Deliver Us (The Prince of Egypt)

"Deliver Us" is a song from the 1998 DreamWorks film The Prince of Egypt. This is the film's opening number, and runs for 7:15 minutes.

Production

Stephen Shwartz explained his use of the word "Elohim" in the song:^[1]

"I wanted an authentic sounding Hebrew reference to God to help set the time and place. My first choice was "Adonai", but I was told by the religious consultants on the film that it would have been sacrilegious to use that term in that way in those days. So I selected "Elohim" instead, partly because it was slightly archaic, and partly because the scansion of the word fit the music!"

The lullaby sung by Yochoved, Moses' mother, was performed by Ofra Haza. This was sung by Ofra in 18 out of the 21 languages the song was translated into.^[1] Eden Riegel is also a featured artist, while the music was composed by Hans Zimmer.^[2]

Christopher Coleman explained "Deliver Us features the powerful vocals I was hoping for combined with the enchanting voice of the Israeli singer, Ofra Haza. This track concludes with an abruptness which is very similar to the opening track of Zimmer’s Oscar-winning score for "The Lion King".^[3]

Craky Critic notes "the visuals do not hold back on depicting the violence inherent in the slave system that kept the Hebrews in bondage and built such nice pyramids and such. The act of setting the baby Moses adrift in a basket is tinged with dangers never even hinted at in Bible stories. The whole sequence builds in direct correlation to the template laid down in "The Lion King".^[4]

Synopsis

Fragments explained "The opening number, “Deliver Us,” serves as exposition while setting up the story for us by showing the struggle of the Hebrew slaves as they sing".^[5]

Critical reception

The Critical Eye wrote ""Deliver Us", which opens the film and introduces us to the plight of the Jews, and "Through Heaven's Eyes", which plays over the montage of Moses's life in the desert—do their job well, setting the tone and keeping the story going".^[6] Dark Horizons wrote "With the exception of the "Deliver Us" opening song, the five other numbers are not only completely forgettable but wreck the tone of the film, they could've done a lot better without them".^[7] TTB dubbed it "an amazing opening song", writing "the lyrics of that song are perfect in establishing the story".^[8] Aint It Cool wrote "this amazingly dramatic track switches between a chanting male chorus from the slaves, and hardcore drum-laden orchestral score from Zimmer (think Crimson Tide in Egypt). Half way through it cuts into Yocheved and young Miriam's wonderfully beautiful "River o River" theme (also heard in the trailer), before exploding back into the male slave chorus. Awesome, awesome stuff. Every cue is really spot on—your imagination will wild thinking of the animation that must accompany this!".^[9]

Antagony and Ecstasy described Deliver Us as a "mini-opera" and wrote the following on the song:^[10]

"It opens huge: a grand, soaring aerial shot over the Giza pyramid complex, where countless Hebrew slaves are singing that one good song...as the directors focus in on individual acts of torment, then dart back out for a wide view, than back; thanks to particularly dramatic and thunderous music that feels as much like an oratorio as it does like Broadway, it's all very imposing and historic and impressive. As the focus starts to tighten on a woman placing her infant son in a reed basket to save him from the Egyptian murder squads, the music becomes less portentous, more winsome and pained, as the mother sings a lullaby to her child and sends him down the river to his fate, where he's found by the Queen of Egypt, who adopts him as her own."

References

Released in 1998 by Stephen Schwartz true