Rayjr

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is categorized as Negro spiritual or African-America folk songs. It was composed by Wallis Willis, a Choctaw freedman inside the old Indian Territory, prior to the year 1862. The idea for that song originated in the Red river that reminded Willis with the Jordan River and also the Prophet Elijah being carried to heaven in a chariot.

swing Lowe sweet Chariote


Alexander Reid who was a preacher in a Choctaw boarding school, heard Willis singing the song and transcribe the language and melodies. Reid then sent the music for the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee who caused it to be popular during a tour of the usa and Europe.
Ray jr
"Swing Low Sweet Chariot" was a popular song, sung by slaves inside the south as they worked. The lyrics express the requirement for freedom and return home physically to Africa, or spiritually, to heaven. The song remains a standard selection for gospel singers worldwide.

Traditional lyrics
Chorus:
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to transport me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to hold me home.
I checked out Jordan, and just what did
Coming for to hold me home?
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.
Chorus
Sometimes I'm up, and often I'm down,
(Coming for to hold me home)
But still my soul feels heavenly bound.
(Coming for to hold me home)
Chorus
The brightest day will be able to say,
(Coming for to carry me home)
When Jesus washed my sins away.
(Coming for to carry me home)
Chorus
Basically arrive before you do,
(Coming for to hold me home)
I'll cut a hole and pull you.
(Coming for to transport me home)
Chorus
If you get there before I really do,
(Coming for to transport me home)
Tell my friends I'm coming too.
(Coming for to transport me home)
Chorus

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" has been protected by many artists including:

Benny Goodman (1936)
Fats Waller (1938)
Paul Robeson (1939)
The Charioteers (1939)
Tommy Dorsey (1940)
Glenn Miller (1944)
Dizzy Gillespie (1946)
Peggy Lee (1946)
Gene Autry (1950)
Duke Ellington (1950)
Norman Luboff Choir (1956)
Louis Armstrong (1957)
Laurel Aitken (1958)
Johnny Mathis (1958)
Johnny Cash (1959)
Harry Belafonte (1960)
The Brothers Four (1961)
The Staple Singers (1962)
Stevie Wonder (1968)
Patti Page (1969)
Joan Baez (1970)
The Mighty Clouds of Joy (1973)
The Jordanaires (1975)
Eric Clapton (1975)
Larry Norman (1983)
Solomon Burke (1983)
Glenn Yarbrough (1987)
Diamanda Gal�s (1988)
Ladysmith Black Mambazo (1995)
B. B. King (1996)
Willie Nelson (1996)
Barbara Mandrell (1997)
Della Reese (1997)
Loretta Lynn (1998)
Dinah Shore (1999)
Etta James (2000)
UB40 (2003)
Von Trapp Children (2004)
Annuals (2006)
Tay Zonday (2008)
Kathleen Battle (2008)