Click on Songs to See Song History & Lyrics

Go Down Moses
Sea of Reeds
Jeremiah's Blues
Moses' Blues
Shema Coaleinu
Job (Cry for Me)
Mao Tzur Revisited (Chanukkah Blues)
The Sky is Crying
Blackwater Fever
Wade in the Water
Desert Blues

Go Down Moses

This song is considered an African America Spiritual song which has been sung by every great gospel and blues artist you can think of. Most notably Louis Armstrong. This song established the bond between the Jewish slavery Experience and the African Slave experience as this song was written communally and sung by slaves in the South who felt a kinship between their plight and that of the Jewish Slaves in Egypt. It is also referred to as a folk song which just means that it was created by a community rather than an individual, in this case the community of African- American slaves who lived in the South prior to the Civil War.
An early reference to it places it in Maryland in the late eighteenth century. It was a popular slave song and was sung throughout the South by slaves while they worked and during their occasional times of rest and prayer. “Go Down, Moses” is also said to have been sung by abolitionists to signal escape or rebellion. The lyrics use biblical imagery expressing the desire for a release from bondage. The song is marked by its strong tone of determination in the struggle for freedom. To this day, “Go Down, Moses” has remained popular and is performed by gospel singers throughout the world.
This song has also been a favorite of mine at Passover Seder’s growing up.
 
“Go Down Moses” Lyrics
. When Israel was in Egypt's Land, Let my people go.
Oppressed so hard they could not stand, "Let my people go."
Go Down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land
Tell old, Pharaoh, Let my people go

"Thus saith the Lord," bold Moses said, "Let my people go
If not I'll mite you first born dead, Let my people go."
Go Down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land
Tell old, Pharaoh, Let my people go

"No more shall they in bondage toil, Let my people go;
Let them come out with Egypt's spoil, Let my people go."
Go Down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land
Tell old, Pharaoh, Let my people go

When people stop this slavery -let my people go
Soon may all the earth be free - let my people go
Go Down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land
Tell old, Pharaoh, Let my people go
-------------------------

Sea of Reeds
This song is a conversation between two adult Jewish men who were slaves during the time that Jews were enslaved in Egypt. One man is committed to following Moses through the Sea Of Reeds (Red Sea) into the unknown freedom beyond their waters. The other is very content with his life in Egypt, his lands, animals, crops and family life.
So much has written on this topic that I won’t go into an extensive treatment of the topic but there are some essential points that are worth revisiting.
You can imagine the difficulty in deciding to follow a renegade out into the unknown desert. Essentially someone comes to your door and asks to to leave your home, your lands, and all the possessions you’ve worked for to follow a stranger into the unknown. There was also massive resistance from within the Jewish world to Moses’ rising up in Egypt after hearing God’s call, there had never been a slave uprising in Egypt for 400 years! In fact, as the biblical narrative goes, the Jews willingly walked into Slavery and became comfortable with the state of slavery there.
The first is the fact that 75% of the Jews in slaved in Egypt didn’t choose to leave even after the 10 plagues! Getting an accurate portrayal of the numbers of Jews who were actually there is virtually impossible given the difficulty of census taking and not to mention the fact that all first generation of Jews who left were killed in the desert. One number that is mostly agreed upon is the number of 600,000 which represents the adult men and a total of 2 million people in the desert.

“Sea of Reeds” Lyrics

Pack up, it’s time to leave here
We’ve been here far too long
The desert’s waitin’
For us
To sing our freedom song
It’s only gonna get worse if we stay
For these luxuries there’s a high price to pay
And if you find your stubborn heart’s in need
I’ll see you way downtown by the sea of reeds
Where is Moses?
Have you seen him?
I heard he was talking to the king
But god has hardened the Pharoh’s cold heart
Now there’s darkness in the streets
And what if evil Pharoh changes his mind
To our great lord I’ll tell you he is blind
And if your achin heart starts to bleed
I’ll see you way downtown by the sea of reeds
(the other man’s response)
I don’t think that I can go
This is the only life I know
So if you give to good reasons
To leave this season of my life
My wife, my sons and my daughters
They depend on my labor
For the bread of their intent
In the desert my seeds won’t take
So I refuse to watch my family bake
And I won’t see you way down by the sea of reeds
Ok, you can stay here
But those clouds don’t look like rain
Look more like locusts
On your wheat staff
There goes your families’ pay
And are you gonna wait until the darkness breaks
How many more signs do you you need
I don’t know what’s waiting across the desert
But I’ll
I’ll see you way downtown
By the sea of reeds
Yes I’ll see you way downtown by the sea of reeds
-------------------------

Jeremiah’s Blues

This is Jeremiah’s Blues. Before Jeremiah was born (650 B.C.E.) God chose him to be his messenger , ‘Before I created you in the womb, I selected you; Before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations.’
As a boy, God came to Jeremiah and told him that he would be his messenger. Like most of the other appointed holy men of the Torah, he refused the call and said, “but I am just a boy”. Like Moses, he also felt that he was not up to the challenge nor did he want the responsibility of being the bearer of the God’s message. God would not accept his refusal, saying “Do not say ‘I am still a boy,’ but go wherever I send you and speak whatever I command you. Have no fear of them, for I am with you to deliver you.”
God then told him to stand before the walls of Jerusalem and break the bad news of invaders coming from the north, or he would break him. This was no easy task. To get people’s attention in a pre-internet era was a great challenge. Since there were no microphones, billboards, internet, or ad space available, Jeremiah had to resort to performance art to spread his message. In this regard he is no different from other artists trying to spread their message through the use of their medium of choice. However, in the case of Jeremiah, he had the Lord’s threat hanging over his head as well as the fate of his people before him.
The people of Anathoth were not impressed or entertained by his performance art and ridiculed him, threw him in jail, and even threw him in a pit to die at one point.
In the book of Jeremiah, Israel is compared to an adulterous wife whose husband divorces her. Then the question is can he take her back after she is defiled and has been with other men? Will the lord take back Israel after it (she) has turned astray to other forms of worship and a denial of God’s laws. God is portrayed as the angry husband here and father. And as the story progresses, God offers the people Israel another chance to return. Known as the broken hearted prophet, God told Jeremiah, "You will go to them; but for their part, they will not listen to you".
The blues is often the story of those who are carrying a heavy load or burden and seeking empathy in their journey. Listen to Bukka White’s “ Fixin to Die’” or Son House’s “Death Letter Blues”.

“Jeremiah’s Blues”

When I was a boy, the lord said to me
I appoint you to uproot and to pull down
To destroy and to overthrow
To build and paint
You’ll be my prophet Jeremiah
I walk these dusty streets alone
with yoke around my neck
This burden is mine and mine alone
To carry and protect
I can’t get no one’s attention in this town
Can’t find a place to lay my burden down
So I preach to deaf ears in the middle of the street
And they threw me in a pit 10 feet below the ground

Don’t’ shoot the messenger
For he has come in peace
And you had best pray the lord
Grants you some sweet release
You have no idea what’s comin’ from the north
So I beg of you please hear my words and repent
If you could hear what the lord says to me
And how each day I save you from his wrath
You would tremble and get on your knees
And pray his rage doesn’t cross your forsaken path

Don’t’ shoot the messenger
For he has come in peace
And you had best pray the lord
Grants you some release
You have no idea what’s in store for you
So I beg of you please hear my words and repent

So here’s my gift
One turn one prayer can change your life
One good deed
one blessing uttered right can save you this night
-------------------------

Moses’ Blues
A Brief synopsis of Moses’ life ….
Son of Yocheved, Moses’ life was spared when, shortly after his birth, his mother wrapped him in a casket which she hid amongst the reeds of the red sea. She nursed him at night and held out for three months until she had to let him go as Pharoh had made a proclamation that all Israelite males be killed at birth. God sent a “fierce heat” upon Egypt and Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah was afflicted by leprosy. One day, she went down to the river to bathe, and hearing Moses’ cry she picked him up and was instantly cured of her leprosy. She noticed he was circumcised and thus an Israelite which meant that she had to throw him back into the river. However, the Shekinah entered her heart and filled her with compassion. She raised him as her own.
When Moses was three he reached up and removed the Pharaoh’s crown. Balaam, one of Pharaoh’s advisors, told him that this was a bad omen and that he should have the child killed on site. Jethro advised that the boy be examined and came up with a test that would show what the future beheld. Moses was brought a piece of gold and a lump of burning coal. If he grabbed the gold that would foretell his stealing Pharaoh’s riches and thusly he should be killed. If he grabbed the coal, then he could live. As the story goes, he reached out for the piece of gold but the angel Gabriel guided his hand to the piece of Coal which he brought to his lips, causing his speech impediment, and saving his life. (comp. Ex. iv. 10);
Moses stayed in Pharaoh’s house another 15 years learning the ways of the Kingdom and their language. During this time he also lobbied for the slaves to have one day off from work each week, and in doing so he created the space for Shabbat.
At the age of 18, some say 20, others 40, (Ex. R. i. 32, 35) he witnessed the beating of an Israelite slave and proceed to beat the slave master to death. This song is written about how Moses felt just after this happened and before he fled the Pharaoh’s kingdom to save his own life.

“Moses Blues” Lyrics

I killed a man today
With my bare hands
These hand that hashem gave to me
Gifted , lifted, holy hands
Jaded, sunbaked cracked hands
My sister Miriam saved my life
And now I take this mans’
He was someone’s sister
Someone’s son
Some son’s father
Now undone
You can take my freedom
You can shackle me down
Make me sweat all day in the Desert sun to Build this town
You can whip my body
And break my bones
But you’d better leave that brother of mine alone!
I am a prince here in the desert
I am entrusted to the throne
If I listen to Hashem
Will I wander the desert alone…
And die out there on my own
You can take my freedom
You can shackle me down
Make me sweat all day in the desert sun to build this town
You can whip my body
And break my bones
But you’d better leave that brother of mine alone!
If we are all one
What have I done?
Yes if we are all one
Have I killed the very man that I’ve become

You can take my freedom
You can shackle me down
Make me sweat all day in the desert sun to build this town
You can whip my body
And break my bones
But you’d better leave that brother of mine alone!
O Lord, You have been our refuge in every generation.
Before the mountains came into being,
before You brought forth the earth and the world,
from eternity to eternity You are God.
‘psalm 90’
-------------------------

Shema Coaleinu

This song was inspired by a conversation that I had with a friend of mine who is also a fellow musician. His mother is Jewish and his Father is Muslim and he’s an incredibly talented composer, writer, arranger, player and singer as well as a beautiful soul. I was talking with him about this album concept and he suggested I write an actual blues in Hebrew. So I borrowed an old d minor slide tuning and sat down to write. What came was an amalgamation of several prayers from the Shemonei Esrei, a series of 18 prayers said everyday in the morning (Shachris), afternoon (Minchah), and evening (Maariv) service…there are volumes written on this prayer cycle that are far more thorough and exhaustive on the topic that I have time or space to go into here.
The Sections that I chose to work from are the section after which it is appropriate to insert one’s own personal prayer. So the chorus is Shema Koleinu, Adonai Eloheinu, Chus verachem aleinu vekabel. Translated this means Hear Our Voice Hashem (another name of G-d, literally translated as the Name), Pity and be compassionate to us. The other part of the service that I borrowed from for this song is the Viddui/confession which is said daily and is a confession of transgressions against Hashem and ourselves. Buried deep within the confession is an accusatory line - “You have let us go astray. Teatanu. This line is the bridge of the song and the contrast between the confessions against the plea for help.
Finally, I borrowed from the Avinu Malkeinu (Our Father, our King) prayer, which is recited on fast days and during the 10 days of Awe Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. “It combines pleas for our personal and national needs with expressions of repentance.” (the Art Scroll Siddur).
What I imagined for this song was the slaves in Egypt working on the Pyramids in the hot desert sun, shackled to their blocks of mortar for 12 hours a day in the summertime. This song occurs sometime in the late afternoon when it is still a blistering 105 in the shade, the work of the day isn’t done yet, and the men are tired. At a certain point their moral breaks and they scream, “Teatanu” (you have let us go astray!).

“Shema Coaleinu” Lyrics
El Melech Rachaman - Our Merciful King
El Melech Rachaman - Our Merciful King
Rashanu, Shehatnu, Taenu - We have been wicked, We have corrupted, We have strayed

Ha Kadosh Barechu - holy one of Blessings
Ha Kadosh Barechu - holy one of Blessings
Ashamnu, Bagadnu, Laznu We have become guilty, We have betrayed, We have rebelled

Shema coalenu, Ad-o-nai Elo-haeinu, chus verachamim Aleinu Vekabel Verachamim-
Hear our Voice, Hashem, our God, Pity and be compassionate to us

Lechai Ha-olamim - Life of all the worlds
Lechai Ha-olamim - Life of all the worlds
Kazavnu, Sararnu, taenu - We have been Deceitful, we have turned away, we have strayed

Adon Olam – Master of the World
Adon Olam – Master of the World
Zachor Ki afar Anachnu- Remember that we are but dust

Shema coalenu, Ad-o-nai Elo-haeinu, chus verachamim Aleinu Vekabel Verachamim-
Hear our Voice, Hashem, our God, Pity and be compassionate to us

TETANU- YOU HAVE LET US GO ASTRAY

Shema coalenu, Ad-o-nai El-ohaeinu, chus verachamim Aleinu Vekabel Verachamim-
Hear our Voice, Hashem, our God, Pity and be compassionate to us

Avinu Malkeinu -our father our King
Avinu Malkeinu -our father our King
Oseah Lamancha V’hosheanu - act for your sake and save us
-------------------------

Job (Cry for Me)

(from William Blake’s Illustrations of the Book Of Job 1903)

There are so many rich characters in the Tanach (The Pentatuch ( books of the Torah, , The Prophets (Nevi’im), and the Scriptures (K’tuvim). Their lives are rich tapestries of the human experience replete with the full range of the human heart. The blues has always been a powerful vehicle for story telling and releasing the sorrows of the human spirit through the shared resonance of hard times.
The Book of Job is a story of a great wager between Hashem and HaSatan (Satan, the Adversary). The bet is unparalleled anywhere else in the entire Tanach and represents the ultimate test of faith.
Job was a wealthy man who lived in the Land Of Uz, had 7 sons, three daughters, 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys, and a vast expanse of land for farming and his family. He was a pious man and would constantly make sacrifices to atone for any sins or transgressions made by his family. It seemed as though Job had a perfect life with constant blessings around him multiplying with every breath.
A time came when Hashem summoned the Angels of Hashem and HaSatan. Hashem praises Job in his pious life and HaSatan says that Job will renounce Hashem and curse his name if his health, wealth and family are taken from him. We could call this a wager of faith. God gives HaSatan permission to afflict Job with Boils, and take his lands and family away from him. Job’s wife pleads for him to take the Hashem’s name in vain, his friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar also argue that he should renounce Hashem. Job’s faith is unwaivering in the face of incredible hardship and he is thus rewarded with double all that he had and more. This is an excerpt from his story and was commissioned for a Green Judaism event at the Jewish Community High School in San Francisco organized by Dave Cohen and co-written with Cyrise Beatty .

“Job” (Cry for Me) Lyrics
My Name is Job
I am a pious man
I dedicate my life to the Lord
It used to be
That men Respected me
Like a King among his troops
But now I’m the but of their jokes,
They wouldn’t light up my smokes
If I had some

So won’t you Cry for ME
Cry for ME
My God has forsaken me

(HaSatan Speaks)
Call to your god
Who will answer you
You Say you Lived
Your days upright
And if you’re pure
And pious
And Return you to the light
Must have been something you’ve done
To bring this sorrow upon your soul
Won’t you cry for me
Cry for me
My God has forsaken me
(Job speaks/cries out)
My Life is wind
And the night drags on
I’ll never see happiness again
My Days will fly
As a cloud fades
Your eyes will seek me but I’m gone
I curse the day I was born
It was a dark and a lonely morning

Won’t you cry for me
Cry for me
My God has forsaken me
-------------------------

Mao Tzur Revisted (Channukah Blues)
It’s the darkest night of the year in the Jewish calendar tonight. The first night of Channukah. After lighting the first candle and reflecting on the miracles that are at work in my life and the lights all around me, I sing Mao Tzur. I always felt like the traditional melody of this song was too “military” sounding. Authored by a man named Mordechai, it is undeniably a song of battle reflecting the enslavement of the Jewish people in Egypt, Babylonia, and Greece.
It is the small victory during the Greek enslavement of the Jews that brings us to the Chanukkah story. It is a tale of a temple’s defilement and the ensuing miracle whereby one flask of oil lasted 8 days instead of only one single day. The story is told more eloquently else where and I want to focus on the slavery and reworking of the militant melody into what naturally yields into a blues tune.
So this blues is a reworking of the Art Scroll Translation of Mao Tzur (Rock of Ages)

“Mao Tzur” (Revisited) Lyrics
O Mighty rock of My salvation
To Praise you is a delight
O Mighty rock of My salvation
To Praise you is a delight
When you’ve defeated our foe’s
We’ll celebrate your name this night

Troubles sated my soul
When with my grief my strength did fade
They had embittered my life
With hardship, the calf-kingdom’s plague
But with his great power
The lord freed us from the Pharaoh’s rage

When the evil Haman tried
To fall the towering cypress (mordechai)
It became a snare and stumbling block
Whose name was Mordechai
But you blotted out the enemy
And lifted the head of the Benjamite

To the holy Land he brought me
But there too I had no rest
For I had served the kinsmen
And drunk all they’re Sunday best
So I was lost
Exiled in the desert again
But at the end of seventy years I was saved
By your hand

Greeks gathered against me
Then In Hasmonean days
They breached the walls of my towers
And defiled my oils with their ways
But from one remnant of flasks
A great miracle kept the blaze

Bare your holy Arm
And hasten the end for salvation
Avenge the vengance of your servant’s blood
(from the wicked nation)
We’ve waited so long
And we can’t bear another flood
-------------------------

The Sky is Crying
(adapted from Elmore James original)
I’ve been thinking about the slaves in Egypt a lot recently. There are so many interesting angles to analyze that times period for the Jewish people. The fact that they walked willing down into Mitzrayim (literally the narrow place) and there was never an uprising is fascinating to me. I feel that in our own lives there are ways in which we walk into our own forms of slavery and dependence willingly, get comfortable, and then wake up with the shackles of experience burning a hole in our wrists.
One classic example is Credit Card debt to which I am no stranger…just listen to the song Credit Card Companies’ Best Friend from my A TASTE OF PARADISE CD and you can hear what I’m referring to.
What stuck me this morning as I was reflecting on the plagues and how we have a record of how the Egyptians and Pharaoh reacted to them but not the Hebrew slaves. What I’ve done is taken a song from the Great Elmore James and reworked some of the lyrics to fit into this image that came to me of a slave working on a pyramid site in mid day looking up.
Through the stinging sweat, desert sand in his eyes, and sun parched lips he can scarcely believe what his eyes tell him is coming down…here’s what he saw, how he felt and what he has to tell Hashem about it.

Lyrics to “The Sky is Crying”

The Sky is Crying,
Can you see the Hail roll down the streets
The Sky is Crying,
Can you see the Hail roll down the streets
I’ve been looking for my baby
Wondering where can she be

I got up early this morning
I was working my hands to the bone
I got up early this morning
I was working my hands to the bone
I said Hashem have mercy
Don’t Let me die out here
On My own

I said Lord have mercy
Won’t you save poor me
I said Lord have mercy
Won’t you save poor me
You know the sky’s been cryin
Can’t you see the tears roll down the streets
-------------------------

Blackwater Fever

(My Great Uncle Harry Susman on a cattle Trek circa 1920)

This song is a historical narrative about my great grandfather Eli Susman and his brother Harry. These 2 young lads escaped indentured servitude in the Russian army at the tender ages of 16 and 17 respectively. Armed with the knowledge of Yiddish language and a will to succeed, they traveled South in search of their fortunes. They ended up in Victoria Falls area where the Zambezi river bisects Zimbabwe and Zambia (formerly Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia). They were able to set up a cattle trading business as the neutral parties between warring African tribes. Business was extremely difficult and there are many stories of long cattle treks.
Health care in 1899 was abysmal to say the least and both my great grandfather and his brother contracted an advanced form of Malaria called Blackwater Fever along the way and the only cure for this disease was to be quarantined and hydrated immediately. The Zulu version of this was to build a hut around the victim or place him on top of an anthill for quarantine. Now, the drinkers among you may be thinking that it could be worse, but perhaps you haven’t had the pleasure of drinking Zulu beer. No offense to my Zulu readers, but semi-fermented milky substance doesn’t go down as smooth as a Northern California microbrew.
Suffice it to say, they survived. It's thanks to them that you can read this and hear the music on this CD. I went for a swampy electrified blues version of this song complete with B3 organ, bass, drums, electric guitar and sounds of a heard of cattle crossing the river. I can only imagine how physically difficult it must have been herding cattle through the African plains and across rivers through the bush felt (Afrikaans for the brush laden plains of Southern Africa) into hostile warring tribe territories. Thank God I’m a musician!
So what does this have to do with Jewish Blues? Well, both my Great Grandfather Eli Susman and his brother Harry were both Jews and I feel that as an artist it is up to us to re-interpret our traditions through the cultural lenses of our choosing. Also one can look at the entire Torah as one long family history and genealogy of our people. In that light, telling the stories of our families is a vital part of the Jewish tradition and for me as an artist, telling these stories helps to memorialize the lives of these great men.

“Blackwater Fever” Lyrics

I spent three days on an anthill in the sun
Drinking Zulu Beer, sweating blood and tears
Trying to get this Sickness out of me
Now each drop brings me one step closer
To the end of my sweet short life
Will someone please call my wife,
And tell her that Blackwater Fever is in my eyes,
Blackwater Fever is telling me lies.
How I miss the Russian Winter
Nights black as death, watching trails of breath,
Praying this one won’t be your last
Now I can’t even feel the cold
And I’m praying for my mortal soul
Will someone please call my brother
And tell him that Blackwater Fever is in my bones
Blackwater fever won’t leave me a lone
Because I’m so cold, so cold
So cold in my bones
Feeling so old, so old
Blackwater fever won’t leave me a lone
Working on this river many years
Sweating blood and tears
Trading hope for fears
Trying to forge this business into stone
Now I feel it’s going to fall apart
And that would only break my heart
Would someone please call my father
And tell him that Blackwater Fever is tearing me up
Someone please fill my cup
Blackwater Fever’s Killing me
Maybe some Zulu Beer’s gonna set me Free

This song is from my 2007 release called "A Taste of Paradise"
-------------------------

Wade in the Water

Residents of Kanchipara wade through flood water September 11, 2007. A second spell of flooding in less than a month has spread across parts of Bangladesh, forcing half a million from their homes and leaving thousands stranded. From Reuters Pictures.

This song has many versions, verses, and stylistic renditions. Having sung this at every Passover Seder I’ve ever held or attended, I think that it is a cornerstone of the Jewish slavery experience and Exodus.
This song has been played and covered by a myriad of artists from Mahalia Jackson to Bob Dylan to Eva Cassidy, and on and on….
“If there is trouble ahead in your life and you want change into your life, walk into it…wade in the water it’s gonna be troubled water.”
This song is essentially the call to action in your life that the waters of life are troubled and that we learn and grow the most from those things that test us. The folk music tradition is an ever evolving tradition that grows every time the song is sung. If you could add a verse in this song, what would it be?

“Wade in the Water” Lyrics

Wade in the Water
Wade in the Water, children
wade in the Water
God's gonna trouble the Water

Who's that yonder dressed in red
Must be the Children that Moses led
And God's gonna trouble the Water

Wade in the Water
Wade in the Water, children
wade in the Water
God's gonna trouble the Water

Who's that yonder dressed in white
Must be the Children of the Israelites
God's gonna trouble the Water

Wade in the Water
Wade in the Water, children
wade in the Water
God's gonna trouble the Water

Who's that yonder dressed in blue
Must be Children coming through
And God's gonna trouble the Water

Wade in the Water
Wade in the Water, children
wade in the Water
God's gonna trouble the Water

Who are those people dressed in black
It’s must be the hypocrites turning back
God's gonna trouble the Water
-------------------------

Desert Blues
This song is from my "Doctor’s Orders" album released in 2004. It’s about Aaron and Moses’ relationship in the Torah. I wrote this song thinking about my own sibling relationship with my brother and sibling rivalries in general. We would always squabble over who got to take the car out, stay out late, or stay over at our friend’s houses.
A similar rivalry might have existed with Moses and Aaron. Moses had the privilege of leading the Jews through the Desert and talking to God on a daily basis. Then Moses goes up to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, while Aaron stays below with the nation. Though the text does not indicate this, I can imagine that Aaron, the older of the two, had some jealousy of his younger brother (can you blame him?). Not only did Moses get to lead the people, but he got to directly communicate with God!
In one incident, Aaron and his sister Miriam, complain that Moses married a Cushite woman, which was, according to the sages, a veiled reference to the fact that, believe it or not, Moses was not spending enough time with his wife intimately. Talk about the blues! So Aaron and Miriam complain: “Was it only Moses that Hashem spoke? Did He not speak to us as well?” Miriam gets cursed with a skin disease as a result of her outburst, and Moses has to plead with God to have her healed.
Then of course there is the famous incident of the golden calf. While Moses is up on Mount Sinai, the people worry he has disappeared and cry out to Aaron to make them some new gods. In my own song, I imagine a new spin on the tale. Aaron wakes up one day and having a jealous outburst towards his brother, ends up leading the people to the golden calf (I acknowledge that I am taking great liberties here with the midrash, exegesis.)

“Desert Blues” Lyrics
Take me to the Mountain
And please let me loose
I’ve been called a saint
But it’s the sinner’s life I choose
If I meet my maker
I want to know his name
If I meet my maker
I want to know her name
These Desert Blues have got me
Goin’ insane
My Brother is called Moses
He’s a stuttering fool
Why does he get to lead us
The maker must be cruel
Can you tell me how long?
Until the milk and honey land?
All my friends keep saying
We’re gonna die here in the desert sand
These Desert Blues have got me crawlin’ in my shoes
Now look here all you wanderers
And give to me your gold
I will build an idol
That will save your soul!
I can’t wait forever
Until the final word
It’s been far too long
Since the Lord’s voice has been heard
These Desert Blues have got me
Feelin so disturbed
These desert blues have got me Crawlin in My Shoes!

You can hear and purchase the original studio version from that CD by going to www.saulkaye.com .
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