The veteran Northern Irish musician has written songs about being 'enslaved'

Van Morrison recently made his views on the government's policies around coronavirus very clear, when he slammed the notion of socially-distanced gigs with a strongly-worded statement posted on his website.

The iconic Northern Irish musician called the measures "pseudo-science" and called for his fellow musicians to "come forward" and make their voices heard.

Now, the 75-year-old has doubled down on his controversial stance by writing a number of coronavirus protest songs.

The three songs were recorded recently in England and Belfast, with Morrison explaining in an accompanying statement: "I'm not telling people what to do or think, the government is doing a great job of that already. It's about freedom of choice, I believe people should have the right to think for themselves."

The lyrics of one track include: "No more lockdown / No more government overreach / No more fascist bullies / Disturbing our peace / No more taking of our freedom / And our God given rights / Pretending it's for our safety / When it's really to enslave."

There are also references to 'crooked facts' being made up by scientists in order to 'enslave' the population.

The new songs will be released at two-week intervals. The first, 'Born to Be Free', is out next Friday, September 25th.

Many people on social media have been drawing parallels with the likes of Jim Corr, as well as English musicians Ian Brown and Noel Gallagher, who have both come out as anti-mask in recent days.

See the reaction below: