the singer has worked with during his lengthy career, and all but two expressed shock and anger over his stance against the government’s policies during the COVID-19 outbreak. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)

In December 2020 Clapton and Morrison released their anti-lockdown song, “Stand and Deliver.” (RELATED: The Coronavirus Lockdowns Went Too Far For Classic Rock Stars Eric Clapton, Van Morrison)

“Do you wanna be a free man/ Or do you wanna be a slave?/ Do you wanna wear these chains/ Until you’re lying in the grave?” the lyrics to the song read.

“There are many of us who support Van and his endeavors to save live music; he is an inspiration,” Clapton said in a statement to Variety. “We must stand up and be counted because we need to find a way out of this mess. The alternative is not worth thinking about. Live music might never recover.”

“Eric’s recording is fantastic and will clearly resonate with many who share our frustrations,” Morrison said in a statement via Save Live Music.

Then came two more songs, “The Rebels” and “This Has Gotta Stop,” about the pandemic lockdowns and his own experience with the vaccine. Clapton said he wouldn’t perform in venues “where there is a discriminated audience present,” the report noted.

“Where have all the rebels gone? Hiding behind their computer screens. Where’s the spirit, where is the soul. Where have all the rebels gone,'” Clapton asked in the song, according to a Rolling Stone magazine in May 2020 titled, “Eric Clapton’s Anti-Vaccine Diatribe Blames ‘Propaganda’ for ‘Disastrous’ Experience.”

We found numerous other articles from outlets that made it clear they aren’t happy with the legend’s anti-lockdown/vaccine stance.

Another article earlier this year in The Guardian was titled, “Surprised Eric Clapton is a conspiracy theorist? Don’t be: Surprisingly few people know about the rock star’s long history of egregious awfulness.”

In October, NBC News put out an article under the headline that read, “Eric Clapton’s Covid vaccine conspiracies mark a sad final act.”

In the network’s piece, the author wrote, “Since last year, Clapton has repeatedly used his vast platform to do his utmost to undermine expert medical advice.”

In a November 2020 piece in The Wrap, “Eric Clapton Sparks Backlash for New Anti-Lockdown Song With Van Morrison.

Numerous media figures, performers and authors have also had harsh words for Clapton and Morrison, Newsweek.com noted.