"Who would call another man "boy" Lou asked" Anyone a bit older than Danny may well do that. And what is to say that the person speaking is male anyway? It could well be a mother or even I suppose a lover! The pipes may well be pipes of war or they may just be a metaphor for the homeland itself calling out for Danny not to leave. It could be someone going to war or it could simply be someone migrating away for work! I suppose in the end people will interpret songs as they wish and who's to say that one interpretation is right and one wrong. I take it the English lawyer who wrote the song didn't himself leave an interpretation but even if he did other people may still interpret the lines differently