Danny Boy

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: RoyH (Burl)
Date: 28 May 14 - 07:38 AM

I forgot to add that I concur with DADGBE that Paul Robeson sings this beautifully. Check it out on You Tube.

Apologies to my friend Barry for spelling his surname wrongly TWICE in my previous post.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: RoyH (Burl)
Date: 27 May 14 - 04:38 PM

I love this song. Some may think it overly sentimental, but that doesn't bother me. I find the whole thing very moving, especially the last verse, which never fails to choke me up.I too have puzzled over the 'Lover or Parent' problem and I plump for the Lover. She says she may be dead when Danny Boy comes back, which seems to hint either that he is going away for a long time, or he is going somewhere dangerous. But her declaration that she will hear him speak above her, and that her grave will be warmer for the sound, really gets to me, maybe because I am getting old enough to have the end of life looming in my quiet thoughts. There is something in this song that touches peoples hearts and accounts for its massivbe popularity. I'm not sure what it is,perhaps the combination of the lovely tune and the emotional words, whatever, it always works on me.
By the way, I was on a radio programme with Barry McGiugan some years ago and we talked about this song. He knew that I had been a boxer in my youth, and that I was a singer. He asked me if I knew Danny Boy, saying it was his father's favourite song and he (McGiugan Snr) liked to sing it from the ring after Barry's fights.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 May 14 - 07:15 PM

Be one or the other, Ms. Sock Puppet.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: GUEST,crazy little woman
Date: 26 May 14 - 03:59 PM

What a coincidence! on the same day that we see the little boy aiming at the ceiling to get the high note, we also see a famous Welsh singer doing (almost) the same thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp2pazjN6wo

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 26 May 14 - 03:49 PM

I find it more than cute. I find it interesting. The process by which little humans master something as complex as speech is amazing.

I listened and watched fascinated by what he can pronounce and what he can't. For example, he's got 'glen' down and 'flowers,' but he can't say 'the.'

The next time I face a high note, I too will try opening my mouth as wide as I can and looking straight at the ceiling.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: GUEST,oneeyedshoe
Date: 26 May 14 - 05:00 AM

cute version of danny boy chorus is the best part!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFeqW7gNAGc

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: mikesamwild
Date: 19 Dec 12 - 08:38 AM

Thanks , must practice that and scare dogs.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 Dec 12 - 12:52 PM

Men are capable of singing two different ways. In the first way, only the edges of the vocal folds come together. This is how children and women sing. At puberty, a male's voice starts to change, and he comes to sing (or speak) with more than the edges coming together. His voice sounds deeper.

However, some men keep the knack of the childhood style and can sing very high and pure. This style is called "countertenor." I once went to a concert by a countertenor, who said that in the old days, it was quite common for a man to sing one part of a song in his adult style and one in countertenor. He sang "Molly Malone" that way to demonstrate.

I have thought since then that "Danny Boy" would be a logical song to receive this treatment.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: mikesamwild
Date: 18 Dec 12 - 09:04 AM

My dad sang danny boy and always said if you can't shut up a pub with it you weren't a singer!

By the way how do Irish tenors get so high and sweet( no flippant answers required!)

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Allan Conn
Date: 18 Dec 12 - 08:48 AM

"As far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter who has the interpretation that the writer intended"

Quite agree. People will interpret things as they see it!

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: kendall
Date: 18 Dec 12 - 05:56 AM

As far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter who has the interpretation that the writer intended.
This reminds me of the old saying: to examine a joke to see why it is funny is like disecting a frog to see how it jumps. You may learn something in the process, but, it is hard on the subject.

Anyone know why spell check doesn't work on mudcat?

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 18 Dec 12 - 05:17 AM

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
Apparently not, but he did, in the Boosey & Co edition of 1918 give alternate words (Eily dear) to be used if the song were to be sung by a man.
This makes it clear that it is intended to be either a woman singing to a man, or a man singing to a woman. As such it seems resonable to suppose it is intended to be read as being sung by a lover.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Allan Conn
Date: 18 Dec 12 - 04:57 AM

"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

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: GUEST,Bill Amatneek
Date: 17 Dec 12 - 05:07 PM

Lou Gottlieb, he of the Limeliters, loved this song and gave me his interpretation of it one day. Lou said it is a father or a grandfather singing to his son/grandson as the young man goes off to war. He interpreted the lyrics line by line:
"Oh Danny Boy" - Who would call another man "boy" Lou asked. Only a father or grandson.
"The pipes the pipes are calling" - That's the pipes of war.
"From glen to glen and down the mountain side" - When the English wanted the Irish lads to fight their wars, they would send pipers to the hills surrounding the towns where they would pipe the pipes of war.
"The summer's gone and all the roses falling, it's you it's you must go and I must bide" - It's too late in the father's life for him to fight; it's the son who must go and fight.
"But come you back when summer's in the meadow, or when the valley's hushed and white with snow" - no matter when the son comes back, in summer or winter ...
"It's I'll be there in sunshine or in shadow…" - I'll be waiting for you whether I'm dead or alive.
"Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so." - That line is self evident.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: kendall
Date: 17 Dec 12 - 02:33 PM

I've always loved this song. The lyrics tell me that it is a parent talking to a son who is going to America and may never return. Ever hear of the "American Wake"? This is similar in thought.

I heard this sung by my good friend, Gordon Bok, at the funeral of a dear mutual friend. That will make anyones eyes leak.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 05 May 05 - 12:55 PM

Guest:Skivee

The copy I describe above is in C,

BUT: the cover shows that it is available in 3 versions, in C, D, or Eb. (with each it shows the key signature & range of the notes) These would have been the versions available from Boosey & Co in 1918

Nigel

Subject: RE: Danny Boy thread from beyond the grave
From: GUEST,Skivee
Date: 05 May 05 - 01:59 AM

What follow is JUST MY SUPPOSITION, LACKING ANY AUTHORITY OR PRETENSE OF ABSOLUTE TRUTH !!!
I think it's posible that Weatherly was making reference to the Irish Potato famines. In many regions starvation was so bad the most folks died. If your family got some cash together and sent you to America... or any other place... you were going to probably live. If you stayed, it was likely you would die.
In Skibbereen 90% of the people perished of starvation.
Pipes were sometimes used to call passengers to embark on ships.
Or maybe Danny was heading off to his new carreer as a plumber.
FW wrote the lyrics in 1910. His sister tipped him to The Londonderry Aire two years later in 1912. I may have given the imperssion that she wrote him in 1913.
Honestly, I like the tune and the lyrics. It's the bad performances that curdle my whey. It's a beautiful thing when well done.
And, like the Star Spangled Banner, the choice of key should be made by the singer, not the piano player. You may not be able to sing the whole range of the tune in F, but C might suit you fine.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 04 May 05 - 11:18 AM

How come nobody has yet mentioned the ROY ORBISON version which in IMHO is the best recording I have (I've got about 40 different versions to date) sad I know, but there is a very special reason.

Anyway this version starts with Danny "standing at the place where daddy is lying" then goes into the regular song, with an extra verse at the end that gives you goosebumps.

Where did these extra bits come from? I don't know, but its hell of a version.


whb

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Ferrara
Date: 04 May 05 - 10:08 AM

Nice to have the original words. Thank you.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: RobbieWilson
Date: 04 May 05 - 05:50 AM

Just reading through the last few posts again the thought occurred to me that the Eily version is not the same story from the other perspective.

In this version it is the person going who says come and find the place where I am lying. This is much more compatible with the lovers version where he goes of to war not expecting to survive.

The Danny boy version, where the person remaining does not expect to outlive the one leaving sounds most likely to be sung by a parent ( it could be that his sweetheart is implying that she will die from a broken heart without him). But part of the beauty of the song is its ambiguity deliberately, some might say cynically, built in by a crafstman song writer to increase the market and make more people feel it relates directly to them.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 May 05 - 05:38 PM

Thanks, anyway. Sounds like a real find!

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 03 May 05 - 05:20 PM

Q:
In a jumble sale, I'm not talking here of 'virtual' sheet music!
I can't even 'nail down' a description of the paper size! (the open centre page is 20½" wide by 14" high. In the same format is a copy with the cover quoting "Mother Machree" with no single copyright date, but the last copyright date of the 7 songs included is 1915.
"The Floral Dance" (Copyright 1911) which is mentioned in another thread is on paper 19" width * 12¼" height to the open double page.
In this second format I also have:
1, "The Lost Chord" (words Adelaide Proctor, Music Arthur Sullivan)no copyright date
2, "Up From Somerset" (w. Fred E Weatherly, m Wilfrid Sanderson) Copyright 1913
3, "The Lass With The Delicate Air" (composed A.R.N. arranged by A.L.) no copyright date

The problem with all of these is that not only has the paper quality already suffered, but they are a little large for my flatbed scanner!

CHEERS

Nigel

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 May 05 - 02:14 PM

Where did you find the sheet music, Nigel? I couldn't find it in the usual suspects (Levy, Ammem, etc.).

Subject: LyrAdd: Eily dear
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 02 May 05 - 01:59 PM

EILY DEAR
words Fred E Weatherly, written to an old Irish air



Oh, Eily dear, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling
It's I, it's I must go, and you must bide.
But I'll come back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
And you'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Eily dear, oh Eily dear, I love you so.

Someday, may be, when all the flow'rs are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an Ave there for me.
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter, be
For you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.

Copyright 1913 by Boosey & Co
New Edition Copyright 1918 by Boosey & Co
NP

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 02 May 05 - 01:55 PM

To continue the discussion, it would seem that it is a lover speaking to Danny boy, as Weatherby's alternate lyrics just show the song from the other viewpoint, although suggesting that Eily may find Danny's grave, without it necessarily being at home!.

Copyright was by Boosey&Co 1913, the lyrics in the next message (if no-one beats me to it) are from the "New Edition" copyright Boosey&co 1918

Nigel

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: DADGBE
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 01:10 PM

After cringing for years over the maudlin excess in the song, I finally heard it performed well enough to overcome all my negativity. And it's sung by a bass - perhaps the greatest who ever lived - Paul Robeson.

It's been released on a recent CD which does justice both to the song and the singer. "The Odysey of Paul Robeson" is a compilation of rare recordings in possession of the Robeson family and is the best I've ever heard.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Teribus
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 09:34 AM

Don Firth - 01 Dec 00 - 03:59 PM

"McDermott said that during their various wars, the British were in the habit of conscripting able-bodied young Irishmen to do their fighting for them."

I'd like to ask Mr. McDermott to name one. Conscription was introduced in 1916 in England, Wales and Scotland - it was never introduced in Ireland. It was considered but the idea was rejected, the prospect of its introduction was one of the spurs that provoked the Easter Week Rising in Dublin.

Regarding the song and who is singing it - I have always thought that it was a father bidding his son farewell, in realisation on the part of the father that he would never see his son again. There is nothing to suggest it has anything to do with war, the lyrics clearly show that the father fully expects his son to return to his graveside to pay his respects. The "pipes are calling" reference could very well refer to the practice of playing ships away from the Quayside on departure.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: pavane
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 07:02 AM

Often IS sung by a male voice. Tom Jones, for one (not very well though - all panting and heavy breathing!)

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 05:46 AM

The song is for either a male or female parent to sing, as discussed at the beginning of this thread.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From:
Date: 30 Jan 04 - 02:23 AM

I am looking for the verses for "Danny Boy", for a MALE Voice.

Thank you.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Orac
Date: 25 Jun 01 - 08:18 AM

Does anyone have the original tune for Danny Boy as published in 1911 before the writer changed his mind and revised it to use The Londonderry Aire tune in 1913. (A move which has, of course, caused the erroneous association with Ireland for the song)

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: IanC
Date: 22 Jun 01 - 05:41 AM

Fiolar. Hard to put a word to what he was. I'm not going to argue with you about words, but I chose this one because I felt it adequately described him. I was upset that you seemed to think I was applying it to Scottish kings which I was not.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Fiolar
Date: 22 Jun 01 - 05:24 AM

Appreciate people "clearing up" things for me. Sadly the "Red Hand" is now too intricably linked with something it shouldn't and in view of the latest riots in Belfast, I sadly feel that any chance of people living together in harmony is fast diasppearing down the proverbial plughole. Ian - yes I know Charles Stuart wasn't a king but neither was he a kinglet. In fact, the man was a walking disaster and many good men lost their lives in his support. Still that's life. I wonder what would have happened if he had marched on London rather than retreating.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: IanC
Date: 22 Jun 01 - 04:13 AM

Fiolar

He wasn't a king.

Cheers!
Ian

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Snuffy
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 08:12 PM

Not Scottish Kings, Fiolar, just Charles Edward Stuart

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Big Tim
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 01:57 PM

Fiolar; use of Red Hand is an attempt to reclaim the symbol from the terrorists back to where it belongs, with all the people of Ulster.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Fiolar
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 01:08 PM

Nice alternative lyrics - only one little quibble. Shame about the inclusion of "Red Hand" (and I do know all about the legend by the way) which is now sadly linked to the terrorist group "The Red Hand Commandos." Ian C - why use the derogatory word "kinglet" in relation to Scottish kings? The Scottish royal line was just as legitimate as the English one, in fact more so. Yet no one uses the word "kinglet" or indeed "queenlet" for them

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Big Tim
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 12:27 PM

Scotty G; I say "yea, go for it".

Wolfgang: Ballymoney is where the three Quinn children died in a "loyalist" petrol bomb attack in 1998. Omagh was of course an IRA atrocity, 29 dead, of both religions, including an unborn baby, thanks.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: ScottyG
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 12:01 PM

Big Tim,

Danny Boy is one of the mainstays in my limited "repertoir". I've just sung your lyrics to the tune in my head, and I am deeply moved. I can tell that you wrote them to fit the rhythm of Danny Boy (Londonderry Aire), but I think your words deserve their own tune altogether. A brand new melody that belongs to no other song.

Peace,

ScottyG

P.S.

There's a couple of lads here in the Washington DC area that play the Irish Pub circuit, mainly Murphy's in Old Town Alexandria. They're called Double Down. Would you mind if I showed them the lyrics to Come Ulster? They get a lot of flack if they do Danny Boy, but if they put your words to it, they'd get a different reaction. Whaddaya say?

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: IanC
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 11:53 AM

This "Ave" thing is a red herring. At the time the English High Court Judge, Fred Weatherley, wrote the song, it was thought of as romantic ... it still is. You don't have to be Catholic to know about Aves or to think of them as relevant in a song. Don't forget that Scottish romanticism is associated with a Catholic kinglet.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Fiolar
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 11:40 AM

I don't have to think anything of the kind. Surely the purpose of the song is a lament for a lost one, be it son or father is irrelevant. The "Ave" mentioned is the Latin for the prayer "Hail Mary." It's very unlikely that another nationality other than Irish would say a "Hail Mary" at a graveside.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Orac
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 10:19 AM

I think that you can be sure the writer had Scotland in mind when he wrote this. Pavane...Why did you mention Catholics? .. there is nothing in the song about that. The Irish have adopted this English song and put their own meaning to it.. but doing that puts a completely false purpose to the song.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: pavane
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 10:19 AM

Who else would knee and say an Ave?

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Kim C
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 10:18 AM

This song almost always makes me cry. Especially now that my friend in the Army is being sent to another post and will leave in about 3 weeks. :-(

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: IanC
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 10:12 AM

Pavane

Wots it got to do wiv Catholics?

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: pavane
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 10:03 AM

True, but obviously set in Ireland, what with pipes and glens. Could conceivably have been Scotland, but there are fewer Catholics there.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Orac
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 09:57 AM

Erm.. Danny Boy is nothing to do with Ireland.. the writer mearly used an Irish Aire to put his song to.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Fiolar
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 09:54 AM

Any body watchhing the news of the problems of the last 24 hours in Belfast would doubt if there ever can be peace in Northern Ireland.

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: pavane
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 08:28 AM

My wife is an Alto, and sings it fine. I heard Tom Jones sing a bit of it on a radio program, gasping for breath between each two words - NOT impressed!

Subject: RE: Danny Boy
From: Wolfgang
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 08:23 AM

Big Tim,

I think it should be brought to the top again so that people with a better knowledge of English and Ulster than I have an opportunity to comment (you'd get more comments in an extra thread I guess).

I think the lyrics are a very good fit to the tune and the sentiment in the song is true, strong and well transported by the words. I only have difficulties with the 'and round by Ballymoney' bit because I do not get the sense.

Try it out when singing in public and you'll find out how the people react. You wouldn't get a warm applause by either republicans or loyalists, for you do not appeal to their feelings. But I hope for the sake of peace over there that there are some people whose feelings are expressed by this song.

Wolfgang