Swing low sweet chariot

[Blueblonde9916]

Has anyone ever heard someone in church sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" in church? I really want to know. My mom says it's not a church type song. But I have always been touched by that song and for some reason even overcome with feeling in that song. I feel like I'm supposed to sing it in church. But my mom said she doesn't want me to be laughed at. She also said (her words, not mine, and I don't mean to offend) that only black people can get that song just right since it's called a black spiratual for a reason and me being white wouldn't do it right.

I feel like I should sing it but I didn't know that I could make a fool of myself singing it. I don't know if I have ever felt so pushed to sing a song before in my life.

I dunno what to do. Advice? What do you think of the song? Has it ever touched you?

 

[Desertsrose]

Hi Blueblond,

Are you underage and living with your mom? I'm just wondering because of the relationship being different when we're adults.

I looked and many white folk have sung this song:

The Gaithers
Dolly Parton
Johhny Cash
Merle Haggard
The King's Singers
The Jordanaires
Judy Garland
Eric Clapton

Here's a group of 4 girls singing a variation of the song.

<font size="4"><span style="font-family:verdana;">[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NMCEG8Kv8Fk[/video]

I would like to encourage you to go for it. It's a beautiful song and since we don't normally hear it in church, it will be a nice addition.

Chorus:

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)
I saw a band of angels 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 (3×)

History via wikipedia
"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[SUP][citation needed][/SUP] 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[SUP][1][/SUP][SUP][2][/SUP] claim that this song and "Steal Away"[SUP][3][/SUP] (also sung by Willis) had lyrics that referred to the Underground Railroad, the freedom movement that helped blacks 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.[SUP][citation needed][/SUP]

1909 Fisk Jubilee Singers

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GUvBGZnL9rE[/video]

 

[PrynceNY]

There was a church my grandmother took me to as a child that commonly sung it. I personally enjoyed, Low Down the Chariot was one of my favorite church songs growing up.