Go Down Moses

This article is about the song. For the book by William Faulkner, see Go Down, Moses (book).
"Go Down, Moses"
Fisk Jubilee Singers (earliest attested)
Song
GenreNegro spiritual
Songwriter(s)Traditional
Go Down Moses
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"Go Down Moses" is an African American spiritual that describes the Hebrew Exodus, specifically drawing from the Book of Exodus 5:1, in which God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. "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".[1]

As is common in spirituals, the song refers to freedom,[2] both the freedom of the Israelites, and that of runaway enslaved people.[3] As a result of those messages, it was outlawed by many enslavers.[4]

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

Refrain:
Go down, Moses
Way down in Egypt's land
Tell old Pharaoh
Let my people go

Lyrically, the song refers to the liberation of the ancient Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. That story held a second meaning for enslaved African Americans, because they related their experiences under slavery to those of Moses and the Israelites who were enslaved by the pharaoh,[5] and the idea that God would come to the aid of the persecuted resonated with them. "Go Down Moses" also makes reference to the Jordan River, commonly associated in spirituals with reaching freedom, because the act of running away often involved crossing one or more rivers.[6][7]

Since the Old Testament recognizes the Nile Valley as further south, and thus, lower than Jerusalem and the Promised Land, heading to Egypt means going "down"[8] while going away from Egypt is "up".[9] In the context of American slavery, that ancient sense of "down" converged with the concept of "down the river" (the Mississippi), where enslaved people's conditions were notoriously worse. Later verses also draw parallels between the Israelites' freedom from slavery and humanity's freedom won by Christ.[10]

  1. ^ Bible: Exodus 5:1
  2. ^ Newman, R. S. (1998). Go Down Moses: A Celebration of the African-American Spiritual. Clarkson N. Potter.
  3. ^ Darden, R. (2004). People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music. Bloomsbury.
  4. ^ Newman, R. S. (1998). Go Down Moses: A Celebration of the African-American Spiritual. Clarkson N. Potter.
  5. ^ Darden, R. (2004). People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music. Bloomsbury.
  6. ^ Cleveland, J. J. (Ed.). (1981). Songs of Zion. Abingdon Press.
  7. ^ Cornelius, Steven (2004). Music of the Civil War Era. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 118. ISBN 0313320810
  8. ^ For example, in Genesis 42:2 Jacob commands his sons to "go down to Egypt" to buy grain
  9. ^ In Exodus 1:10, Pharaoh expresses apprehension that the Hebrews would join Egypt's enemies and "go up [i.e. away] from the land"
  10. ^ Warren, G. S. (1997). Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit: 101 Best-Loved Psalms, Gospel Hymns, and Spiritual Songs of the African-American Church.” Holt.