
Laurence Fox
There are few things that actor-turned-politician, anti-woke activist and all-around contrarian Laurence Fox won’t comment on – or, should we say, sing about.
His latest contribution to the general discourse is in response to the former Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft, who has announced via Instagram that he will be pulling out of the Tramlines Festival as he opposed it being part of a “government testing programme.”
The 49-year-old musician added: “I had informed my agent months ago I wouldn’t be playing concerts with restrictions, the status of the festival was one thing when I signed up for it, but, sadly was forced to become something else. It must be an age thing but the words Government Experiment and Festival.”
As someone else who opposes Covid-19 restrictions, Fox immediately jumped on social media to show his support for Ashcroft. However, we doubt that Ashcroft will be too fond of the rendition that Fox has done of his song The Drugs Don't Work, which is terrible, even for his standards.
In honour of Richard Ashcroft who is pulling out of festivals which promote medical apartheid.… https://t.co/1KHPnpzmR3— Laurence Fox ✝️ (@Laurence Fox ✝️) 1625508388
We’re not gonna transcribe all of his lyrics but the gist of it is that he just doesn’t like masks and thinks they are ‘woke’. Not sure how stopping the spread of a deadly disease is ‘woke’ but there you go. He also labelled the pandemic a ‘medical apartheid’ which is a lot more problematic than the lyrics of his song.
Plaudits should go to Fox for at least attempting to make the lyrics work in his favour but he just ended up providing more fodder for people to mock him with.
APOLOGY: I'm sorry, I'm afraid I'd underestimated Laurence Fox. He's not just a bad actor, he's a bad musician too. https://t.co/H7BqodTRMU— Steve Clark (@Steve Clark) 1625508907
Year 7 level of musical talent https://t.co/L5yVlp1YAp— £85 grinch (@£85 grinch) 1625566009
@LozzaFox No, they just sing songs (absolutely fucking terribly) contrary to the science to show how truly unhinged… https://t.co/Piy6bISyhX— AntiSmileyFaces (@AntiSmileyFaces) 1625563137
https://t.co/7zW91KKVof https://t.co/TLZWLaH20A— Patrick Dalton (@Patrick Dalton) 1625556731
I’m sometimes asked by overseas visitors to explain the English word ‘plonker’. In future I’ll just direct them to… https://t.co/vubVnLs3Fo— Brian Tweedale (@Brian Tweedale) 1625520977
@LozzaFox I remixed it for you https://t.co/AahyRkzktY— Todd (@Todd) 1625517627
Laurence Fox (tunelessly) reworking The Drugs Don't Work into "Your masks don't work / they just make you woke" is,… https://t.co/Pt7P4GMu4w— Harry Wallop (@Harry Wallop) 1625508676
It's easy to criticise Lawrence Fox. That's it . It's easy, watch the video - he does all the heavy lifting. https://t.co/ZNhklq6wRP— The Corn Poppy 🪢 (@The Corn Poppy 🪢) 1625509531
@LozzaFox https://t.co/cDy3nZdwM9— Tony Turner (@Tony Turner) 1625510711
Imagine being the Lidl Chris Martin. https://t.co/ZkSz3ZZihi— Jimmy Hell (@Jimmy Hell) 1625524062
As if things aren't bad enough it's all inspired Lozza Fox to start singing again— Otto English (@Otto English) 1625514239
Still, it’s not as bad as the time when he gave one of the worst musical performances ever on live national television.
Back to Ashcroft and he is one of a number of older musicians from the ‘90s who have been apoplectic about Covid restrictions. The Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown said in February that he would never “sing to a crowd who must be vaccinated as a condition of attendance.” Meanwhile, Noel Gallagher has complained about having to wear a mask on public transport.