Bring 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 til Jerusalem is built
In Englands green and pleasant Land.

And finally we have Blakey again, versifying from his bus. What I failed to notice when I chose this track was that it was 9 minutes long. I could have had three Buzzcocks tracks in that time (Off the top of my ever-so-handsome head, these would have been What Do I Get?, Ever Fallen in Love, and Everybody’s Happy Nowadays) – but while Buzzcocks songs are splendidly sweet in their brevity, I, as you will have noticed, am not.
I tend to go on a bit.
Yes, I love short songs. Songs that surge forward in excitement only to leave you teetering over the abyss of longing; these are the very meaning of pop. But I couldn’t have had This a year fe Rebels by The Godsons for the very same reason. I suspect you haven’t heard it, and if anyone could find a copy lurking on the Net I’d be quite profoundly grateful. It’s a little over a minute, if I remember rightly, and the lyrics consist only of the title sung as a plaintive but insistent refrain. Meanwhile I couldn’t even guess at the instrument on which the melody is played, over a classic rocksteady rhythm. And then it ends, rather abruptly, with the words “Stop right there an’ try the nex’ one.” Which invariably one does.
This is the track that made it onto almost every compilation I ever made. And yet, I no longer have a copy.
In fact, I meant to say a few summary words on Jerusalem, which has been my topic for the week, but sod it. If any one can find This a Year Fe Rebels not only will I make it my back up choice in the event of Jerusalem being just too long, but I will pick up the tab for today’s cocktails.