Blackcatter,

I know what you mean about "Danny Boy." I don't sing it, but play it as an instrumental on the Bowed psaltery, usually in nursing homes. Margaret and I were playing for patients on an AIDS ward in Chicago in the late '80's. Someone, bedridden and probably within days or hours of dying, asked if we could play Danny Boy. I told him I couldn't sing the words but would be glad to play the tune for him. After I finished, he said "I would clap, but I don't have the strength." I know it's easy to make fun of Danny Boy, but I haven't viewed the tune/song the same way since. Forgive the thread drift.