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Swing Low, Sweet Chariot





HISTORY

''Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'' was composed by Wallis Willis, a one-time slave for the . That is unlikely, however, since neither song was heard outside the Choctaw Nation until after the Civil War. That is when Alexander Reid, a minister at a Choctaw boarding school heard Willis singing the songs and transcribed the words and melodies. He sent the music to the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. The Jubilee Singers then popularized the songs during a tour of the United States and Europe.


USAGE IN RUGBY UNION

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. During the second half the floodgates opened and England scored a remarkable six tries in a thumping 35-3 win. Three of the tries came in quick succession from Chris Oti , a black player making his Twickenham debut. A group from the Benedictine school Douai started to sing a rugby club favourite – the gospel hymn ''Swing Low, Sweet Chariot'' – in honour of their new hero, the whole crowd joined in. In 2003 the England National Rugby Union Team returned from the 2003 World Cup triumph in Australia on a plane dubbed 'Sweet Chariot'.

The song is still regularly sung at matches by supporters. There are also a series of gestures that accompany the song, many of which are Sexual . This is also used as a Drinking Game by fighter pilots. The first person to incorrectly give the gestures for this song is required to buy the next round of drinks.


TRADITIONAL LYRICS

Lyrics are as follows:

Chorus (in bold):

: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 Angel s coming after me
:Coming for to carry me home

''(Chorus)''

:If you get there before I do
:Coming for to carry me home
:Tell all my friends I'm coming too
:Coming for to carry me home

''(Chorus)''

:Sometimes I'm up and sometimes I'm down
:Coming for to carry me home
:But still my Soul feels heavenly bound
:Coming for to carry me home

''(Chorus)''


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