Jerusalem
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The Large One
Who's Next?
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 these 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
'Til we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
It's a metaphor. Probly.
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 these 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
'Til we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
It's a metaphor. Probly.
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The Large One
Who's Next?
All I can imgaine is that the word 'Jerusalem' means (believe or not) 'City of Peace'. It fits.
So, some kind of city or dwelling with a 60ft high, five foot thick security wall, heat-seeking missile turrets every 100 yards along the wall, the latest in infra-red, x-ray searchlight beams, booby traps, land mines and barbed wire at strategic point on the approach to the city, check points manned by low-IQ armed guards, helicopter patrols, a bomb-proof super-dome covering the city, sniper patrols in every building over five storeys high and a civil liberty-free existence inside the city - all in England's green and pleasant land.
Sounds fairly peaceful to me.
So, some kind of city or dwelling with a 60ft high, five foot thick security wall, heat-seeking missile turrets every 100 yards along the wall, the latest in infra-red, x-ray searchlight beams, booby traps, land mines and barbed wire at strategic point on the approach to the city, check points manned by low-IQ armed guards, helicopter patrols, a bomb-proof super-dome covering the city, sniper patrols in every building over five storeys high and a civil liberty-free existence inside the city - all in England's green and pleasant land.
Sounds fairly peaceful to me.
Bob!
Coffee Buyer
- Jul 5, 2003
- 12,108
- Thread starter
- #5
The Large One said:All I can imgaine is that the word 'Jerusalem' means (believe or not) 'City of Peace'. It fits.
So, some kind of city or dwelling with a 60ft high, five foot thick security wall, heat-seeking missile turrets every 100 yards along the wall, the latest in infra-red, x-ray searchlight beams, booby traps, land mines and barbed wire at strategic point on the approach to the city, check points manned by low-IQ armed guards, helicopter patrols, a bomb-proof super-dome covering the city, sniper patrols in every building over five storeys high and a civil liberty-free existence inside the city - all in England's green and pleasant land.
Sounds fairly peaceful to me.
oh, that's fine then, just what we want on the South Downs!
has anyone told the Falmer Nimby's?
The British National Party
New member
BHA links said:
I bet the Politically correct brigade were biting their tongues at that 'Jerusalem song' and that we won the Ashes. all those St. George flags. I was expecting the Pc Barge to demand the parade to be stopped as it'll offend ethnic Minorities.
Dandyman
In London village.
Re: Re: Jerusalem
No, but they might try and educate you about William Blake and the tradition of religious non-conformism and political radicalism to which he belongs. Of course, there is the danger that you might actually learn something about the history of our country in the process...
Oceanic said:
No, but they might try and educate you about William Blake and the tradition of religious non-conformism and political radicalism to which he belongs. Of course, there is the danger that you might actually learn something about the history of our country in the process...
London Irish
Well-known member
BHA links said:
Blake was a revolutionary. The Jerusalem he referred to was some kind of agrarian socialist society.
The fact that his words have been hijacked with the addition of some choral music by some of the most conservative forces in this country is, to coin a phrase, ironic
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Bob!
Coffee Buyer
- Jul 5, 2003
- 12,108
- Thread starter
- #11
just found this:
The poem Jerusalem (1804), by William Blake, is actually an excerpt from the preface to one of his "prophetic books", Milton.
Jerusalem is here the symbolic residence of a humanity freed of the inter-related chains of commerce, British imperialism, and war. Blake's "mental fight" is directed against these chains.In his Blake: Prophet Against Empire, David Erdman tells us that Blake's "dark, Satanic Mills" are "mills that produce dark metal, iron and steel, for diabolic purposes . . . . London . . . was a war arsenal and the hub of the machinery of war, and Blake uses the symbol in that sense."
http://progressiveliving.org/william_blake_poetry_jerusalem.htm
The poem Jerusalem (1804), by William Blake, is actually an excerpt from the preface to one of his "prophetic books", Milton.
Jerusalem is here the symbolic residence of a humanity freed of the inter-related chains of commerce, British imperialism, and war. Blake's "mental fight" is directed against these chains.In his Blake: Prophet Against Empire, David Erdman tells us that Blake's "dark, Satanic Mills" are "mills that produce dark metal, iron and steel, for diabolic purposes . . . . London . . . was a war arsenal and the hub of the machinery of war, and Blake uses the symbol in that sense."
http://progressiveliving.org/william_blake_poetry_jerusalem.htm
London Calling
New member
Re: Re: Jerusalem
ah lad that be a grand place to live and workLondon Irish said:
Spearritt of the Albion
Member
- Jul 5, 2003
- 220
The music was written by Sir Hubert Parry (1848-1918) whilst living in Knightscroft House, Sea Lane, Rustington. Perhaps he too was an BHA fan.
Also, the best rendition (imho) was by 70's legends Emerson Lake and Palmer. (Keith Emerson was from Worthing and attended West Tarring Secondary Modern School).
So the Sussex link just gets stronger and stronger. no wonder it's Good Old Sussex by the Sea!
Also, the best rendition (imho) was by 70's legends Emerson Lake and Palmer. (Keith Emerson was from Worthing and attended West Tarring Secondary Modern School).
So the Sussex link just gets stronger and stronger. no wonder it's Good Old Sussex by the Sea!
Dave the OAP
Well-known member
Re: Re: Jerusalem
funny you should say that, but my mate works for Birmingham City Council Authoirity thing and they put up a poster with Freddie and the boys with the words to Jerusalem on the wall and were told to take it down as it would offend the Muslim people in the office who would object to the word Jerusalem.
Seemly they had complaints from the ethnic minority people in the office.
This country drives you fecking mad sometimes
Oceanic said:
funny you should say that, but my mate works for Birmingham City Council Authoirity thing and they put up a poster with Freddie and the boys with the words to Jerusalem on the wall and were told to take it down as it would offend the Muslim people in the office who would object to the word Jerusalem.
Seemly they had complaints from the ethnic minority people in the office.
This country drives you fecking mad sometimes
Lord Bracknell
On fire
Mike Brearley on 'Jerusalem' in last Sunday's Observer:-
A word about 'Jerusalem'. We're told to stand, as if at some sort of open-air religious convention. Marketing-led pseudo-piety, it feels to me. People choose to go to religious conventions; here what we choose to go to is a cricket match. I hate being manipulated into some sort of worshipful attitude. The blaring loudspeakers make it hard to know whether anyone on the ground is singing. The tenor soars in emotion-stirring descant. And 'Jerusalem' itself? A left-wing protest taken over by the public-school system. Someone said that ever since seeing the film If..., for which it's the theme tune, he's wanted to pick up a machine gun and mow down anyone singing the song.
The attitude of out-and-out partisanship at here has been largely good-humoured (even favouring interruptions for rain or bad light, or the incomprehensible half-hour delay in starting yesterday, when the light rain had stopped by half past nine) and not without its generosity. Let's not spoil it with this sentimental claptrap.
A word about 'Jerusalem'. We're told to stand, as if at some sort of open-air religious convention. Marketing-led pseudo-piety, it feels to me. People choose to go to religious conventions; here what we choose to go to is a cricket match. I hate being manipulated into some sort of worshipful attitude. The blaring loudspeakers make it hard to know whether anyone on the ground is singing. The tenor soars in emotion-stirring descant. And 'Jerusalem' itself? A left-wing protest taken over by the public-school system. Someone said that ever since seeing the film If..., for which it's the theme tune, he's wanted to pick up a machine gun and mow down anyone singing the song.
The attitude of out-and-out partisanship at here has been largely good-humoured (even favouring interruptions for rain or bad light, or the incomprehensible half-hour delay in starting yesterday, when the light rain had stopped by half past nine) and not without its generosity. Let's not spoil it with this sentimental claptrap.
Re: Re: Re: Jerusalem
thats disgraceful, although I couldn't give two fecking hoots about the song myself, Freddie should be on all office walls !
dave the gaffer said:
thats disgraceful, although I couldn't give two fecking hoots about the song myself, Freddie should be on all office walls !
West Hoathly Seagull
Honorary Ruffian
The song is partly based on an idea that Jesus once set foot in England. It's known as the Glastonbury something or other (can't remember the name), which is impossible, as Jesus only once left the ancient kingdom of Israel, to visit Samaria, which I think is now part of modern Lebanon. Oddly enough, I dreaded the idea of singing it before the match, and didn't join in on Thursday morning, but by the time the match was coming to an end, I was just as caught up in it as everyone else. And yes, the public school point is correct. We always used to sing it as the second and final hymn in our end of year Chapel service at Ardingly, but I couldn't think why.
It's interesting how Jerusalem, which is a pretty revolutionary poem, has been hijacked by people who would have been appalled by Blake's real beliefs.
A similar thing has happened to Orwell, a committed socialist all his adult life, but who finds himself regularly on the pages of the Mail and the Telegraph as some sort of right wing guru.
What next? The Red Flag being adopted by a chain of home furnishings as an advertising jingle?
A similar thing has happened to Orwell, a committed socialist all his adult life, but who finds himself regularly on the pages of the Mail and the Telegraph as some sort of right wing guru.
What next? The Red Flag being adopted by a chain of home furnishings as an advertising jingle?