It has been years since Paul Simon made his initial trip to South Africa and met Joseph Shabalala, and the other members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, in a recording studio in Johannesburg. Having listened to a cassette of their music sent by a DJ based in Los Angeles, Simon was captivated by the stirring sound of bass, alto and tenor harmonies. Simon incorporated the traditional sounds of black South Africa into the Graceland album, a project regarded by many as seminal to today's explosive interest in World music
'60s Africa found the Zulu and Sotho beginning to incorporate the influences of African American R&B, jazz, and blues into their traditional, indigenous music. New styles such as township jazz, pennywhistle street music, Kwela, and marabi were formed. Eventually, these myriad styles coalesced to create a new hybrid pop music that came to be known as mbaqanga. Though mbaqanga employs the traditional instrumentation of Western pop (guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and vocals), the approach to song structure and rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic phrasing is uniquely African.
Recorded between 1981 and 1984, THE INDESTRUCTIBLE BEAT OF SOWETO is the first (and arguably the best) of a slew of South African pop recordings that soon followed. Characterized by insistent, rhythmically complex beats, elastic, burbling basslines, tight, ska-sounding guitar accompaniment, and thick, multi-part vocals, this music is as intriguing as it is appealing. Groups with such names as Udokotela Shange Namajaha and Amaswazi Emvelo serve up bright, infectious melodies and percussively insistent tracks that are clearly intended for dancing.
Swing Low Sweet Chariot
Ladysmith Black Mambazo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.
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.
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.
I'm sometimes up and sometimes down,
Coming for to carry me home,
But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
Coming for to carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.
The brightest day that I can say,
Coming for to carry me home,
When Jesus washed my sins away,
Coming for to carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.
The song "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" by Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a traditional African American spiritual that speaks to the hope for salvation and freedom. The lyrics convey the idea of a person longing to be carried home on a chariot, which is believed to be a reference to the chariot in the Bible that took the prophet Elijah to heaven. The metaphor of the chariot represents the idea of freedom and escaping from the challenges of life on earth. The repetition of the chorus "Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home" throughout the song emphasizes this yearning for salvation and freedom.
The line "I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?" is a reference to the Jordan River, which is mentioned in the Bible as a place of spiritual significance. The "band of angels" mentioned in the next line represents the idea of divine intervention and protection, further highlighting the theme of hope for salvation. The verses that follow speak to the uncertainty and struggles of life, but the promise of salvation that the chariot represents provides comfort and strength. The song ends with the idea that the brightest day is when Jesus washes away our sins, indicating that ultimate salvation comes through faith in him.
Line by Line Meaning
Swing low, sweet chariot,
The singer is asking for a sweet chariot to come and carry him home.
Coming for to carry me home,
The chariot is coming to take the singer home.
I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
The singer is looking over the river Jordan and sees something.
A band of angels coming after me,
The singer sees a group of angels coming to take him to heaven.
If you get there before I do,
The singer is asking someone to tell his friends he's coming.
Tell all my friends I'm coming, too.
The singer wants his friends to know that he's also coming to heaven.
I'm sometimes up and sometimes down,
The singer has good and bad days.
But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
The singer feels that his soul is destined for heaven.
The brightest day that I can say,
The singer remembers the happiest day of his life.
When Jesus washed my sins away,
The singer believes that Jesus forgave his sins.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: TRADITIONAL, FRANCESCO MOCCHI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dave Mons
I am going to have this at my funeral. I may be Irish, but my heart is reggae, soul, funk, calypso, and African music. I'll have to get a proper score for this from somewhere.
Iain Hamilton
I'm a Scottish rugby fan but this makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand up. Best version of this song there is!
Nancy Jemutai
Your comment made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Thank you for your acknowledgement.
CR D
As it is THE English rugby song I am not surprised! :-)
Iain Hamilton
I would love to see these guys pull off a "Flower of Scotland" that would be quite interesting to hear. But until that ever happens this version aces it for me.
Paul Coleman
Absolutely
Lee Phillips
Regardless of who performed the best version, I think it's important to remember that this is actually a slave song asking God to take them from there torturous existence on earth and deliver them to heaven. I'm not a christian, but understanding the meaning behind the song makes the lyrics so much more powerful.
GrumpyTinashe
True that
Sibusiso Ndlovu
Tjoe! Heavey and touching narrative or ...tion
jon
Very true.and in the end it was the British crusade against slavery that ended the slave trade and cost the British government many millions