Go Down Moses
Encyclopedia
"Go Down Moses" is an American Negro spiritual
. It describes events in the Old Testament
of the Bible
, specifically Exodus 7:16: "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me", in which God commands Moses
to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt
. The opening verse as published by the Jubilee Singers in 1872:
In the song "Israel" represents the African-American slaves while "Egypt" and "Pharaoh" represent the slavemaster.
Going "down" to Egypt is derived from the Biblical origin, where Egypt is consistently perceived as being "below" other lands, with going to Egypt being "down" while going away from Egypt is "up". In the context of American slavery, this ancient sense of "down" converged with the concept of "down the river" (the Mississippi
), where slaves' conditions were notoriously worse, a situation which left the idiom "sell [someone] down the river" in present-day English.
at Fort Monroe
sometime before July 1862. Early authorities presumed it was composed by them. Sheet music was soon after published, titled "Oh! Let My People Go: The Song of the Contrabands" and arranged by Horace Waters. L.C. Lockwood, chaplain of the Contrabands, stated in the sheet music the song was from Virginia, dating from about 1853. The opening verse, as recorded by Lockwood, is:
whose voice, deep and resonant as it was, was said by some to have attained the status of the voice of God. On February 7, 1958, the song was recorded in New York City, and sung by Louis Armstrong
with Sy Oliver
's Orchestra.
It is also one of the spirituals used in the oratorio
A Child of Our Time
by the English composer Michael Tippett
.
William Faulkner
titled his novel Go Down, Moses
after the song.
A Hebrew translation of the song is a common element in the Passover seder
in Israel.
A reference is made to the song in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off
when a bed-ridden Cameron
sings, "When Cameron was in Egypt's land, let my Cameron go!"
In the show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
, the song is sung by Will Smith
and Carlton Banks (Smith sings the first two lines, Banks sullenly providing the refrain, then a prisoner sings the final four lines in an operatic voice.)
Also sung by Gregory Miller (played by Sidney Poitier
) in the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle
.
The song was recorded by Deep River Boys
in Oslo
on September 26, 1960. It was released on the extended play
Negro Spirituals No. 3 (HMV 7EGN 39).
Also sung by Jess Lee Brooks
in the 1941 Preston Sturges
film Sullivan's Travels
.
The song, or a modified version of it, has been used in the Roger Jones
musical From Pharaoh to Freedom.
Also sung by Della Reese
in Episode 424, "Elijah", of Touched By An Angel
while Bruce Davison
sang "Eliyahu."
In 2010, a teen comedy film Easy A
remixed this song with a fast guitar and beats. The song was originally published as Original Soundtrack and is listed in Imdb.
The French singer Claude Nougaro
adapted the song in French
under the name Armstrong.
Heavily influences the song "Get Down Moses," by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros on their album Streetcore
.
Spiritual (music)
Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...
. It describes events in the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, specifically Exodus 7:16: "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me", in which God commands Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. The opening verse as published by the Jubilee Singers in 1872:
- When Israel was in Egypt's land: Let my people go,
- Oppress'd so hard they could not stand, Let my People go.
- Go down, Moses,
- Way down in Egypt's land,
- Tell old Pharaoh,
- Let my people go.
In the song "Israel" represents the African-American slaves while "Egypt" and "Pharaoh" represent the slavemaster.
Going "down" to Egypt is derived from the Biblical origin, where Egypt is consistently perceived as being "below" other lands, with going to Egypt being "down" while going away from Egypt is "up". In the context of American slavery, this ancient sense of "down" converged with the concept of "down the river" (the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
), where slaves' conditions were notoriously worse, a situation which left the idiom "sell [someone] down the river" in present-day English.
"Oh! Let My People Go"
Although usually thought of as a spiritual, the earliest recorded use of the song was as a rallying anthem for the ContrabandsContraband (American Civil War)
Contraband was a term commonly used in the United States military during the American Civil War to describe a new status for certain escaped slaves or those who affiliated with Union forces after the military determined that the US would not return escaped slaves who went to Union lines to their...
at Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...
sometime before July 1862. Early authorities presumed it was composed by them. Sheet music was soon after published, titled "Oh! Let My People Go: The Song of the Contrabands" and arranged by Horace Waters. L.C. Lockwood, chaplain of the Contrabands, stated in the sheet music the song was from Virginia, dating from about 1853. The opening verse, as recorded by Lockwood, is:
- The Lord, by Moses, to Pharaoh said: Oh! let my people go.
- If not, I'll smite your first-born dead—Oh! let my people go.
- Oh! go down, Moses,
- Away down to Egypt's land,
- And tell King Pharaoh
- To let my people go.
Popular culture
The song was made famous by Paul RobesonPaul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
whose voice, deep and resonant as it was, was said by some to have attained the status of the voice of God. On February 7, 1958, the song was recorded in New York City, and sung by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
with Sy Oliver
Sy Oliver
Melvin "Sy" Oliver was a jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader...
's Orchestra.
It is also one of the spirituals used in the oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
A Child of Our Time
A Child of Our Time
A Child of Our Time is an oratorio written by Michael Tippett between 1939 and 1941."After more than ten years of thoughtful planning, Michael Tippett summed up his musical, political, spiritual and philosophical beliefs in his first oratorio, A Child of Our Time...
by the English composer Michael Tippett
Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett OM CH CBE was an English composer.In his long career he produced a large body of work, including five operas, three large-scale choral works, four symphonies, five string quartets, four piano sonatas, concertos and concertante works, song cycles and incidental music...
.
William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
titled his novel Go Down, Moses
Go Down, Moses
Go Down, Moses is a collection of seven related pieces of short fiction by American author William Faulkner, sometimes considered a novel...
after the song.
A Hebrew translation of the song is a common element in the Passover seder
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
in Israel.
A reference is made to the song in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a 1986 American teen coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by John Hughes.The film follows high school senior Ferris Bueller , who decides to skip school and spend the day in downtown Chicago...
when a bed-ridden Cameron
Alan Ruck
Alan Ruck is an American film, stage and television actor, perhaps best known for his roles as Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Stuart Bondek on Spin City.-Early life:...
sings, "When Cameron was in Egypt's land, let my Cameron go!"
In the show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...
, the song is sung by Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
and Carlton Banks (Smith sings the first two lines, Banks sullenly providing the refrain, then a prisoner sings the final four lines in an operatic voice.)
Also sung by Gregory Miller (played by Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
) in the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle
Blackboard Jungle
Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter.-Plot:...
.
The song was recorded by Deep River Boys
Deep River Boys
The Deep River Boys were an American gospel music group active from the mid 1930s and into the 1980s. The group performed spirituals, gospel, and R&B.-Members:...
in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
on September 26, 1960. It was released on the extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Negro Spirituals No. 3 (HMV 7EGN 39).
Also sung by Jess Lee Brooks
Jess Lee Brooks
Jess Lee Brooks , also known as Jesse Brooks, was an actor. He is perhaps most famous for playing the African-American church preacher in the critically acclaimed motion picture, Sullivan's Travels, where he leads his congregation in singing Go Down Moses....
in the 1941 Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges , originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated playwright, screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois...
film Sullivan's Travels
Sullivan's Travels
Sullivan's Travels is a 1941 American comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges. It is a satire about a movie director, played by Joel McCrea, who longs to make a socially relevant drama, but eventually learns that comedies are his more valuable contribution to society. The film features...
.
The song, or a modified version of it, has been used in the Roger Jones
Roger Jones
Roger L. Jones is an American mathematician.He has his Ph.D. in mathematics from Rutgers University and has recently retired from a professorship in mathematics at DePaul University in Chicago. There he taught everything from remedial math to graduate-level courses...
musical From Pharaoh to Freedom.
Also sung by Della Reese
Della Reese
Delloreese Patricia Early, known professionally as Della Reese , is an American actress, singer, game show panelist of the 1970s, one-time talk-show hostess and ordained minister. She started her career in the 1950s as a gospel, pop and jazz singer, scoring a hit with her 1959 single "Don't You...
in Episode 424, "Elijah", of Touched By An Angel
Touched by an Angel
Touched by an Angel is an American drama series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994 and ran for 211 episodes and nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and produced by Martha Williamson, the series stars Roma Downey, as an angel named Monica, and Della...
while Bruce Davison
Bruce Davison
Bruce Davison is an American actor and director.-Early life:Davison was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Marian E. , a secretary, and Clair W. Davison, a musician, architect, and draftsman for the Army Engineers. His parents divorced when he was three years old. He was raised by his...
sang "Eliyahu."
In 2010, a teen comedy film Easy A
Easy A
Easy A is a 2010 teen comedy film written by Bert V. Royal, directed by Will Gluck, and starring Emma Stone. The screenplay was partially inspired by the novel The Scarlet Letter. The film was shot at Screen Gems studios and in Ojai, California. Screen Gems distributed with a release on...
remixed this song with a fast guitar and beats. The song was originally published as Original Soundtrack and is listed in Imdb.
The French singer Claude Nougaro
Claude Nougaro
Claude Nougaro was a French songwriter and singer.Claude Nougaro was born in Toulouse to a respected French opera singer, Pierre Nougaro, and an Italian piano teacher, Liette Tellini. He was raised by his grandparents in Toulouse where he heard Glenn Miller, Édith Piaf and Louis Armstrong on the...
adapted the song in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
under the name Armstrong.
Heavily influences the song "Get Down Moses," by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros on their album Streetcore
Streetcore
-Cover versions of songs:The song "Coma Girl" was performed as the opening number at Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's performance at the Glastonbury Festival on June 27, 2009....
.
Recordings
- The Kelly FamilyThe Kelly FamilyThe Kelly Family is an Irish-American-European music group consisting of a multi-generational family, who play a repertoire of rock, pop and folk music. They have had chart and concert success in Europe and other parts of the world, especially in Germany, the Benelux countries, Scandinavia, Eastern...
recorded the song twice: live version is included on their 1988 album Live and a studio version - on 1990 New World. The latter also features on their compilation album of 1993 - The Very Best - Over 10 Years
- The Golden Gate Quartet (Duration: 3:05; year and album unknown).
External links
- Sweet Chariot: The Story of the Spirituals, particularly their section on "Freedom" (Web site maintained by The Spirituals Project at the University of Denver)