Van Morrison‘s new track ‘Dangerous’ appears to reference the musician’s ongoing feud with Robin Swann, the Northern Ireland Minister Of Health.
Last November, Swann filed a defamation lawsuit against Morrison over comments he had made regarding COVID-19 earlier in 2021.
During a pre-show dinner event in Belfast in June, Morrison branded Swann “very dangerous” in a response to Swann criticising him for his anti-lockdown stance in a 2020 op-ed, in which he said Morrison’s words “will give great comfort to the conspiracy theorists”.
On Friday (April 29) Morrison released ‘Dangerous’, the third single from his upcoming 43rd studio album ‘What’s It Gonna Take?’, which is due to arrive on May 20 via Exile Productions/Virgin.
The almost-eight-minute number includes the lines: “Somebody said I was dangerous/ I said something bad, it must have been good.” Later, Morrison tells this listener that he “was just looking for the evidence” and asks for “proof”.
The title of the single and the repeated use of “dangerous” seemingly alludes to Morrison and Swann’s dispute, with the word being at the centre of the pair’s row. The artist’s quest for “proof“, meanwhile, is an apparent nod to his previous claims that scientists were “making up crooked facts” during the pandemic.
Per his official website, the forthcoming ‘What’s It Gonna Take?’ “features fifteen new Van Morrison compositions that collectively reflect the artist’s indefatigable drive to record and perform live in front of audiences.”
The album also includes the songs ‘Fighting Back Is The New Normal’, ‘Fodder For The Masses’, ‘Can’t Go On This Way’ and ‘Damage And Recovery’. In response to Swann taking legal action last year, representatives for Morrison said their client “regrets that Mr Swann considered it necessary to issue proceedings” and that they were “disappointed by the publicity that surrounds the issue”. (NME)