Go Down Moses
Pharaoh liberation anthem
Go Down Moses is an African American spiritual rooted in the biblical story of Moses demanding Pharaoh release the Israelites from bondage.
The song became an anthem of enslaved people in the American South, its plea for freedom carrying unmistakable double meaning.
The title phrase addresses Moses directly, urging him to descend to Egypt.
William Faulkner used it as a novel title in 1942.
- spiritualRelating to the soul
- PharaohEgyptian royal title
- EgyptNortheastern African nation
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- slavesPersons owned by others
Exodus · let my people go · river · Jordan · Promised Land · Israelites · Harriet Tubman · Underground Railroad · civil rights · Paul Robeson · chains · deliverance · plagues · Red Sea · hymn · freedom song · African American · gospel
- Americana Musicspirituals, folk ballads, hymn books, Camptown Races, Beautiful Dreamer
- SpiritualsAmazing Grace, slave songs, spirituals, call and response, church music
- FaulknerThe Bear, Sanctuary, Popeye, Caddy, Quentin
- Folk BalladsScarborough Fair, Geordie, Danny Boy, Shenandoah, In the Pines
- Seder Songs
- hymnsAmazing Grace, Old Rugged Cross, Morning Has Broken, hymn, hymnal