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![William Blake by Thomas Phillips](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/William_Blake_by_Thomas_Phillips.jpg)
"And did those feet in ancient time" is a poem by
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
from the preface to his epic ''
Milton: A Poem in Two Books'', one of a collection of writings known as the
Prophetic Books
The prophetic books are a division of the Christian Bible, grouping 18 books ( Catholic and Orthodox canon) or 17 books (Protestant canon, excluding Baruch) in the Old Testament. In terms of the Tanakh, it includes the Latter Prophets from the ...
. The date of 1804 on the title page is probably when the plates were begun, but the poem was printed .
[Cox, Michael, editor, ''The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature'', "1808", p 289, Oxford University Press, 2004, ] Today it is best known as the hymn "Jerusalem", with music written by
Sir Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 18487 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Richmond Hill in Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 18 ...
in 1916. The famous orchestration was written by
Sir Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
. It is not to be confused with another poem, much longer and larger in scope and also by Blake, called ''
Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion
''Jerusalem'', subtitled ''The Emanation of the Giant Albion'' (1804–1820, with additions made even later), is the last, longest and greatest in scope of the prophetic books written and illustrated by the English poet, artist and engraver W ...
''.
It is often assumed that the poem was inspired by the
apocryphal story that a young
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
, accompanied by
Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea was, according to all four canonical gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. The historical location of Arimathea is uncertain, although it has been identified with several ...
, a tin merchant, travelled to what is now England and visited
Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...
during his
unknown years.
[Icons – a portrait of England. Icon: Jerusalem (hymn]
Feature: And did those feet?
Accessed 7 August 2008 Most scholars reject the historical authenticity of this story out of hand, and according to British folklore scholar A. W. Smith, "there was little reason to believe that an oral tradition concerning a visit made by Jesus to Britain existed before the early part of the twentieth century".
Blake does not name the walker on "Englands green and pleasant land"; according to a story available at the time of Blake's writing, in
Milton's History of Britain, Joseph of Arimathea, alone, travelled after the death of Jesus, and first preached to the ancient Britons.
The poem's theme is linked to the
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...
(
3:12 and
21:2) describing a
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messian ...
, wherein Jesus establishes a
New Jerusalem. Churches in general, and the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
in particular, have long used Jerusalem as a metaphor for
Heaven, a place of universal love and peace.
In the most common interpretation of the poem, Blake asks whether a visit by Jesus briefly created heaven in England, in contrast to the "dark Satanic Mills" of the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
. Blake's poem asks four questions rather than asserting the historical truth of Christ's visit. The second verse is interpreted as an exhortation to create an ideal society in England, whether or not there was a divine visit.
[Rowland, Christopher. (November 2007)]
William Blake: a visionary for our time
openDemocracy.net. Accessed 19 April 2020.
Text
The original text is found in the preface Blake wrote for inclusion with ''Milton, a Poem'', following the lines beginning "The Stolen and Perverted Writings of Homer & Ovid: of Plato & Cicero, which all Men ought to contemn: ..."
Blake's poem
Beneath the poem Blake inscribed a quotation from the Bible:
"Dark Satanic Mills"
![Albion Flour Mills Bankside](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Albion_Flour_Mills_Bankside.jpg)
The phrase "dark Satanic Mills", which entered the English language from this poem, is often interpreted as referring to the early
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
and its destruction of nature and human relationships. That view has been linked to the fate of the
Albion Flour Mills in
Southwark, the first major factory in London. The rotary steam-powered flour mill, built by
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton (; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engin ...
, assisted by
James Watt, could produce 6,000
bushel
A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an imperial and US customary unit of volume based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel is equal to 2 kennings (obsolete), 4 pecks, or 8 dry gallons, and was used mostly for agric ...
s of flour per week. The factory could have driven independent traditional millers out of business, but it was destroyed in 1791 by fire, perhaps
deliberately.
London's independent millers celebrated, with placards reading, "Success to the mills of
Albion but no Albion Mills."
[ICONS – a portrait of England. Icon: Jerusalem (hymn]
Feature: And did those feet?
Accessed 7 August 2008 Opponents referred to the factory as
satanic, and accused its owners of adulterating flour and using cheap imports at the expense of British producers. A contemporary illustration of the fire shows a
devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...
squatting on the building. The mill was a short distance from Blake's home.
Blake's phrase resonates with a broader theme in his works; what he envisioned as a physically and spiritually
repressive ideology based on a quantified reality. Blake saw the
cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Although some were driven b ...
s and
collieries
Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...
of the period as a mechanism for the enslavement of millions, but the concepts underpinning the works had a wider application:
Alfred Kazin
Alfred Kazin (June 5, 1915 – June 5, 1998) was an American writer and literary critic. He wrote often about the immigrant experience in early twentieth century America.
Early life
Like many other New York Intellectuals, Alfred Kazin was ...
: ''Introduction to a volume of Blake.'' 1946
Another interpretation is that the phrase refers to the established
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
, which, in contrast to Blake, preached a doctrine of conformity to the established social order and class system.
Stonehenge and other megaliths are featured in ''Milton'', suggesting they may relate to the oppressive power of priestcraft in general.
Peter Porter observed that many scholars argue that the "
illsare churches and not the factories of the Industrial Revolution everyone else takes them for". In 2007, the
Bishop of Durham
The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
,
N. T. Wright
Nicholas Thomas Wright (born 1 December 1948), known as N. T. Wright or Tom Wright, is an English New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian and Anglican bishop. He was the bishop of Durham from 2003 to 2010. He then became research profe ...
, explicitly recognised that element of English subculture when he acknowledged the view that "dark satanic mills" could refer to the "great churches".
N. T. Wright
Nicholas Thomas Wright (born 1 December 1948), known as N. T. Wright or Tom Wright, is an English New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian and Anglican bishop. He was the bishop of Durham from 2003 to 2010. He then became research profe ...
, Bishop of Durham (23 June 2007)
Where Shall Wisdom be Found?
" Homily at the 175th anniversary of the founding of the University of Durham
Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...
. ntwrightpage.com In similar vein, the critic
F. W. Bateson noted how "the adoption by the Churches and women's organizations of this anti-clerical paean of free love is amusing evidence of the carelessness with which poetry is read".
An alternative theory is that Blake is referring to a mystical concept within his own mythology, related to the ancient history of England. Satan's "mills" are referred to repeatedly in the main poem, and are first described in words which suggest neither industrialism nor ancient megaliths, but rather something more abstract: "the starry Mills of Satan/ Are built beneath the earth and waters of the Mundane Shell...To Mortals thy Mills seem everything, and the Harrow of
Shaddai / A scheme of human conduct invisible and incomprehensible".
"Chariots of fire"
The line from the poem "Bring me my Chariot of fire!" draws on the story of
2 Kings 2:11, where the
Old Testament prophet
Elijah
Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My El (deity), God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) w ...
is taken directly to heaven: "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." The phrase has become a byword for divine energy, and inspired the title of the 1981 film ''
Chariots of Fire
''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...
'', in which the hymn Jerusalem is sung during the final scenes. The plural phrase "chariots of fire" refers to
2 Kings 6:17.
"Green and pleasant land"
Blake lived in London for most of his life, but wrote much of ''Milton'' while living in a cottage, now
Blake’s Cottage, in the village of
Felpham
Felpham (, sometimes pronounced locally as ''Felf-fm'') is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. Although sometimes considered part of the urban area of greater Bognor Regis, it is a village and civil parish in ...
in Sussex. Amanda Gilroy argues that the poem is informed by Blake's "evident pleasure" in the Felpham countryside. However, local people say that records from
Lavant, near Chichester, state that Blake wrote "And did those feet in ancient time" in an east-facing alcove of the Earl of March public house.
The phrase "green and pleasant land" has become a common term for an identifiably English landscape or society. It appears as a headline, title or sub-title in numerous articles and books. Sometimes it refers, whether with appreciation, nostalgia or critical analysis, to idyllic or enigmatic aspects of the English countryside. In other contexts it can suggest the perceived habits and aspirations of rural middle-class life. Sometimes it is used ironically, e.g. in the
Dire Straits song "
Iron Hand".
Revolution
Several of Blake's poems and paintings express a notion of universal humanity: "As all men are alike (tho' infinitely various)". He retained an active interest in social and political events for all his life, but was often forced to resort to cloaking social idealism and political statements in Protestant mystical
allegory. Even though the poem was written during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, Blake was an outspoken supporter of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
, and
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
claimed to be continuing this revolution. The poem expressed his desire for radical change without overt sedition. In 1803 Blake was charged at
Chichester
Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...
with high treason for having "uttered seditious and treasonable expressions", but was acquitted. The trial was not a direct result of anything he had written, but comments he had made in conversation, including "Damn the King!".
The poem is followed in the preface by a quotation from ''
Numbers
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
'' ch. 11, v. 29: "Would to God that all the Lords people were prophets."
Christopher Rowland
Christopher John Salter Rowland (26 September 1929 – 5 November 1967) was a British politician. He was rated one of the more effective of the Labour Party's 1964 intake to Parliament, but died at the age of 38.
Student life
Rowland went to ...
has argued that this includes
everyone in the task of speaking out about what they saw. Prophecy for Blake, however, was not a prediction of the end of the world, but telling the truth as best a person can about what he or she sees, fortified by insight and an "honest persuasion" that with personal struggle, things could be improved. A human being observes, is indignant and speaks out: it's a basic political maxim which is necessary for any age. Blake wanted to stir people from their intellectual slumbers, and the daily grind of their toil, to see that they were captivated in the grip of a culture which kept them thinking in ways which served the interests of the powerful."
The words of the poem "stress the importance of people taking responsibility for change and building a better society 'in Englands green and pleasant land.' "
Popularisation
The poem, which was little known during the century which followed its writing, was included in the patriotic anthology of verse ''The Spirit of Man,'' edited by the
Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
The British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently on the advice of the prime minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation that the holder will writ ...
,
Robert Bridges
Robert Seymour Bridges (23 October 1844 – 21 April 1930) was an English poet who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is ...
, and published in 1916, at a time when morale had begun to decline because of the high number of casualties in World War I and the perception that there was no end in sight.
Under these circumstances, Bridges, finding the poem an appropriate hymn text to "brace the spirit of the nation
oaccept with cheerfulness all the sacrifices necessary," asked
Sir Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 18487 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Richmond Hill in Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 18 ...
to put it to music for a
Fight for Right campaign meeting in London's
Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...
. Bridges asked Parry to supply "suitable, simple music to Blake's stanzas – music that an audience could take up and join in", and added that, if Parry could not do it himself, he might delegate the task to
George Butterworth
George Sainton Kaye Butterworth, MC (12 July 18855 August 1916) was an English composer who was best known for the orchestral idyll '' The Banks of Green Willow'' and his song settings of A. E. Housman's poems from ''A Shropshire Lad''.
Early ...
.
The poem's idealistic
theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
or
subtext
Subtext is any content of a creative work, which is not announced explicitly (by characters or author), but is implicit, or becomes something understood by the audience. Subtext has been used historically to imply controversial subjects without ...
accounts for its popularity across much of the political spectrum. It was used as a campaign slogan by the
Labour Party in the
1945 general election
The following elections occurred in the year 1945.
Africa
* 1945 South-West African legislative election
Asia
* 1945 Indian general election
Australia
* 1945 Fremantle by-election
Europe
* 1945 Albanian parliamentary election
* 1945 Bulgarian ...
;
Clement Attlee said they would build "a new Jerusalem". It has been sung at conferences of the
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
, at the
Glee Club
A glee club in the United States is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it w ...
of the British
Liberal Assembly
The Liberal Party Assembly was the annual party conference of the British Liberal Party before its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats; the name is still used by the continuity Liberal Party created as ...
, the
Labour Party and by the
Liberal Democrats.
Setting to music
By Hubert Parry
In adapting Blake's poem as a
unison
In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm.
Definition
Unison or per ...
song, Parry deployed a two-
stanza format, each taking up eight lines of Blake's original poem. He added a four-bar musical introduction to each verse and a
coda, echoing melodic
motifs of the song. The word "those" was substituted for "these" before "dark satanic mills".
Parry was initially reluctant to supply music for the campaign meeting, as he had doubts about the ultra-patriotism of Fight for Right; but knowing that his former student Walford Davies was to conduct the performance, and not wanting to disappoint either Robert Bridges or Davies, he agreed, writing it on 10 March 1916, and handing the manuscript to Davies with the comment, "Here's a tune for you, old chap. Do what you like with it." Davies later recalled,
Davies arranged for the vocal score to be published by
Curwen in time for the concert at the
Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...
on 28 March and began rehearsing it.
[Christopher Wiltshire (Former archivist, British Federation of Festivals for Music, Speech and Dance)]
Guardian newspaper 8 December 2000 Letters: Tune into Jerusalem's fighting history
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' 8 December 2000. It was a success and was taken up generally.
But Parry began to have misgivings again about Fight for Right, and in May 1917 wrote to the organisation's founder Sir
Francis Younghusband
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband, (31 May 1863 – 31 July 1942) was a British Army officer, explorer, and spiritual writer. He is remembered for his travels in the Far East and Central Asia; especially the 1904 British ...
withdrawing his support entirely. There was even concern that the composer might withdraw the song from all public use, but the situation was saved by
Millicent Fawcett
Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English politician, writer and feminist. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897– ...
of the
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies
The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In 1919 it was ren ...
(NUWSS). The song had been taken up by the Suffragists in 1917 and Fawcett asked Parry if it might be used at a Suffrage Demonstration Concert on 13 March 1918. Parry was delighted and orchestrated the piece for the concert (it had originally been for voices and organ). After the concert, Fawcett asked the composer if it might become the Women Voters' Hymn. Parry wrote back, "I wish indeed it might become the Women Voters' hymn, as you suggest. People seem to enjoy singing it. And having the vote ought to diffuse a good deal of joy too. So they would combine happily".
Accordingly, he assigned the copyright to the NUWSS. When that organisation was wound up in 1928, Parry's executors reassigned the copyright to the
Women's Institutes
The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being t ...
, where it remained until it entered the public domain in 1968.
The song was first called "And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time" and the early scores have this title. The change to "Jerusalem" seems to have been made about the time of the 1918 Suffrage Demonstration Concert, perhaps when the orchestral score was published (Parry's manuscript of the orchestral score has the old title crossed out and "Jerusalem" inserted in a different hand). However, Parry always referred to it by its first title. He had originally intended the first verse to be sung by a solo female voice (this is marked in the score), but this is rare in contemporary performances. Sir
Edward Elgar re-scored the work for very large orchestra in 1922 for use at the
Leeds Festival
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...
.
[ICONS – a portrait of England. Icon: Jerusalem (hymn]
Sir Hubert Parry
, "Jerusalem" and Elgar's orchestration. Elgar's orchestration has overshadowed Parry's own, primarily because it is the version usually used now for the
Last Night of the Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...
(though Sir
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...
, who introduced it to that event in the 1950s, always used Parry's version).
By Wallen
In 2020 a new musical arrangement of the poem by
Errollyn Wallen
Errollyn Wallen (born April 10, 1958) is a Belize-born British composer.
Life
Errollyn Wallen moved to London with her family when she was two. While her parents moved to New York, she and her three siblings (one of whom is the trumpeter By ...
, a British composer born in Belize, was sung by South African soprano
Golda Schultz
Golda Schultz (born 1983 in Cape Town) is a South African operatic soprano.
Life Origin and education
Schultz, daughter of a mathematics professor, grew up in Bloemfontein. She studied singing at the University of Cape Town and at the Juilli ...
at the Last Night of the Proms. Parry's version was traditionally sung at the Last Night, with Elgar's orchestration; the new version, with different rhythms,
dissonance, and reference to the
blues, caused much controversy. While the song was often considered to be patriotic, in reality ''Jerusalem'' has always been an
anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...
tract.
[
]
Use as a hymn
Although Parry composed the music as a unison song, many churches have adopted "Jerusalem" as a four-part hymn; a number of English entities, including the BBC, the Crown, cathedrals, churches, and chapels regularly use it as an office or recessional hymn on Saint George's Day
Saint George's Day is the feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, and cities of which he is the patron saint, including Bulgaria, England, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Cáceres, Alcoy, Aragon and Catalonia.
Sai ...
.
However, some clergy in the Church of England, according to the BBC TV
BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...
programme ''Jerusalem: An Anthem for England'', have said that the song is not technically a hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...
as it is not a prayer to God; consequently, it is not sung in some churches in England. It was sung as a hymn during the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on Friday, 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, England. The groom was second in the line of succession to the British throne. The couple had been in a relationship si ...
in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
.
Many schools use the song, especially public schools in Great Britain (it was used as the title music for the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's 1979 series ''Public School'' about
Radley College
Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, an ...
), and several private schools in Australia, New Zealand, New England and Canada. In Hong Kong, diverted version of "Jerusalem" is also used as the school hymn of St. Catherine's School for Girls, Kwun Tong and Bishop Hall Jubilee School. "Jerusalem" was chosen as the opening hymn for the
London Olympics 2012
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, although "
God Save the Queen
"God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...
" was the anthem sung during the raising of the flag in salute to the Queen. Some attempts have also been made to increase its use elsewhere with other words; examples include the state funeral of President Ronald Reagan in Washington National Cathedral on 11 June 2004, and the state memorial service for Australian Prime Minister
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...
on 5 November 2014.
It has been sung on BBC's ''
Songs Of Praise'' for many years; in a countrywide poll to find the UK's favourite hymn in 2019, it was voted top, relegating previous favourite "
How Great Thou Art
"How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn based on an original Swedish hymn entitled "" written in 1885 by Carl Boberg (1859–1940). The English version of the hymn and its title are a loose translation by the English missionary Stuart K. Hine ...
" into second place.
Proposal as English anthem
Upon hearing the orchestral version for the first time,
King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
said that he preferred "Jerusalem" over the British national anthem "
God Save the King
"God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, b ...
". "Jerusalem" is considered to be England's most popular patriotic song; ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' said it was "fast becoming an alternative national anthem,"
and there have been calls to give it official status. England has no official anthem and uses the British national anthem "
God Save the King
"God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, b ...
", also unofficial, for some national occasions, such as before English international football matches. However, some sports, including
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
, use "Jerusalem" as the English anthem. "Jerusalem" is the official hymn of the
England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, ...
, although "God Save the Queen" has been sung before England's games on several occasions, including the
2010 ICC World Twenty20
The 2010 ICC World Twenty20 was the third ICC World Twenty20 competition, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament that was held in the West Indies between 30 April and 16 May 2010. It was won by England, who defeated Australia in the fina ...
, the
2010–11 Ashes series
The 2010–11 Ashes series (known as the Vodafone Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was the 66th series of Test cricket matches played to contest The Ashes. The series was played in Australia as part of the England cricket team's tour of the ...
and the
2019 ICC Cricket World Cup
The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted between 30 May ...
. Questions in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
have not clarified the situation, as answers from the relevant minister say that since there is no official national anthem, each sport must make its own decision.
As Parliament has not clarified the situation, Team England, the English Commonwealth team, held a public poll in 2010 to decide which anthem should be played at medal ceremonies to celebrate an English win at the Commonwealth Games. "Jerusalem" was selected by 52% of voters over "
Land of Hope and Glory
"Land of Hope and Glory" is a British patriotic song, with music by Edward Elgar written in 1901 and lyrics by A. C. Benson later added in 1902.
Composition
The music to which the words of the refrain 'Land of Hope and Glory, &c' below ar ...
" (used since 1930) and "God Save the Queen".
In 2005
BBC Four produced ''Jerusalem: An Anthem For England'' highlighting the usages of the song/poem and a case was made for its adoption as the
national anthem of England
There is no agreed national anthem of England but it is usually defaulted in the absence of agreement to be —"God Save the King"— in 2016 some Member of Parliament, MPs felt that England should have its own distinct anthem with the result t ...
. Varied contributions come from
Howard Goodall,
Billy Bragg,
Garry Bushell
Garry Bushell (born 13 May 1955) is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author, musician and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Cockney Oi! bands GBX and the Gonads. He managed the New York C ...
,
Lord Hattersley
Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, (born 28 December 1932) is a British Labour Party politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. He was MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook for over 32 years from 1964 to 1997, and served as Depu ...
,
Ann Widdecombe
Ann Noreen Widdecombe (born 4 October 1947) is a British politician, author and television personality. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and The Weald, and the former Maidstone constituency, from 1987 to 2010 and Member of the ...
and
David Mellor
David John Mellor (born 12 March 1949) is a British broadcaster, barrister, and former politician. As a member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1990–92) and ...
,
war proponents,
war opponents,
suffragettes,
trade unionists
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...
,
public schoolboys, the
Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
, the
Labour Party,
football supporters, the
British National Party
The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...
, the
Women's Institute
The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the ...
,
a gay choir,
a gospel choir,
Fat Les
Fat Les was a British band consisting of Blur bassist Alex James, actor Keith Allen, and artist Damien Hirst. Vocals on their singles were provided by Keith Allen (all), Alex James ("Vindaloo"), Lily Allen ("Who Invented Fish & Chips?"), An ...
and
naturists
Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms a ...
.
Cultural significance
Enduring popularity
The popularity of Parry's setting has resulted in many hundreds of recordings being made, too numerous to list, of both traditional choral performances and new interpretations by popular music artists. The song has also had a large cultural impact in Great Britain. It is sung every year by an audience of thousands at the end of the
Last Night of the Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...
in the
Royal Albert Hall and simultaneously in the ''Proms in the Park'' venues throughout the country. Similarly, along with "
The Red Flag
"The Red Flag" () is a socialist song, emphasising the sacrifices and solidarity of the international labour movement. It is the anthem of the British Labour Party, the Northern Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Irish Labour ...
", it is sung each year at the closing of the annual
Labour Party conference.
The song was used by the
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies
The National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the ''suffragists'' (not to be confused with the suffragettes) was an organisation founded in 1897 of women's suffrage societies around the United Kingdom. In 1919 it was ren ...
(indeed Parry transferred the copyright to the NUWSS in 1918; the Union was wound up in 1928 after women won the right to vote). During the 1920s many
Women's Institutes
The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being t ...
(WI) started closing meetings by singing it, and this caught on nationally. Although it was never adopted as the WI's official anthem, in practice it holds that position, and is an enduring element of the public image of the WI.
A rendition of "Jerusalem" was included in the 1973 album ''
Brain Salad Surgery
''Brain Salad Surgery'' is the fourth studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released on 19 November 1973 by their record label, Manticore Records, and distributed by Atlantic Records.
Following the tour in suppo ...
'' by the
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...
group
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...
. The arrangement of the hymn is notable for its use of the first polyphonic synthesizer, the
Moog Apollo. It was released as a single, but failed to chart in the United Kingdom. An instrumental rendition of the hymn was included in the 1989 album "The Amsterdam EP" by Scottish rock band
Simple Minds.
In Supertramp´s song "Fool´s overture" into the LP "Even in the quietest moments" (1977) appered in 08:23 beyond a windy noise, but clearly during twenty seconds.
"Jerusalem" is traditionally sung before
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
's
Challenge Cup Final, along with "
Abide with Me", and before the
Super League Grand Final
The Super League Grand Final is the championship-deciding game of rugby league's Super League competition. It is played between two teams who have qualified via the Super League Play-Off series. The winning team receives the Super League Trop ...
, where it is introduced as "the rugby league anthem". Before 2008, it was the anthem used by the
national side, as "
God Save the Queen
"God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...
" was used by
the Great Britain team: since the Lions were superseded by England, "God Save the Queen" has replaced "Jerusalem". Since 2004, it has been the anthem of the
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
team, being played before each day of their home
test matches.
It was also used in the
opening ceremony of the
2012 Summer Olympics held in London and inspired several of the opening show segments directed by
Danny Boyle
Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including '' Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel '' T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', ''28 Days Later'', '' S ...
. It was included in the ceremony's soundtrack album, ''
Isles of Wonder''.
Use in film, television and theatre
"Bring me my Chariot of fire" inspired the title of the film ''
Chariots of Fire
''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell ...
''.
[IMDb trivia – Origin of title](_blank)
– Accessed 11 August 2008 A church congregation sings "Jerusalem" at the close of the film and a performance appears on the ''
Chariots of Fire soundtrack'' performed by the
Ambrosian Singers overlaid partly by a composition by
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...
. One unexpected touch is that "Jerusalem" is sung in four-part harmony, as if it were truly a hymn. This is not authentic: Parry's composition was a unison song (that is, all voices sing the tune – perhaps one of the things that make it so "singable" by massed crowds) and he never provided any harmonisation other than the accompaniment for organ (or orchestra). Neither does it appear in any standard hymn book in a guise other than Parry's own, so it may have been harmonised specially for the film. The film's working title was "Running" until
Colin Welland
Colin Welland (born Colin Edward Williams; 4 July 1934 – 2 November 2015) was an English actor and screenwriter. He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Mr Farthing in '' Kes'' (1969) and the Academy Aw ...
saw a television programme, ''
Songs of Praise'', featuring the hymn and decided to change the title.
The hymn has featured in many other films and television programmes including ''
Four Weddings and a Funeral
''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle ...
'', ''
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
''How to Get Ahead in Advertising'' is a 1989 British black comedy fantasy film written and directed by Bruce Robinson and starring Richard E. Grant and Rachel Ward. The title is a pun and can be literally taken as "How to Get a ''Head'' in Adv ...
'', ''
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
"The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" is a short story by Alan Sillitoe, published in 1959 as part of a short story collection of the same title. The work focuses on Smith, a poor Nottingham teenager from a dismal home in a working clas ...
'', ''
Saint Jack
''Saint Jack'' is a 1973 novel by Paul Theroux that was adapted into a 1979 film of the same name. It tells the life of Jack Flowers, a pimp in Singapore. Feeling hopeless and undervalued, Jack tries to make money by setting up his own bordello ...
'', ''
Calendar Girls
''Calendar Girls'' is a 2003 British comedy film directed by Nigel Cole. Produced by Touchstone Pictures, it features a screenplay by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi, based on a true story of a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women who produ ...
'', Season 3: Episode 22 of ''
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', ''
Goodnight Mr. Tom'', ''
Women in Love
''Women in Love'' (1920) is a novel by English author D. H. Lawrence. It is a sequel to his earlier novel ''The Rainbow'' (1915) and follows the continuing loves and lives of the Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. Gudrun Brangwen, an artist, ...
'', ''
The Man Who Fell to Earth
''The Man Who Fell to Earth'' is a 1976 British science fiction drama film directed by Nicolas Roeg and written by Paul Mayersberg. Based on Walter Tevis's 1963 novel of the same name, the film follows an extraterrestrial (Thomas Jerome Newt ...
'', ''
Shameless'', ''
Jackboots on Whitehall
''Jackboots on Whitehall'' (a.k.a. ''Nazi Invasion: Team Europe'') is a 2010 British adult animated/puppet satirical action comedy film set in an alternative history Second World War, in which Nazi Germany has seized London. The British must b ...
'', ''
Quatermass and the Pit'', ''
Monty Python's Flying Circus'', and ''
Collateral
Collateral may refer to:
Business and finance
* Collateral (finance), a borrower's pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan
* Marketing collateral, in marketing and sales
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Collate ...
'' (UK TV series). An extract was heard in the 2013 ''
Doctor Who'' episode "
The Crimson Horror
"The Crimson Horror" is the eleventh episode of the seventh series of the British science-fiction drama ''Doctor Who''. It was written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Saul Metzstein, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 May 2013. It marks th ...
" although that story was set in 1893, i.e., before Parry's arrangement. A bawdy version of the first verse is sung by Mr Partridge in the third episode of Season 1 of ''
Hi-de-Hi
''Hi-de-Hi!'' is
a BBC television sitcom shown on BBC1 from 1 January 1980 to 30 January 1988.
Set in 1959 and 1960 in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, the show was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote ''Dad's Army'' and ...
''. A punk version is heard in
Derek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist.
Biography
Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...
's 1977 film ''
Jubilee
A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...
''. In an episode of ''
Peep Show
A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot.
Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the c ...
'', Jez (
Robert Webb
Robert Patrick Webb (born 29 September 1972) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is one half of the double act Mitchell and Webb, alongside David Mitchell. Webb and Mitchell both starred in the Channel 4 sitco ...
) records a track titled "This Is Outrageous" which uses the first and a version of the second line in a verse. A modified version of the hymn, replacing the word "England" with "Neo", is used in ''
Neo Yokio
is an adult animated web series, streaming television series created by Ezra Koenig of American rock band Vampire Weekend, and produced by Japanese anime studios Production I.G. and Studio Deen. The first season, consisting of six episodes, prem ...
'' as the national anthem of the eponymous city state.
In the theatre it appears in ''
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
'',
''
Calendar Girls
''Calendar Girls'' is a 2003 British comedy film directed by Nigel Cole. Produced by Touchstone Pictures, it features a screenplay by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi, based on a true story of a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women who produ ...
'' and in ''
Time and the Conways
''Time and the Conways'' is a British play written by J. B. Priestley in 1937 illustrating J. W. Dunne's Theory of Time through the experience of a moneyed Yorkshire family, the Conways, over a period of nineteen years from 1919 to 1937. Wide ...
''.
Eddie Izzard discusses the hymn in her 2000 ''
Circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is con ...
'' stand-up tour. Punk band
Bad Religion have borrowed the opening line of Blake's poem in their "God Song", from the 1990 album ''
Against the Grain''.
Other composers
Blake's lyrics have also been set to music by other composers without reference to Parry's melody.
Tim Blake
Timothy Blake (born 6 February 1952, in Shepherd's Bush, London) is a keyboardist, synthesist, vocalist, and composer working with Gong, Hawkwind and his Synthesizer and Light performances as Crystal Machine, with the French Light Artist Patr ...
(synthesiser player of
Gong
A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...
) produced a solo album in 1978 called ''
Blake's New Jerusalem
''Blake's New Jerusalem'' is an album by Tim Blake, recorded and originally released in 1978 on Barclay.
The title is a reference to the popular British hymn "Jerusalem", which is based on William Blake's 1804 poem " And did those feet in ancie ...
'', including a 20-minute track with lyrics from Blake's poem.
Mark E. Smith
Mark Edward Smith (5 March 1957 – 24 January 2018) was an English singer, who was the lead singer, lyricist and only constant member of the post-punk group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the ...
of
The Fall interpolated the verses with a deadpan rant against his native land in the track "Dog is life/Jerusalem" from the 1988 ballet score "
I Am Kurious Oranj
''I Am Kurious Oranj'' is the eleventh studio album by English post-punk band the Fall. It was released on 24 October 1988 through record label Beggars Banquet.
The album's release came at the end of a relatively successful year for the group, ...
". The words, with some variations, are used in the track "Jerusalem" on
Bruce Dickinson's album ''
The Chemical Wedding'', which also includes lines from book two of ''Milton''.
Finn Coren
Finn Coren (born 28 March 1961) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his series of albums setting to music the lyrics of William Blake, W.B. Yeats and Olav H. Hauge.
Coren's first album ''The Echoing Gr ...
also created a different musical setting for the poem on his album ''
The Blake Project: Spring''.
The Verve
The Verve were an English rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Simon Tong later became a member in ...
also referenced the song in their 2008 song ''
Love Is Noise
"Love Is Noise" is a song by English alternative rock band the Verve, the second track on their fourth album, ''Forth'' (2008). It was released as the first single from the album on 3 August 2008 as a digital download, with the physical release ...
'' from the album
Forth. Lead singer and writer
Richard Ashcroft
Richard Paul Ashcroft (born 11 September 1971) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and occasional rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band The Verve from their formation in 1990 until their original split in 1999. So ...
said that Blake had influenced the lyric ''
'Will those feet in modern times from the song.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rXLSWrFVqg The Verve – Love is Noise (Interview) – "L''ook at it in the first few lines, as a kind of remake of Jerusalem by William Blake, rather than those feet in ancient times, its those feet in modern times."''] This is not the first Verve song influenced by Blake, as their previous single ''
History
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
'' also featured the lyrics "I wandered lonely streets/Behind where the old Thames does flow/And in every face I meet", referencing Blake's "
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
".
See also
*
Civil religion
*
Romanticism and the Industrial Revolution
Notes
References
External links
Comparisons of the Hand Painted copies of the Prefaceon the
William Blake Archive
The William Blake Archive is a digital humanities project started in 1994, a first version of the website was launched in 1996.{{cite journal, last1=Crawford, first1=Kendal, last2=Levy, first2=Michelle, journal=RIDE: A Review Journal for Digital E ...
*
And did those feet in ancient timeat
Hymnary.org
* (Multiple versions)
{{DEFAULTSORT:And Did Those Feet In Ancient Time
1804 poems
1916 songs
English Christian hymns
English patriotic songs
National symbols of England
Poetry by William Blake
British Israelism
Musical settings of poems by William Blake
British anthems