When Israel was in Egypt land,
Let my people go,
Oppressed so hard they could not stand,
Let my people go.
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt land,
Tell old Pharaoh
To let my people go.

"Thus spoke the Lord" bold Moses said,
Let my people go,
"If not, I'll smite your first-born dead"
Let my people go.
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt land,
Tell old Pharaoh
To let my people go.

"Your foes shall not before you stand,
Let my people go,
And you'll possess fair Canaan's land,
Let my people go.
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt land,
Tell old Pharaoh
To let my people go."

"You'll not get lost in the wilderness,
Let my people go,
With a lighted candle in your breast,
Let my people go.
Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egypt land,
Tell old Pharaoh
To let my people go."

abc | midi | pdf

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Source: Alan Lomax, The Penguin Book of American Folk Songs, Penguin, 1964

Notes:
Alan Lomax wrote:

This famous freedom spiritual of the Negro slaves is said to refer to Harriet Tubman, an escaped slave, who returned time after time into the South to lead bands of her people to freedom over the underground railroad. In the editor's opinion it is the finest of American folk songs.

Roud: 5434 (Search Roud index at VWML)
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