Without wishing to promote the more lunatic fringes of political correctness, the ignored scenario is that of an unrequited boyfriend. Seriously though. The sense is clear enough. The "pipes" call the young soldier. In the warrior tradition, the father, if alive would probably go too. The singer "bides" at home and that is a common enough reference to the predicament of the women in such circumstances. "as dead I may well be" suggests either an ageing parent or a consumptive lover but the inevitability of mortality suggests the mother. It is sung by men because the true tenor voice can cope with the range and that top note is a showpiece test. The soprano voice can reach the notes but it takes the voice into the range that shatters beer glasses. As for its popularity, just watch any Irish audience on St Pat's night. It is not the song, it is the history that evokes the pathos.