The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #3934   Message #20761
Posted By: Charlie Baum
05-Feb-98 - 10:44 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Jerusalem (The English Song)
Subject: RE: Lyrics For
And speaking of settings of William Blake's poetry, Greg Brown did an entire album of his settings of Blake's poetry about 5(?) years ago.

I usually associate the "New Jerusalem" with America and specifically New England, where early Americans saw themselves as rebuilding a society in the image of the City on the Hill. But Blake's vision seems much more sardonic, trying to build a new Jerusalem among satanic mills. Then again, as Blake himself once said, "Joy & Woe are woven fine..."