Swing Low Sweet Chariot (Style)

Style

As pointed out by John Wesley Work in his book American Negro Songs and Spirituals, African-American songs often retain forms that originated in African tribal customs. “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” belongs to the largest group, a class of spirituals that use the African “call and response chant form.” Work described it as “interesting as well as distinctive. Its feature is a melodic fragment sung repeatedly by the chorus as an answer to the challenging lines of the leader which usually change.” The chorus, “Comin’ for to carry me home,” repeats every second and fourth line of each stanza. It was intended to be sung by a group in answer to an individual voice that sings the first and third lines of each stanza. This repetition not only provides structure for the song, it also enables the lyrics to be easily remembered. Another aid to memory exists in the rhymes that occur at the end of the first and third lines in each stanza: “chariot” with itself, “see” with “me,” and “do” with “too.”