We were slaves in the land of Egypt
That was the time it was
My job was sewing on the fingers
Of the Pharaoh’s daughter’s gloves
Moses, he tried to get us out of here
Led us to the edge of town
And as the soldiers were approaching
Moses and his boys backed down
I guess ten plagues weren’t plagues enough
You should have sent 50 at least
But at least once a year we get a holiday
Our almost-getting-out-of-here feast
James Brown, James Brown
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
James Brown, James Brown
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Well one night God come to me
He said take your first born son
Follow me into the thicket
Raise up your knife and be done
I said, oh you mean like Abraham
When Isaac’s supposed to be the one
A sacrifice to the Lord on high
Of Abraham’s only son
Well I said thanks but no thank you
Find some other dupe for your tricks
Meanwhile the Egyptians take away our mortar
And demand we still make bricks
James Brown, James Brown
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
James Brown, James Brown
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
And then all of the sudden a second god
Appeared where there had been but one
Spread fantastic golden wings
And said I am the god of the sun
And a third, the god of the ocean
And a fourth the god of the stars
And a god of rain and a god of night
And a god of the moons of mars
And a big slow god of the dinosaurs
Bored with nothing to do
You snooze a little bit and the meteor hits
60 million years of doodly-do
And a really mean god of Mike Tyson
Kicking all the other gods’ ass
And a god of love and a god of war
And a snotty little god of sass
A yellow god of Yao Ming and Confucious
A black god of Kobe and Shaq
And an uptight white George Bush god
Who thinks he’s the god of Iraq
But the god of Iraq is a jealous god
He likes his little corner of the earth
Where the Tigris meets the Euphrates
And all the gods give birth
And I can’t say whatever happened
To any of those gods at all
I’m still a slave in Egypt
And the Pharaoh’s having some kind of ball
And the Pharaoh’s daughter needs gloves
Like none other in the land
And the fingers be made of the finest silk
And she’ll dance and you’ll hear the band
She’ll dance and you’ll hear the band
She’ll dance and you’ll hear the band
She’ll dance and you’ll hear the band
James Brown….
(lyrics: Dan Bern)