11 September 2009
"Jerusalem" ("And did those feet in ancient time...")
I have heard this music so many times without knowing what it was that I finally decided to track it down. Apologies for my ignorance to those of you across the pond for whom this is virtually a national anthem.
The lyrics -
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my spear: O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
- are adapted from a poem by William Blake, which in turn relates a story that Jesus and his uncle Joseph of Arimathea travelled to England to visit Glastonbury. The intention of the reference to "Satanic Mills" is somewhat obscure.
The reference to "Chariot of fire" inspired the title for the 1981 British film, which previously had been tentatively given the decidedly less-lyrical title of "Running."
In part because of its generally nonsecular theme, the hymn has no official status in Britain, but its performance at football, rugby, and cricket matches and the Proms has engendered a popularity and reverence equivalent to that of a national anthem.
More tidbits at the Wiki page.
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I believe the reference to 'satanic mills' is an indication of the unease Blake and other thinkers of his time felt concerning the social and environmental changes being brought about by the industrial revolution. If you look closely at the slides you'll notice the artful inclusion of a photo of an industrial complex just at the lines 'satanic mills'. Look closely at the horizon in the photo and you'll see the buildings and the smoke melding insidiously with the landscape.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely in agreement with Richard, Blake was deeply troubled by the terrible conditions of ordinary working people during the industrial revolution, he writes of the dark, the smoke, the toiling children, the sky at night lit red and fiery by the pouring of molten metals, He believed that man had built hell upon this earth, and that people such as himself should strive to build a better world, 'Jerusalem', in "England's green and pleasant land".
ReplyDeleteThere was a proposal a few years back, in England, to replace the national anthem with Jerusalem.
ReplyDeleteI know I'd sing along.
Oh, and Richard is quite right, but Blake was also nodding towards the fable that Christ visited England in his youth.
Sal, Liverpool, UK
As an organist and choirmaster, I hope you just got sidetracked and careless when you failed to mention that the composer of this excellent music is Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry. In addition to "Jerusalem", his hymn tune "Repton" is outstanding, particularly when paired, as it usually is, with the hymn "Dear Lord and Father of mankind". His coronation anthem "I Was Glad" is one of the most enjoyable and stirring pieces of its kind to hear OR sing.
ReplyDeleteI suppose you could say I was sidetracked and careless. I try to cover a lot of material in a limited time and I sometimes have to leave out relevant information. When I do, I try to include links where that material can be located, as in this post.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Emerson Lake & Palmer cover it?
ReplyDeleteI have always considered this song to be part of a patriotic English Trifecta
ReplyDeleteJerusalem
The Minstrel Boy/The Son Of God Goes Forth to War (though the Irish may have to forgive me for thinking of England when I hear this)
and
Rule Britannia
The hymn is also sung at the end of "Chariots of Fire," during the funeral for Harold Abrahams.
ReplyDeleteAnd featured in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.
DeleteVery late to be joining this thread, but it is also the 'anthem,' used by The Women's institute and is sung at the beginning, or end of many monthly meetings as well as AGMs
Delete"Late" comments (over 28 days) at this blog get held in the spam filter for inspection, but are always welcome.
Delete