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Lyrics
Underneath the desert sun
We are working day by day
Making bricks for Pharaoh’s walls
Dreaming we could break away
Through the heat and through the night
We can hear our people cry
But a fire is rising now
And our hope will never die
Come on brother time to rise
Leave the chains and fear behind
There is freedom past the night
There is life for us to find
Come on sister take my hand
We must walk this road together
We are going to our land
We are going home forever
Gather everything you need
We must leave before the dawn
Through the desert we will go
To our own and promised land
Come on brother time to rise
Leave the chains and fear behind
There is freedom past the night
There is life for us to find
Come on sister take my hand
We must walk this road together
We are going to our land
We are going home forever
Behind the song
The song’s story
The moment before departure
The Exodus story remembers a movement from slavery toward freedom. It is retold at Passover so that the journey remains part of each generation's life. Come On Brother Time To Rise imagines an intimate moment inside that larger story: people gathering before dawn.
NLI holiday collection · Our recording & notes
A brother calls, a sister reaches out
The song's brickmakers, waiting darkness and offered hand are Walter J. Kin's dramatic invention. His new English words turn a vast collective departure into something felt between people. This is an original song inspired by Exodus, not a quotation from scripture.
Our recording & notes
Many voices on one journey
The release combines Jewish chanson and folk-pop with doo-wop, klezmer clarinet and communal gospel harmonies. For us, the musical gathering mirrors the lyric: freedom begins when people stop standing alone and begin moving together.
Our recording & notes
About this recording
This original song imagines the moment before the Exodus from Egypt. People making bricks for Pharaoh begin to gather before dawn, while a brother calls and a sister offers her hand.
Walter J. Kin wrote the music and lyrics and produced the recording. The release describes Jewish chanson and folk-pop joined by doo-wop, klezmer clarinet and communal gospel harmonies.
Why we consider this song Jewish or Jewish-themed
For us, the Jewish theme is not hidden: Pharaoh, slavery, the desert and a journey toward the promised land place the song within the Exodus story.
Our emphasis is on people becoming a community through mutual help. It is a new dramatic song inspired by that story, not a translation of a traditional lyric or a claim to reproduce scripture.
Credits & source
- Music, lyrics and production
- Walter J. Kin (RIGLI)
- Performance
- Riglis Band
- Creative source
- An original song inspired by the biblical Exodus
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