The song was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber for his musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." There are two meanings I draw from this song. One is the literal meaning of Joseph's situation as he is locked away in jail by Potiphar (who owned him since he was a slave).
There is also the second meaning I draw from the song. This song isn't just Joseph's story. This is the story of the Jews through the centuries of persecution. While the line of "children of Israel" fits the 1st meaning of the song since Jacob (Joseph's father) was known as Israel, it also fits this one as the Jewish people are the children of Israel. Lines like "just give me a number, instead of my name" invoke images of the Holocaust where Jews who were lucky enough to be spared the gas chambers at Auschwitz were tattooed with 6 digit numbers on their left forearm. The song also speaks of being promised a land that they will get after suffering the persecution.
The song was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber for his musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." There are two meanings I draw from this song. One is the literal meaning of Joseph's situation as he is locked away in jail by Potiphar (who owned him since he was a slave).
There is also the second meaning I draw from the song. This song isn't just Joseph's story. This is the story of the Jews through the centuries of persecution. While the line of "children of Israel" fits the 1st meaning of the song since Jacob (Joseph's father) was known as Israel, it also fits this one as the Jewish people are the children of Israel. Lines like "just give me a number, instead of my name" invoke images of the Holocaust where Jews who were lucky enough to be spared the gas chambers at Auschwitz were tattooed with 6 digit numbers on their left forearm. The song also speaks of being promised a land that they will get after suffering the persecution.