Deliver Us - Ofra Haza & Eden Riegel [The Prince of Egypt OST]

Details

Description

In 1998 we could see Ofra as Yocheved, Miriam’s and Aaron's mother and Moses's biological mother in the animated musical drama film „The Prince of Egypt” by DreamWorks Animation. She sang her character's song "Deliver Us" in English and 17 other languages for the film's dubbing. Ofra ended up voicing Yocheved because of Hans Zimmer who was familiar with her work and thought she’d be a good fit for the character.
Yocheved’s character initially looked totally different, however when the directors Steve Hickner and Simon Wells met the lady set to voice her (Ofra), they were so struck by her beauty that they told the animators to change the character to look more like her.
Ofra sang this song in 18 languages: Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Dutch, English, European Spanish, European Portuguese, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Latin Spanish, Norwegian, Polish, Slovak and Swedish. She didn’t know all these languages of course, but she learned how to pronounce the words phonetically. It is another asset that made her one of the greatest artists.
“Deliver Us” is the opening song of the movie. In it, the Hebrews are suffering from their slavery by the Egyptians and cry out for deliverance. Alongside this, Yocheved, the mother of the protagonist Moses sends him off on the Nile as a baby for his safety. He is found by the Egyptian queen, who gives him his name. Structurally, the song implies plot-wise that Moses will become that deliverance for the Hebrews.

Lyrics:

Mud!
Sand!
Water!
Straw!
Faster!
Mud and lift!
Sand and pull!
Water and raise up!
Straw!
Faster!

With the sting of the whip on my shoulder
With the salt of my sweat on my brow
Elohim, God on high, can you hear your people cry?
Help us now
This dark hour

Deliver us
Hear our call, deliver us
Lord of all, remember us
Here in this burning sand

Deliver us
There's a land you promised us
Deliver us to the Promised Land

My good and tender children
Do not be afraid, do not be scared

My son, I have nothing I can give
But this chance that you may live
I pray we'll meet again if He will

Deliver us
Hear our prayer, deliver us
From despair, these years of slavery
Grown too cruel to stand

Deliver us
There's a land you promised us
Deliver us from the bondage
And deliver us to the Promised Land

Hush now my baby, be still, love, don't cry
Sleep as you're rocked by the stream
Sleep and remember my last lullaby
So I'll be with you when you dream

River, oh, river, flow gently for me
Such precious cargo you bear
Do you know somewhere he can live free?
River, deliver him there

Brother, you're safe now and safe may you stay
For I have a prayer just for you
Grow, baby brother, come back someday
Come and deliver us, too

Deliver us
Send a shepherd to shepherd us
And deliver us to the Promised Land
Deliver us to the Promised Land

Deliver us