Lyrics
William Blake/Hubert Parry
And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon Englands mountains green: 1
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands 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:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land.
The Fall
And did those feet in ancient times
Walk upon mountain green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen? 2
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
And did the Countenance Divine shine forth on clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem in the dark Satanic mills?
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
It was the fault of the Government
It was the fault of Government
I was walking down the street when I tripped up on a discarded banana skin
And on my way down I caught the side of my head on a protruding brick chip
It was the Government's fault
It was the fault of the Government
I was very let down with the budget, I was expecting a one million quid handout
I was very disappointed
It was the Government's fault
It was the fault of the Government
I became a semi-artistic type person
And I didn't have a pen
And I didn't have a condom
It was the fault of the Government
I think I'll emigrate to Sweden or Poland
And get looked after properly by the Government
Bring me bow of burning gold
Bring arrows of desire
Bring me spear, O clouds unfold!
And though I rest from mental fight
And though sword sleeps in hand
I will not rest till Jerusalem is built in England's green and pleasant land
It was the fault of the Government
It was the fault of the Government
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
It was the fault of the Government
It was the fault of the Government
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
It was the fault of the Government
It was the fault of the Government
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
... of the Government
It was the fault of the Government
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
It was the fault of the Government
It was the fault of the Government
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
It was the fault of the Government
It was the fault of the Government
Jerusalem
Commentary
< in progress >
I strikes me that the ironic juxtaposition of Jerusalem and ‘blaming the Government’ in this lyric may well have been inspired by a passage from Wyndham Lewis’ foreword to his short-story anthology, Rotting Hill. Mark E. Smith said of Rotting Hill that it was “the greatest phrase I’ve heard in my life” (1986).
For the seamy side of socialist splendour the socialists are blamed. Mr. Patricks, the socialist shop-man whose toy shop you are invited to visit in the ensuing pages, says that his customers even blame the heat and the cold, the rain and the snow and the sleet on the Government. And then, of course, the very bounty of the socialists, their lavish honeymoon spending, militated against the austerity of life and dedication to work which was required to build the New Jerusalem. Decades of ca’ canny and the ingrained habit of go-slow, producing a population of the laziest workmen in Europe, has proved the arch-enemy of socialism.
Lewis, 1951, “Foreword”, p.ix. Lewis is referring to the story, “Mr. Patricks’ Toy Shop”, Chapter 6, pp.213-231.
Footnotes
Sources / Links
- The Annotated Fall: “Dog is Life/Jerusalem” [Archived]
- Ford, Simon (2003). Hip Priest: the story of Mark E Smith and The Fall. London: Quartet Books.
- Hanley, Steve and Piekarski, Olivia (2014). The Big Midweek: Life Inside The Fall. Pontefract: Route Publishing Ltd.
- Lewis, Wyndham (1951). Rotting Hill. London: Methuen.
- Mackay, Tommy (2018). 40 Odd Years of The Fall. Place of publication unknown: Greg Moodie.
- Pringle, Steve (2022). You Must Get Them All: The Fall on Record. [paperback edition]. Pontefract: Route Publishing Ltd. [Online store]
- Smith, Mark E. (1986). “Heroes”. Melody Maker, 27 September. p.33.
- Smith, Mark E. (2008). vII. The Lough Press & AMarquisManipulationProductions. [AKA the Blue Lyrics Book]
- Smith, Mark E. (2008). Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith. London: Penguin.
- Smith Start, Brix (2016). The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise. London: Faber & Faber. [Text available online in archive.org]
- The Track Record: “Jerusalem”
- Wolstencroft, Simon (2014). You Can Drum But You Can’t Hide. London: Strata Books.
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