Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

History

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" may have been written by Wallis Willis, a Choctaw freedman in the old Indian Territory in what is now Choctaw County, near the County seat of Hugo, Oklahoma sometime after 1865. He may have been inspired by the Red River, which reminded him of the Jordan River and of the Prophet Elijah's being taken to heaven by a chariot (2 Kings 2:11). Some sources claim that this song and "Steal Away" (also sung by Willis) had lyrics that referred to the Underground Railroad, the freedom movement that helped black people escape from Southern slavery to the North and Canada.

Alexander Reid, a minister at the Old Spencer Academy, a Choctaw boarding school, heard Willis singing these two songs and transcribed the words and melodies. He sent the music to the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. The Jubilee Singers popularized the songs during a tour of the United States and Europe.

The song enjoyed a resurgence during the 1960s Civil Rights struggle and the folk revival; it was performed by a number of artists. Perhaps the most famous performance during this period was that by Joan Baez during the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival.

Oklahoma State Senator, Judy Eason McIntyre from Tulsa, Oklahoma proposed a bill nominating "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" as the Oklahoma State official gospel song in 2011. The bill was co-sponsored by the Oklahoma State Black Congressional Caucus. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed the bill into law on May 5, 2011, at a ceremony at the Oklahoma Cowboy Hall of Fame; making the song the official Oklahoma State Gospel Song.

Traditional lyrics

Chorus:

Chorus:

Chorus (3×)

Renditions

An early recording was by the Apollo Jubilee Quartette on Monday, February 26, 1912, Columbia Records (A1169), New York City.

Biviano Accordion Sextette

The noted jazz accordionist/composer John Serry Sr. recorded the composition with the jazz guitarist Tony Mottola as members of the Biviano Accordion & Rhythm Sextette in 1947 for Sonora Records on the album Accordion Capers (Sonora # MS 476).

Eric Clapton

The British rock musician Eric Clapton recorded a reggae version of the song for his 1975 studio album There's One in Every Crowd. RSO Records released it with the B-side "Pretty Blue Eyes" as a seven-inch grammophone single in May the same year, produced by Tom Dowd. His version reached various single charts, including Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Use in rugby union

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" has been sung by rugby players and fans for some decades, and there are associated gestures, sometimes used in a drinking game, which requires those who wrongly perform the gestures to buy a round of drinks. It became associated with the English national side, in particular, in 1988. Coming into the last match of the 1988 season, against Ireland at Twickenham, England had lost 15 of their previous 23 matches in the Five Nations Championship. The Twickenham crowd had only seen one solitary England try in the previous two years and at half time against Ireland they were 0–3 down. However, during the second half England scored six tries to give them a 35–3 win. Three of the tries came in quick succession from Chris Oti making his Twickenham debut. A group of boys from the Benedictine school Douai following a tradition at their school games sang "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" whenever a try was scored. When Oti scored his second try, amused spectators standing close to the boys joined in, and when Oti scored his hat-trick the song was heard around the ground. The song is still regularly sung at matches by English supporters.

The England national rugby union team returned from the 2003 Rugby World Cup triumph in Australia on a plane dubbed "Sweet Chariot".

England's participation at the Rugby World Cup

The song became the England Rugby World Cup theme for 1991, when performed by "Union featuring the England World Cup Squad". It reached number 16 on the UK singles chart.

The song was then covered in 1995 for that year's tournament by British reggae duo China Black together with South African male choral group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo. It reached number 15 on the chart, selling 200,000 copies.

1999's tournament featured Russell Watson record a version which had less success, only peaking at number 38 on the UK chart.

The song enjoyed more success in 2003's tournament, but included the album Homegrown, when recorded by UB40 and the United Colours of Sound. It originally peaked at number 23, but following England's victory in the tournament returned to reach number 15. In the wake of the tournament, UB40 performed the song at a concert at the NEC Arena Birmingham that was attended by England rugby fans and captain Martin Johnson.

A new version was recorded by Blake for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

For 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand popular all-girl group Our Lady Muse (O.L.M) released an England Rugby World Cup Song. An upbeat party anthem version of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – The Song was premiered at the "Polo Rocks" concert in aid of The Prince's Trust.

Ella Eyre version

English singer Ella Eyre released a cover version of the song on 7 September 2015 as a digital download in association with England Rugby, to coincide with the 2015 Rugby World Cup, with the song raising money for England Rugby’s All Schools programme. The song was produced by Glyn Aikins and Mojam, it peaked to number 134 on the UK Singles Chart and number 87 on the Scottish Singles Chart.

Background

On 1 July 2015 England Rugby announced that Ella Eyre would release a cover of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" as England Rugby's official single. Ella said:

Former England international Rob Andrew added:

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" was first released onto YouTube on 10 September 2015 at a total length of three minutes and ten seconds.