Swing low sweet chariot

[mesmerred]

What is the origin and meaning of these lyrics please? They don't seem to make any sense.

[fletcher.5]

its a negro gospel song

[THECORBYLOON]

The song was originally sung by slaves in the Southron American states in the Nineteenth Century.

Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Coming for to carry me home
A band of angels coming after me
Coming for to carry me home

The phrase � Swing low� is thought to refer to coming to the slave states and the �sweet chariot� is what was known as the Underground Railway which was a secret network of routes and safe houses.

�Comin� for to carry me home� is escaping to the North or Canada where there was no slavery.

�Jordan� is the River Jordan but in this song it refers to the Mississippi or Ohio river and the �Band of Angels� were those who helped the slaves to escape.

[mesmerred]

Thanks for your answers, particularly to THECORBYLOON. I have a copy of the song on a cd and knew the slavery connection, but it was particularly the meaning I was interested in because, on the face of it, the phrase is nonsense, though the song is very moving. Thanks again.

[VS Prasad]

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is an African-American spiritual from the 1870s. It was one of several included by black singer Harry Burleigh in a celebrated 1917 compilation.

The exact origin of this spiritual is unknown although, like many others, it became popular among plantation workers in the 19th century.

There's a story that, in 1840, Wallis Willis, a slave of a Choctaw Indian, looked out over the cotton field he was tilling upon the Red River in the distance. It reminded him of the Mississippi and the plantation his master owned before moving to Doaksville, in Indian territory. Wallace expressed his longing by singing: 'Swing low, sweet chariot, comin' for to carry me home.'

The song probably first became popular in South Wales, where spirituals were sung in male voice choirs.

http://anthem4england.co.uk/modules/news/artic le.php?*******=6

[dundurn]

There are a couple of riders to what's been said already.

One of the Old Testament stories describes the prophet Elijah being taken up into Heaven by a band of angels in a fiery chariot - there may be a link here, or at least the "spiritual" basis for the song.

There is another folk song associated with the Underground Railroad - "Follow the Drinking Gourd". This had the hidden meaning that the Big Dipper (a drinking cup) pointed the way north, away from the slave states. Runaway slaves, without map or compass, navigated by the stars. Another common name for this star formation (Ursa Major, the Plough) was Charles' Wain (wagon) and I can't help wondering if the resemblance between the Plough and a chariot meant that Swing Low Sweet Chariot was another way of remembering to keep walking north?

[Gromit]

Avoid the version by popular reggae combo UB40, it really is not very good at all.