Sportsong of the Week #18
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"
Ella Eyre
2015
Produced by Glyn Aikins and Mojam
Virgin EMI
The Rugby World Cup 2015 is in full swing in England. Therefore Sportsong of the Week #18 is the Ella Eyre version of 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot', the official anthem of the England national rugby union team.
'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' is a 1909 historic American negro spiritual song. The earliest known recording was in 1909, by the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University. 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' has been sung by rugby players and fans for some decades.
It became associated with the English national side, in particular, in 1988. 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. However during the second half England scored six tries to give them a 35–3 win. Three of the tries came in quick succession from Chris Oti making his Twickenham debut. A group of boys from the Benedictine school Douai following a tradition at their school games sang "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" whenever a try was scored. When Oti scored his second try, amused spectators standing close to the boys joined in, and when Oti scored his hat-trick the song was heard around the ground.
Ella McMahon, known by her stage name Ella Eyre, is an English singer and songwriter signed to Virgin EMI Records. She is best known for her collaborations with Rudimental on their UK number-one single 'Waiting All Night', which won the 2014 Brit Award for British Single of the Year. On 1 July 2015 England Rugby announced that Ella Eyre would release a cover of 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' as England Rugby's official single for the World Cup, with the song raising money for England Rugby’s All Schools programme. Ella said "I’m so proud to be singing Swing Low and getting behind the team in a World Cup year on home soil, I am really looking forward to helping bring the whole nation behind the England team. It’s inspiring to see the levels of support for the players and we’re raising money for a great cause." Enjoy the rest of the World Cup and support the cause!
Full lyrics "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" - Ella Eyre
[Chorus] Swing low, sweet chariot 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 Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home [Verse 1] I looked over Jordan, what did I see Coming for to carry me home A band of angels coming for me Coming for to carry me home [Chorus] Swing low, sweet chariot 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 Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home [Verse 2] And if you get there before I do Coming for to carry me home Tell all of my friends I'm coming there too Coming for to carry me home [Chorus] Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home [Bridge] Swing low (swing low), sweet chariot (chariot) Coming for to carry me home Swing low (swing low), sweet chariot (chariot) Coming for to carry me home Swing low (swing low), sweet chariot (chariot) Coming for to carry me home, to carry me home Swing low (swing low), sweet chariot (chariot) Coming for to carry me home [Outro] Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home Swing low, sweet chariot Coming for to carry me home