Why isn’t Ian Brown clapping for the biosecurity state like Sir Mick Jagger?

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One of Bob Marley’s best performances was when he played the legendary Rufaro Stadium in Harare city, Zimbabwe, in 1980.

“People,” he said into the mic. “You haffi stay at least a two metre distance between yourselves now mek sure yuh kip yuh masks on at ALL times, an believe mi wen mi sey, trust di government. It ave yuh best interests at heart, always. Now before mi play “Cornerstone”, I want you to clap fi di NHS!”

Reimagining anti-establishment Marley praying to the mantle of COVID may sound a bit weird. But something very strange has happened to today’s rockstars who are doing this very thing. It’s clear not many share his mantra of “Better to die fighting for freedom than be a prisoner all the days of your life” in these days of lockdown. Nor do they have the inclination to.

“Better to die fighting for freedom than be a prisoner all the days of your life” Bob Marley. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons

Recently the Stones frontman Mick Jagger released a song with Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl. Their track, Eazy Sleazy contained lyrics, which at first glance sound like someone actually, god forbid was actually “sticking it to the man”. ”Shooting the vaccine/Bill Gates is in my bloodstream/It's mind control," wails Mick. Though he now openly admits this was about poking fun at the conspiracy theorists.

You’d think really that this entire lockdown would be prime material for music. If one rolls out the dystopian shopping list, there is: the erosion of civil rights, increased surveillance, extended government powers and big pharma interests thrown in there for good measure. Instead, Mick and Grohl have somehow written a revolting ode to the ‘biosecurity state”.

But some have actually sung about extreme situation affecting every single one of us. Last year, Eric Clapton and Van Morrison collaborated on the anti-lockdown song “Stand and Deliver,” the latest in a string of “Save Live Music” tracks penned by the Irish singer-songwriter. Morrison has come down hard on the COVID policies. Maybe being born into a post-war working-class Protestant family in Belfast does that to someone’s attitude vis a vis hard fought liberties.

“Remember, those who are shutting down our economy haven't missed a paycheck since lockdown began. We are not in this together,” said Morrison to the LA Times, speaking on behalf of the many musicians whose tour diaries had been wiped clear of work for the remainder of 2020 and beyond.

About the lyrics, "No more taking of our freedom / And our God given rights / Pretending it's for our safety / When it's really to enslave”, Northern Ireland's health minister Robin Swann described Morrison’s songs as "dangerous". Songs are in the danger zone now, it seems.

Eric Clapton’s drunken 1976 outburst was pulled up and “resurfaced” by some publications to discredit the song. It’s worth noting that Clapton spent at least twenty years drunk and gripped with a heroin addiction. In 1982, he finally entered rehab. According to Ashwood Recovery, Clapton “was still dealing with his crippling addiction” when his son was born and claimed “it was only through the love of his son that he was convinced to give sobriety another chance”. After his son Conor died after a fall from the 53rd floor of a building, Clapton said he somehow, in light of the worst tragedy one can imagine, managed to hold on to his fragile sobriety.

If his 45 year-old rant is still fuelling your anger about Clapton, one of the greatest living guitarists, close friend of blues legend B.B. King, maybe give your head a wobble and seek some perspective. Most common sense people understand what redemption is and it’s not just some Bob Marley lyric people can pull out to look “like so deep, dude.”

Now this brings us to the most dangerous dark lord of them all, Ian Brown. The former Stone Roses frontman has become something of a lightning rod for the COVID pandemic for his “literally killing us” tweets. Here are some of Brown’s “crimes”:

EVERYONE on the planet had a tuff year last year but the top ten billionaires pulled half a trill? They must be toasting that bat!”
Ever seen Bill Gates wear a mask?
The Conspiracy Theory is that by 'following the rules' everything will 'get back to normal'
I will NEVER sing to a crowd who must be vaccinated as a condition of attendance. NEVER EVER!
Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have NEVER issued a vaccine before. J&J, Pfizer and AstraZeneca have a history of fines totalling £billions yet have indemnity against injury! What could go wrong??!!

He doesn’t hold back does he? Do you really want him to? Or would you be comforted if Brown turned around and said he supported companies making the disclosure of digital medical records a condition of entry and discriminating against people who can’t or won’t disclose that information? Maybe you’ll feel better if he used a Sound of Music GIF to celebrate his vaccination?

Brown is doing exactly what he is supposed to be doing. He’s as anti-establishment as they come and he always has been. Even in the face of an endless cottage industry of pathetic wannabe “Mash Report” comedy writers appearing in his mentions to try and have a pop saying he’s “going to kill granny” with his tweets.

But you all know that. Because of the past year, we’ve given away so much of ourselves that many are willing to parrot the Northern Ireland's health minister’s nonsensical warning that words are “dangerous”.

The NME reviewed Ian Brown’s recent cover of Johnny Osbourne’s 1970 reggae hit “Truths & Rights'' with an Orwellian revisiting of the lyrics saying that this “could be interpreted as being in keeping with his controversial anti-vaccine views”. The cherry-picked lyrics? “The truth is there for who have eyes to see, partiality has no place in this judgement, just remember the words of prophecy”. Oh right, Osbourne, one of the most popular Jamaican reggae and dancehall singers of all time, is Andrew Wakefield now is he?

Lurking in the background is the chance that in a few months vaccine passports could be a reality. With it, the risk that this digital identity could morph into something which resembles the dystopian social crediting system used in Communist China. A future where freedoms will be granted and taken away depending how people behave.

With this golden material, who knows why so many have either been utterly silent or completely compliant with the government line.. Strangely enough in these masked up times ironically the masks have been come off for so many. Sure, “Aftermath” will still be listened to as it's a great Stones album, But now you know who Jagger really is. And everyone else for that matter who have utterly failed to use their art to articulate the technocratic authoritarianism all around us.

You can disagree with what Brown is saying. And that’s ok. But it’s clear that he’s part of a shamefully small handful of musicians who are channeling some kind of genuinely rebellious spirit, as much as they can, in these surreal times. More than the old establishment rubbish that Jagger/Grohl is churning out. So you can keep your safetyism, I’ll settle for some dangerous rock and roll, thank you very much. Free expression as revolution.

Why isn’t Ian Brown clapping for the biosecurity state like Sir Mick Jagger?

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