What tune does it use?

Jupiter from Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets, written between 1914 and 1916.

Jupiter must be one of the most plundered bits of Holst’s set of planets for orchestra. Its stirring central theme became the melody of the song World In Union, used by Kiri te Kanawa for the 1991 Rugby Union World Cup in the UK, as well as in countless other vocal arrangements (Kathryn Jenkins et al). Here though, a much more original bit of ‘sampling’ gives rise to a fantastically uplifting pop song, completed by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in 1973.

How does it work?

Mann takes the tune from 0’57” in the Planets, clip below:

Then he moves it down in pitch by half an octave to make the whole tune.

Then, after the second chorus (at 1’32”) Mann uses another tune from Jupiter:

Here is the original:

The band subject it to a synthesizer improvisation before it goes into the growly Hammond Organ at the bottom. Then, before we know it, we’re back to the tune, and joy is unconfined!

What else is new?

Joybringer comes from the album Solar Fire – in which Mann continues to use the whole of The Planets for inspiration in the song titles. Listen to it via Spotify below: