Each month, we ask our Monthly Read authors for a playlist. Some choose songs they wrote to, others share music that echoes the emotional territory of their work.
For Jez Butterworth (the writer of Jerusalem – the first play we’ve explored at the Service95 Book Club), music is integral to his work. “My primary source of inspiration is songs, by an enormous factor. I spend a thousand times more time listening to music than going to the theatre,” he says. “I find puzzling what is going on at the heart of a song just so wonderful and haunting and I’m always looking for new things that will do that to me. What’s at the heart of a great song is, to me, even more mysterious than what’s at the heart of a great play.”
Here, he shares the songs that soundtracked the making of Jerusalem, from the rock songs of antihero Rooster’s youth to the early 2000s tracks heard on the radio when the play first opened in 2009. If you haven’t yet picked up the play, this energetic playlist is a compelling place to start. You can watch Dua’s interview with Jez here). Happy listening!
What’s On Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem Playlist
Cross Road Blues – Robert Johnson, 1936
I Wanna Be Your Dog – The Stooges, 1969
Who Knows Where the Time Goes – Sandy Denny, 1969
God Save the Queen – Sex Pistols, 1977
John the Revelator – Blind Willie Johnson, 1930
Jumpin’ Jack Flash – The Rolling Stones, 1968
The Gardener – John Martyn, 1968
Work It – Missy Elliott, 2002
The Gallows Pole – Traditional
Gloria – Patti Smith, 1975
Ring the Alarm – Beyoncé, 2006
There’s More – Delve Deeper Into Jerusalem With The Service95 Book Club...
WATCH Dua’s interview with playwright Jez Butterworth
LISTEN to their conversation with the Service95 Book Club podcast
NOTE the books, films and TV shows that inspired Jerusalem
LEARN more about the origins of Jerusalem from Jez
