Cradle and Crown

Dramatic

Playing

Song 2 of 25

“Cradle and Crown” is the second musical number in Exodus: The Musical. The scene takes place at dawn along the banks of the Nile River, where Hebrew mothers gather in desperation to save their sons from Pharaoh’s genocidal decree. One of these infants is Moses. The song is a sacred lament, a maternal act of resistance, and the emotional heartbeat that sets the entire narrative in motion.

Their voices blend in minor-key harmonies reminiscent of African American spirituals, Middle Eastern lament, and ancient Hebrew melody. The lullaby’s tenderness is haunted by terror. Each mother rocks her child as if time itself is slipping through her fingers.

Song Lyrics

[ENSEMBLE – Hebrew mothers sing softly, lullaby-style harmony]

“Hush now, baby / hush now, child
The water is wide / but mercy is mild
If you float, you live / if you cry, you fall
So, hush now, baby / God hears it all”

[YOUNG MIRIAM – spoken word over soft music]

“My mother wrapped him in linen soaked with faith
My father said nothing / his voice already broken
I watched the river cradle him
And I whispered to the current:
“Return him to us.”
Not the water…
The One who made the water

[ENSEMBLE – acapella]

“We gave him to the water
We gave him to the flame
One boy for a thousand tears
One prayer with no name “

[Acapella here must feel naked – like every voice risk shattering.]

“They take our sons / but not our song
They chain our voice / but we grow strong
He floats alone / we wait and pray
The river may part / and show the way”

[YOUNG MIRIAM – sung with growing strength]

“I found him near the reeds that cry
A boy with storms behind his eyes
He wore no sword
He bore no shame
But something ancient spoke his name
(Moses!)”

[ENSEMBLE – body percussion builds, unified stomps and claps]

“Cradle and crown / cradle and crown
From water to promise / from silence to sound”
He came from the river… but he will rise through the sea. “

[YOUNG MIRIAM – final line, slow, reverent, nearly whispered]

“He came from the river… but he will rise through the sea. “

"Exodus"

"Prince. Stranger"