The Promised Land

20 Nov 2019 · 3 min

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2:51

The lyric is a first‑person, poetic recounting of the Jewish people’s millennia‑long diaspora. It moves through biblical exile, wandering in the desert, building and losing the Temple, Roman oppression, the Crusades, expulsions from France, England and Spain, the Russian pogroms, and the modern wanderings of the community. Throughout, the narrator repeatedly pleads to be taken home to the Promised Land, expressing a deep, enduring yearning for return, spiritual continuity, and collective memory of suffering and perseverance.

Chapters

In the body of a slave. Stood by the mountain, then my soul was saved. Wandered in the desert, my life in heaven's hands. Stood among my brothers once inside the promised land. In the promised land. In the promised land. I helped to build the temple. Temples. I saw them both come down. Cherished my religion. When the Romans took the crown, I said my prayer in silence. Got through the First Crusade. Cast out of France and England to be put to death in Spain. My soul returned to settle, but the riots soon began. Sailed away from Russia to a beach of golden sand. While everyone was building, I was kicking every stone. Been to every nation, I was aching for my home. Akin for my home, akin for my home in the promised land. My mind knows lessons of my people throughout time. Spirit carries wisdom from my teachers down Been through all kinds of weather in this weary caravan. Take me home forever to the Promised Land! To the Promised Land! To the Promised Land! Take me home— to the Promised Land! Take me home— to the Promised Land! Take me home— to the Promised Land! Take me to the Promised Land!