"Swing Down Sweet Chariot" (sometimes "Swing Down, Ezekiel" or "Swing Down Chariot") is an American spiritual song. It tells the story of

Ezekiel Ezekiel, also spelled Ezechiel (; ; ), was an Israelite priest. The Book of Ezekiel, relating his visions and acts, is named after him. The Abrahamic religions acknowledge Ezekiel as a prophet. According to the narrative, Ezekiel prophesied ...

's vision of the chariot. The title and lyrics are very similar to the spiritual song "

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is an African-American spiritual song and one of the best-known Christian hymns. Originating in early African-American musical traditions, the song was probably composed in the late 1860s by Wallace Willis and his d ...

", and is thought to be an adaptation of said song. Composer and lyricist Wallis Willis is credited with composing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". Popularized by the

Golden Gate Quartet The Golden Gate Quartet (a.k.a. The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet) is an American vocal group. It was formed in 1934 and, with changes in membership, remains active. Origins and early career The group was founded as the Golden Gate Jubilee Sing ...

in the 1940s, it was recorded by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

for his 1960 album ''

His Hand in Mine ''His Hand in Mine'' is the fifth studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released on November 23, 1960 by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, catalog number LPM/LSP 2328. It was the first of three gospel albums that Presley wou ...

'' and was re-recorded for his 1969 film '' The Trouble with Girls''. The 1960 version featured backing vocals by

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...

, and the re-recording featured the Mello Men on backing vocals. The version of the song from ''The Trouble with Girls'' was reissued in the 2010 boxed set '' The Complete Elvis Presley Masters'', but this time, it features an all-female group singing background vocals. American pianist/singer

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...

recorded "Swing Down Chariot" for his 1971 album ''

I Wrote a Simple Song ''I Wrote a Simple Song'' is the sixth studio album by American soul musician Billy Preston. Released in November 1971, it was his first album for A&M Records and marked the start of a run of commercial success in the United States that lasted th ...

'', with arrangement credited to Preston and

Joe Greene Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football defensive tackle who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1981. A ...

. The funk band

Rufus Rufus is a masculine given name, a surname, an Ancient Roman cognomen and a nickname (from Latin ''wikt:rufus, rufus'', "red"). Notable people with the name include: Given name Politicians * Marcus Caelius Rufus, (28 May 82 BC – after 48 ...

did a version on their 1974 recording, ''

Rags to Rufus ''Rags to Rufus'' is the gold-selling second studio album by funk band Rufus, released on the ABC Records label in 1974. It reached number 4 on both the Pop and Black Albums charts. It is notable for the hit singles " Tell Me Something Good" (US ...

'', on ABC records. The six band members: Murphy, Fischer, Khan, Stockert, Belfield, Ciner, are credited with composition. The song's chorus is quoted in the

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

song " Mothership Connection (Star Child)", released in 1975 by

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. That portion of "Mothership Connection" is, in turn, sampled by

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

in his

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning rap song, "

Let Me Ride "Let Me Ride" is a song by American rapper and producer Dr. Dre, released in August 1993 by Death Row, Interscope and Priority as the third and final single from his debut studio album, ''The Chronic'' (1992). It experienced moderate success on ...

". The song was covered in Icelandic in 1993 as "Gullvagninn" by

Björgvin Halldórsson Björgvin Helgi Halldórsson (alternate names: Bo Halldórsson, Björgvin Halldórsson or Bo Hall) (born 16 April 1951) is an Icelandic pop singer from Hafnarfjörður. He represented Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 with the song '' ...

, becoming a hit in Iceland.

References

External links

Lyrics and tab for Swing Down Sweet Chariot(Video) Swing Down Sweet Chariot sung by the Golden Gate Quartet
American folk songs Year of song missing African-American spiritual songs {{Song-stub