“[(sung – quiet, meditative; soft piano only, with long pauses between phrases)]”
“Remember Egypt –
Not the chains
But the child I held in shade
The field I walked, the well I knew
The graves that never fade “
“[(sung – gentle swell in strings, still minimal)] “
“Remember Egypt –
Not the pain
But the names I said each day
The street where I first sang to God
Before I knew to pray “
“I will sing unto the Lord
He has triumphed gloriously
The horse and the rider
He cast into the sea “
“[(sung – voice more centered, slight vibrato allowed on longer words)]”
“Some were cruel
And some just watched
Some brought figs
And some said naught “
But they are gone
And I am here
And the sea is still
And the path unclear
“[(soft echo – harmonized; distant, airy, almost ghostlike; “Remember Egypt” should float rather than project)] “
Remember Egypt…
Remember Egypt…
“We danced; we crossed
The sea was split
But no one warned
We’d walk through it”
“With bones behind
And fire ahead
And the ones I knew
All drowned or fled “
“I don’t forget
What freed me first –
Was hunger
Not a holy verse “
“[(chant – layered; whispered, staggered entries, surrounding the Soloist like memories speaking)] “
“Remember Egypt
Remember Egypt
Remember Egypt “
“[(spoken-sung – confessional; piano thins, strings drop back to soft pads)] “
“Justice burns
But leaves a scar
And freedom tastes
Like who you are “
“I asked to go
But not like this
Not in a wave
Not sealed by abyss “
“[(final verse – soft, solemn; strings return with gentle harmonic shimmer)]”
“Remember Egypt
Not for glory
Not for hate
But for the grief
That crossed with me
That I must carry
Through this gate “
“[(final sustained harmony – very soft; single chord, breathy, fading into silence)] “
“Remember Egypt…”
[(final line – whispered or lightly sustained; no accompaniment)]
But still… I go.
