Go down, Moses

Go down, Moses sung by Louis Armstrong. With lyrics, Russian translation and some information about the song. The ending says: ’Let My people go’ - is a phrase from the Bible, the Book of Exodus, in which Moses demanded from the pharaoh to free the Jews out of the egyptian slavery. ’And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, thus saith the LORD, let my people go, that they may serve me.’ (Exodus 8, 1) After the pharaoh had refused to let them go, Egypt sufferred different disasters (’plagues of Egypt’), which forced the pharaoh to let the Jews to leave the country. At the time of slavery in the USA this phase was sounded in the songs of African slaves (Negro spirituals). In the XX century the song ’Go down Moses’ was performed by american singer Paul Robeson and jazzman Louis Armstong. In the song ’Israel’ symbolizes african-american slaves, ’Egypt’ and ’pharaoh’ - slaveholders. The song was an anthem of black people who had escaped from the slavery to the position of the Northern army during the 1861-65 Civil war (they were called ’contraband’ as a ’property’ ’illegally taken’ by northerners). The action in the song takes place on the mount Sinai, where now is placed an ancient St. Catherine’s monastery. Palmers can even watch ’the Burning Bush’, which burned but did not get burnt, from the flame of which the God talked to Moses.