Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is an American negro spiritual. The earliest known recording was in 1909, by the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University. It is also the anthem of the England national rugby union team.

In 2002, the Library of Congress honored the song as one of 50 recordings chosen that year to be added to the National Recording Registry. It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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 before 1862. He was 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 blacks escape from Southern slavery to the North and Canada.

Swing Low (album)

Swing Low, also known as Sam Cooke, is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke. Produced by Hugo & Luigi, the album was released in March 1961 in the United States by RCA Victor. The album includes the hit single "Chain Gang".

The album was remastered in 2011 as a part of The RCA Albums Collection.

Track listing

Side one

Side two

Personnel

All credits adapted from The RCA Albums Collection (2011) liner notes. The musicians who recorded "Chain Gang", save for Cooke, Clifton White and Glenn Osser are unknown.

Low-life

A low-life or lowlife is a term for a person who is considered morally unacceptable by their community. Examples of people who are often called "lowlifes" are thieves, drug dealers, hustlers, freeloaders, scammers, gangsters, gangster girls, drug users, alcoholics, thugs, underage mothers, prostitutes and pimps.

Often, the term is used as an indication of disapproval of antisocial or destructive behaviors, usually bearing a connotation of contempt and derision. This usage of the word dates to 1911.

Repudiation

Upwardly mobile members of an ethnic group, committed to schooling, education and employment prospects, will often repudiate as lowlifes those who opt instead (willingly or unwillingly) for street or gang life.

Attraction

The lure of the low-life for those in established social strata has been a perennial feature of western history: it can be traced from the Neronian aristocrat described by Juvenal as only at home in stables and taverns - “you'll find him near a gangster, cheek by jowl, mingling with lascars, thieves and convicts on the run” - through the Elizabethan interest in cony-catching, up to William Burroughs' obsession with the hobo, bum, or urban outlaw, and through to the anti-heroes of Cyberpunk.

Low Life

Low Life, Lowlife or Low-life may refer to:

Low Life (book)

Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York is a 1991 non-fiction book by Luc Sante documenting the life and politics of lower Manhattan from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century.

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