Введение
Афроамериканская духовная песня
the song
"Go Down Moses" is an African American spiritual that describes the Hebrew exodus, specifically drawing from the Book of Exodus 5:1: "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", where God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. As is common in spirituals, the song discusses freedom, referring both to the freedom of the Israelites, and that of runaway enslaved people. As a result of these messages, this song was outlawed by many enslavers. 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 discusses the liberation of the ancient Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. This story held a second meaning for enslaved African Americans, as they related their experiences under slavery to those of Moses and the Israelites who were enslaved by the pharaoh, and they resonated with the message that God will come to the aid of the persecuted. "Go Down Moses" also makes references to the Jordan River, commonly associated with reaching freedom in spirituals because such an act of running away often involved crossing one or more rivers. 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" 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 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.
песня "Go Down Moses" – это афроамериканская духовная песня, повествующая об исходе евреев из Египта, в частности, отсылающая к книге Исход 5:1: «И сказал Господь Моисею: иди к фараону и скажи ему: так говорит Господь: отпусти народ Мой, чтобы они служили Мне», где Бог повелевает Моисею требовать освобождения израильтян из египетского рабства. Как это часто встречается в духовных песнях, в ней говорится о свободе, подразумевая как свободу израильтян, так и свободу беглых рабов. Из-за этих посылов многие рабовладельцы запрещали эту песню. Начальный куплет, опубликованный Юбилейными певцами в 1872 году:
Когда Израиль был в земле Египетской
Отпусти народ Мой
Так угнетали их, что не могли стоять
Отпусти народ Мой
the song
"Go Down Moses" is an African American spiritual that describes the Hebrew exodus, specifically drawing from the Book of Exodus 5:1: "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", where God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. As is common in spirituals, the song discusses freedom, referring both to the freedom of the Israelites, and that of runaway enslaved people. As a result of these messages, this song was outlawed by many enslavers. 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 discusses the liberation of the ancient Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. This story held a second meaning for enslaved African Americans, as they related their experiences under slavery to those of Moses and the Israelites who were enslaved by the pharaoh, and they resonated with the message that God will come to the aid of the persecuted. "Go Down Moses" also makes references to the Jordan River, commonly associated with reaching freedom in spirituals because such an act of running away often involved crossing one or more rivers. 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" 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 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.
Припев:
Спустись, Моисей
В самую глубь земли Египетской
Скажи старому фараону
Отпусти народ Мой
the song
"Go Down Moses" is an African American spiritual that describes the Hebrew exodus, specifically drawing from the Book of Exodus 5:1: "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", where God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. As is common in spirituals, the song discusses freedom, referring both to the freedom of the Israelites, and that of runaway enslaved people. As a result of these messages, this song was outlawed by many enslavers. 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 discusses the liberation of the ancient Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. This story held a second meaning for enslaved African Americans, as they related their experiences under slavery to those of Moses and the Israelites who were enslaved by the pharaoh, and they resonated with the message that God will come to the aid of the persecuted. "Go Down Moses" also makes references to the Jordan River, commonly associated with reaching freedom in spirituals because such an act of running away often involved crossing one or more rivers. 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" 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 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.
Лирически песня повествует об освобождении древнего еврейского народа от египетского рабства. Эта история имела дополнительный смысл для порабощенных афроамериканцев, которые сопоставляли свой опыт рабства с опытом Моисея и израильтян, порабощенных фараоном, и находили отклик в послании о том, что Бог придет на помощь преследуемым. В песне "Спустись, Моисей" также упоминается река Иордан, традиционно ассоциирующаяся с обретением свободы в духовных песнях, поскольку побег часто включал пересечение одной или нескольких рек. Поскольку Ветхий Завет определяет долину Нила как расположенную южнее, а следовательно, ниже Иерусалима и Земли Обетованной, путь в Египет означает движение «вниз», а путь из Египта – «вверх». В контексте американского рабства это древнее значение слова «вниз» совпало с понятием «вниз по реке» (по Миссисипи), где условия рабства были особенно тяжелыми. В последующих куплетах также проводится параллель между освобождением израильтян из рабства и свободой, дарованной человечеству Христом.
the song
"Go Down Moses" is an African American spiritual that describes the Hebrew exodus, specifically drawing from the Book of Exodus 5:1: "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", where God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. As is common in spirituals, the song discusses freedom, referring both to the freedom of the Israelites, and that of runaway enslaved people. As a result of these messages, this song was outlawed by many enslavers. 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 discusses the liberation of the ancient Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. This story held a second meaning for enslaved African Americans, as they related their experiences under slavery to those of Moses and the Israelites who were enslaved by the pharaoh, and they resonated with the message that God will come to the aid of the persecuted. "Go Down Moses" also makes references to the Jordan River, commonly associated with reaching freedom in spirituals because such an act of running away often involved crossing one or more rivers. 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" 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 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.
Фильмы
Аль Джолсон исполняет ее в фильме Алана Кросленда «Большой мальчик» (1930). Кратковременно использована в фильме «Миллионы» (1934). В фильме «Унесенные ветром» (1939) без указания авторства ее поют марширующие чернокожие солдаты, отправляющиеся на борьбу с янки. Джесс Ли Брукс исполняет ее в фильме Престона Стерджеса «Путешествия Салливана» (1941). Грегори Миллер (в исполнении Сидни Пуатье) аккомпанировал на пианино к квинтету, исполнявшему эту песню в фильме «Джунгли на школьной доске» (1955). В фильме «Феррис Бьюллер берет выходной» (1986) есть отсылка к песне, когда прикованный к постели Кэмерон Фрай поет: «Когда Кэмерон был в земле египетской, отпусти моего Кэмерона». Сергей Бодров-младший и Олег Меньшиков, играющие двух главных героев в фильме Сергея Бодрова «Кавказский пленник» (1996; «Пленник гор»), танцуют под версию Луи Армстронга. В подростковой комедии «Easy A» (2010) эта песня была подвергнута ремиксу с быстрой гитарой и ритмами. Песня изначально была выпущена как оригинальный саундтрек и указана в IMDb. В фильме «Гарриет» (2019) эту песню исполняет Гарриет Табман, в исполнении Синтии Эриво, чтобы подать сигнал рабам на плантации о свободе.
Записи
Певцы Таскеги-института записали эту песню для Victor в 1914 году. The Kelly Family записали песню дважды: концертная версия включена в их альбом Live (1988), а студийная – в New World (1990). Последняя также вошла в их сборник The Very Best Over 10 Years (1993). The Golden Gate Quartet (продолжительность: 3:05; запись 1957 года для альбома Spirituals). "Go Down Moses" был записан Robert Shaw Chorale на пластинке RCA Victor 33 об/мин LM/LSC 2580, авторское право 1964 года, на первой стороне, во второй дорожке, длительностью 4 минуты 22 секунды. Примечания написал известный афроамериканский писатель Лэнгстон Хьюз.