"Hymn 43" is a song by British

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. Init ...

group Jethro Tull. It is off their '' Aqualung'' album and was released as a single by

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

. The song reached 91 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Background

Songwriter

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...

described the song as "a blues for Jesus, about the gory, glory seekers who use his name as an excuse for a lot of unsavoury things. You know, 'Hey Dad, it's not my fault — the missionaries lied.'" Sean Murphy of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

wrote that, "For “Hymn 43” Anderson sets his sights on the US and in quick order sets about decimating the hypocrisy and myth-making of religion and the new religion, entertainment." According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

, the song is set in the

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

. It is composed in the key of

D Major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

with Anderson's vocal range spanning from G₄ to Eb₆. ''Classic Rock History'' critic Skip Anderson ranked "Hymn 43" as Jethro Tull's 2nd best song, behind only "

Thick as a Brick ''Thick as a Brick'' is the fifth studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released on 3 March 1972. The album contains a continuous piece of music, split over two sides of an LP record, and is intended as a parody of the concept alb ...

" and ahead of the more popular songs on ''Aqualung'', " Aqualung" and "

Locomotive Breath "Locomotive Breath" is a song by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull from their 1971 album, '' Aqualung''. Written as a comment on population growth, "Locomotive Breath" was meant to replicate the chugging rhythm of a train. In addition to ...

Chart performance

Personnel

;Jethro Tull *

– vocals,

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

Clive Bunker Clive William Bunker (born 30 December 1946) is a British drummer. Bunker is best known as the original drummer of the rock band Jethro Tull, playing in the band from 1967 until 1971. Never a self-professed technical drummer, Bunker engaged ...

– drums and percussion *

Martin Barre Martin Lancelot Barre (; born 17 November 1946) is an English guitarist best known for his longtime role as lead guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from 1968 until the band's initial dissolution in 201 ...

– electric guitar *

Jeffrey Hammond Jeffrey Hammond (born 30 July 1946), often known by his former stage name Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, is an artist and retired musician best known for being the bassist of progressive rock band Jethro Tull from 1971 to 1975. With Jethro Tull, Ha ...

- bass guitar *

John Evan John Evan (born John Spencer Evans; born 28 March 1948, in Derby, Derbyshire.) is a British musician and composer. He is best known for having played keyboards for Jethro Tull from April 1970 to June 1980. Evans' father was headmaster at a De ...

– piano, organ,

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

Covers

Morse Morse may refer to: People * Morse (surname) * Morse Goodman (1917-1993), Anglican Bishop of Calgary, Canada * Morse Robb (1902–1992), Canadian inventor and entrepreneur Geography Antarctica * Cape Morse, Wilkes Land * Mount Morse, Churchi ...

Portnoy Portnoy (formerly known as The Portnoy Brothers) are a British-Israeli folk rock duo formed in 2014 by Manchester-born brothers Sruli (born 1990; vocals, guitar) and Mendy Portnoy (born 1992; keyboards). Their debut album, as The Portnoy Brothe ...

/George released this as their third single off their 2020 album ''Cov3r to Cov3r'' on July 10, 2020. *A version by

Alabama Thunderpussy Alabama Thunderpussy, originally known as Alabama Thunder Pussy, is an American heavy metal band from Richmond, Virginia. It was founded by Bryan Cox, Erik Larson and Asechiah Bogdan in 1996. History Bryan Cox, Erik Larson and Asechiah Bogdan f ...

was included on the compilation album, ''

Sucking the 70's ''Sucking the 70's'' is a two disc collection of 1970s songs covered by modern stoner rock bands. It was released by Small Stone Records in 2002. A second album, ''Sucking the 70's – Back in the Saddle Again'', was released in 2006. The album ...

''.

Popular culture

*The song was later included in the video game '' Rock Band 2'' as downloadable content.

References

1971 songs Jethro Tull (band) songs Songs written by Ian Anderson Song recordings produced by Ian Anderson Reprise Records singles {{1970s-rock-song-stub