Playing with the Big Boys- Prince of Egypt Soundtrack

Copyright DreamWorks Records, 1998. Prince of Egypt Soundtrack.

[jaidaquinn]

My teacher: does anyone know the names of the Egyptian gods?

Me: By the power of Ra....

[XiangYu]

Imagine an entire exam hall of Egyptology students singing this under their breath as they try to remember the pantheon

[Ichiyama]

I guess this is kind of the villian song of the film, but really, Hotep and Hoy were comedy relief minions at best...

[silverclawedwolf]

This song makes it so easy to remember the names of the Egyptian Dieties. Makes studying up so much fun for once. ^_^

[darkdeifan]

“you may have a god but you don’t have super gods”
“what’s the difference?”
“PRESENTATION!”

[EditorOfSL]

Every time I listen to the beginning of this song, I think “Bloody hell, how many Gods did the Egyptians need?”

[darthzaida]

This is the theme song for everyone on their first day of college 

[buck-eyeddeer]

They really did capture the Egyptian feel in this song. In the beginning it makes my bones chill.

[giraffedragon]

The whole point of this song was to show what Moses was up against: court magicians, countless gods all with a power and involved with some story, and remember, Moses was RAISED as an Egyptian so he knows of the figurative opposition he's going up against. It's like this, imagine if 1 person said that he by himself, was stronger than the 100 people around him put together. heck in Egypt the Pharaoh is known as the house of the divine god, he HIMSELF is revered as a god. So now imagine having a leader who is stated to be a god and all your neighboring enemies know it too and fear him for that reason. Now imagine if word to get out that the ruling Pharaoh, their god, was to give in to the demands of a mere Shepherd, Morale would be at an all time low, and your enemies would be at your door ready to play stick the spear up the Pharaoh's jaw.

[angelaaltintas]

Your biggest mistake was assuming that I was playing at all.

[datdumbdude]

For everyone saying that because they were comic relief characters the song isn't intimidating. The point of the scene is to show them drop their bafoonish behavior and show that they have a serious side. Yes the fact that it's all smoke and mirrors takes away from the intimidation factor but still, it's supposed to be a tonal shift.

[basedbattledroid]

Ra - King of all Egyptian gods, giver of human, animal and plant life, also personification of the sun and light.

Mut - Primordial water goddess, associated with Nu, the water responsible for the creation of the universe, before that water was only chaos.

Nut - Primordial sky goddess, at the end of each day Ra enters her mouth, and Thoth emerges to take his shift during the night time, her head faces the west while her feet lie in the east. Sometimes represented as a cow.

Khnum - one of the oldest Egyptian gods, a builder god, he molded the first humans out of clay and Ra brought them to life with his beams of sunlight.

Ptah - God of Creation, Rebirth, Truth, Craftsmen, Sculptors and Architects, one of the three crucial gods in the Triad of Memphite Gods who were worshipped mostly in Memphis, Husband of Sekhmet and Father of Nefertem. Ptah was one of the most powerful and omnipotent Gods, revered as the Architect of the entire Universe, Creator of all the Gods and other higher beings. His heart was imbued with extreme magical power and as such; he was able to manifest anything his heart desired into reality. Depicted as a Green-skinned man.

Nephtys - a goddess of wind, a daughter of Nut, also helped Isis bring Osiris back to life after he was killed by Seth.

Nekhbet - Goddess represented by vultures, seen as the protector of Egypt and the Pharoahs.

Sobek - like Mut, Another primordial creator god associated with Nu, he also created the Nile river using his own sweat.

Sekhmet - Goddess of War, destruction, plagues but also healing and medicine, one of the oldest goddesses, depicted as a woman with the head of a lioness. Once came close to annihilating all of Egypt until the other gods and goddesses gave her hundreds of barrels of wine and got her drunk, she eventually fell asleep and upon waking to the destruction; felt guilty and vowed never to unleash her rage on the world ever again, unfortunately humans already learned the ways of war by watching her and could now act on the desire to be violent towards each other, so she turned her efforts towards healing, medicine and protection, similar backstory to the Hindu Goddess Kali.

Sokar - falcon god, similar in appearance to Horus and Ra, not much is known about him besides his role as another god of craftsmen.

Selket - Goddess of magic, protection and healing, represented as a woman with a scorpion on top of her head.

Reshpu - minor war god, also associated with thunder and fire

Wadjet - Cobra goddesses also associated with the protection of pharoahs, depicted on ornaments like the Pharoah's crown.

Anubis - Afterlife deity, man with the head of a jackal, used to be the lord of the underworld before Osiris died and usurped his position, his newer role in the underworld was providing souls of the recently deceased with guidance, helping them navigate through the underworld, complete trials and judgements, similar role to Charon in Greek mythology but slightly expanded.

Anukis - Goddess of the Nile, associated with fertility of crops, also a goddess of the hunt.

Shezmu - Mainly the god of perfume, oils, wine and celebration, depicted as a man with a lion's head, at the same time however; he was also depicted as bloodthirsty, angry and violent, holding a bloodied machete in addition to oils and known to have murdered some other gods. Almost the exact opposite of Sekhmet.

Meshkenet - Goddess of childbirth, also creates each person's Ka before they are born, a part of their soul.

(Egyptians believed the soul consisted of multiple parts, including your name, physical body, shadow and many other things, but the two most important parts of the soul were your Ba and your Ka.

The Ba represented your individual personality, identity, consciousness, reputation and memories, the things that distinguished you from other people. Ancient Greeks believed this referred to a person's Psyche. Also shares similarities to the Maori concept of Mana.

While the Ka represented your life force, health, vitality, breathing, heart beat, and all the things that gave your physical body life, the things that distinguished you from the dead and non-living.

It was often believed when someone died in ancient Egypt that their soul would be divided, the Ka would travel to the afterlife while the Ba would stay behind to watch over their family, friends and loved ones, providing protection and support, gaining nourishment from offerings such as food, jewellery, art, etc.

They weren't necessarily confined to these places, they were able to go anywhere they wanted, the Ka could go to the mortal world and the afterlife at will and so could the Ba, but they were not able to rejoin with each other or the other parts as one complete soul if the person was deceased, since dying was seen as the soul splitting apart. The Ba and Ka continue to exist forever, long after the other parts of a person's soul have faded to nothing.

But if you were an extremely bad person; your Ba and Ka would be swallowed by Ammit, a Devourer Goddess who lived in the Underworld, her appearance was a mixture of a Lion, a Crocodile and a Hippo, Ancient Egyptians did not have a concept of Hell or a bad afterlife, if you were devoured by Ammit; you would basically cease to exist in all forms, you were just trapped forever in an abyss of nothingness. Osiris determined how good a person was by weighing their Ba and Ka in the underworld, if your soul was the same weight as a single feather; you were good to go, if it was heavier than the feather; Ammit eats you.)

Hemsut - Goddess of Fate, also protector and co-ordinator of a person's Ka.

Tefnut - Goddess of rain, water, moisture, dew.

Heket - Frog goddess, also associated with childbirth, but more associated with protection of the mother during childbirth.

Mafdet - Goddess of law enforcement and capital punishment, was also depicted as a protection goddess, worshipped to protect an individual against poisons and venoms such as snake bites and scorpion stings.


It's a weird list that Hotep and Huy chose to bring up, only really some of them were relevant to what they were trying to do.

[natacialallathin]

How many God's do you want?
Egypt: y e s

[BumblyBear]

by the power of Ra, Mut,  Nut,  Khnum,  Ptah
Nephthys,  Nekhbet,  Sobek,  Sekhmet
Sokar,  Selket,  Reshpu,  Wadjet
Anubis,  Anukis,  Seshmu,  Meshkent
Hemsut,  Tefnut,  Heket, Mafdet

it goes out of order and skips some 2nd time around i noticed

[tricaldra]

Lyrics:
[HOTEP & HUY]
By the power of Ra
Mut, Nut, Khnum, Ptah
Nephthys, Nekhbet, Sobek, Sekhmet
Sokar, Selket, Reshpu, Wadjet
Anubis, Anukis, Seshmu, Meshkent
Hemsut, Tefnut, Heket, Mafdet
Ra, Mut, Nut, Ptah
Hemsut, Tefnut, Sokar, Selket
Seshmu, Reshpu, Sobek, Wadjet
Heket, Mafdet, Nephthys, Nekhbet
Ra

[HOTEP]
So you think you've got friends in high places
With the power to put us on the run?

[HUY]
Well, forgive us these smiles on our faces,
You'll know what power is when we are done...

[HOTEP & HUY]
Son...

[HUY]
You're playing with the big boys now
Playing with the big boys now

[HOTEP] Oh, that's pretty

[HOTEP]
Ev'ry spell and gesture
Tells you who's the best

[HOTEP & HUY]
You're playing with the big boys now
You're playing with the big boys now
You're playing with the big boys now

[HOTEP]
Stop this foolish mission
Watch a true magician!

[HOTEP & HUY]
Give an exhibition, how

[HUY]
Pick up your silly twig, boy

[HOTEP & HUY]
You're playing with the big boys now!

[EGYPTIAN PRIESTS]
By the power of Ra
Mut, Nut, Khnum, Ptah
Sobek, Sekhmet, Sokar, Selket
Anubis, Anukis
Hemsut, Tefnut, Meshkent, Mafdet...
[HOTEP & HUY & EGYPTIAN PRIESTS]
You're playing with the big boys now
You're playing with the big boys now

[HOTEP & HUY]
By the might of Horus!
You will kneel before us!
Kneel to our splendorous power!

[HOTEP]
You put up a front!

[HUY]
You put up a fight!

[HOTEP]
And just to show we feel no spite...

[HUY]
You can be our acolyte!

[HOTEP]
But first, boy, it's time to bow (Kowtow!)

[HOTEP & HUY]
Or it's your own grave you'll dig, boy
You're playing with the big boys
Playing with the big boys
Playing with the big boys
Playing with the big boys
Playing with the bigs boys now!

[eliezerrabbinowitz]

Them: You're playing with the big boys now
Moses: When are they coming?

[stevenirizarry]

Awesome detail: the snake is light skinned and thus hard to blend into the ground from larger predators, as a result, the snake is instinctively more aggressive to protect itself.

[cookie]

I think this song had the biggest impact on me, all those Egyptian gods that were ruthless and feared for the wrong reasons, and then Moses with his God, portrayed as weak, but in the end, Moses’ snake ate the other two.

[EmberBright]

One thing I really appreciate about the scene, is when the Lord's snake devours the magician's snakes, how there's little acknowledgement of that, except that it happens. It's a nice subtle way of demonstrating God's power, but also Moses's mindset. He's so worried about the pressure of the situation and the doubt and such that while he knows the snake is there devouring the other snakes, it doesn't take up as much of his attention as it might

Just pointing out another piece of why this movie is a masterpiece.

[hollyleafwell]

It's funny these two sing the "villain song" since they give off the same energy as Panic and Pain from Disney's Hercules