‘Hear the Drunken Archangel Sing’: Blakean Notes in 1990s Pop Music

Abstract

William Blake is alive and well and dancing his way into the twenty-first century. The patron poet of pop is such a frequent influence on songwriters that it’s hard not to imagine Wordsworth frowning disapprovingly from the poetic pantheon and muttering about the racket down below, whilst secretly wishing he could swap places and be less square. Other Romantic poets may get occasional references from pop musicians eager to show cultural credentials, but Blake triumphs in terms of his ubiquity and integral influence on rock ‘n’ roll creativity.