Subject: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Mick Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:12 PM Good man, ya are.... |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: skarpi Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:16 PM its about time its banned , the derry air lyric I like much better . ATB Skarpi |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST, Tom Bliss Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:17 PM I'm going to miss the Witches of Elswick's version :-( Tom |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Peace Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:18 PM "I'd like to believe that there is a God " That is a thread title. I feel Mick's post supplies proof that indeed there IS a God. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Jim Lad Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:34 PM And yet.... I hate to say it.... people do love the song. Guess I won't be playing Foley's Pub! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,Shimrod Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:39 PM I don't suppose anyone could see their way clear to banning 'The Fields of Athenry', could they? I live in hope! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Ernest Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:40 PM Maybe the guy just misunderstood the words. It is "The pipes are calling" not "the pipes are smoking". Calling isn`t banned. Seriously, over here Danny Boy is everything but overdone. Probably an US-phenomenon. Wish they would ban "Wild Rover" here. And "Country Roads". Maybe "Whiskey in the Jar" while thy`re at it. ;0) Ernest |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Mick Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:40 PM Jim, I don't disagree, but the thing that drives me nuts is singing it in completely inappropriate settings. I have always refused to sing it during pub gigs. But I have in the right setting. Mick |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Shaneo Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:40 PM I see where he is offering a free pint of Guinness to anybody who does not sing Danny Boy, well I'm off over there for the free gargle, I'll be pissed for a week. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Wesley S Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:41 PM Jim - Just think of it as a great way to educate the public about other fine Irish songs. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: DannyC Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:50 PM I had survived most of an off-night Monday doing a solo up in "The Dubliner" on Capital Hill. Half my brain was engaged dishing out the four green fields of left and right, while the other half was focused on the ball and a half wedge that I'd soon be slipping into my pocket. The night's crowd had been reduced to a dwindling throng of loud, lobbying conventioneers. A sad little man broke away from the gladhanders, gazed up (at "The Dub" you sang aloft in narrow, dangerous, crow's nest of a stage), and asked for DB. I told him that DB cost $12.50, like it was a menu item squeezed between Mrs. Murphy's Potatoes and Mother Mularky's Shephard's Pie. He dottered away,leaving me free to go back to the comfort of my orphic dreaming. Again your man interrupted my daze, presenting the required fee counted out to the penny. I thought of a family relic - a note from the actor, Mickey Shaughnessy, to my father, "Dear Dan, You sing Danny Boy better than I do." With a quick dedication to Shaughnessy, I began... "OH DANNY BOY, THE PIPES THE PIPES..." I must not have done too bad a job, 'cause the drunks went into a hush. One of their lieutenants returned from the jacks' just as I was conjuring the "Ave" at the grave. Having missed the gist of the rendering, he DEMANDED that I sing it again. My little sad friend informed him of the song's tariff, whereupon the pushy lieutenant proclaimed he'd pay me twice the required fee to sing it again. UH OH! I dedicated Round Two to Barry McGuigan's father (quietly uttering a contritional Pater) and began again: "OH DANNY BOY, THE PIPES THE PIPES..." Regrettably the Bull Goose General of this assemblage (a fat- fingered, red-eyed, man of apparant importance) arrived in from Kelly's (next door) near the second round's conclusion. He was livid to have missed the night's big moment, so he walked right up and made an ostentatious contribution to have it sung again - doubling the last offer. I quickly checked over my shoulder for quick gathering lightening clouds. The barman was glaring at me - clearly not amused. I thought of again of Mickey, and my Dad, and the Clones Cyclone - then I thought of Harry Chapin. Stuffing the bills into my shirt, I muttered something about braces for the wee ba' and completed the triple play. The lonely night's ride back through the McHenry Tunnel into smoky Baltimore felt like a log flume amusement ride. The dirty old town floated like a gleaming jewel on the Inner Harbor. Ahh, the magical power of wampum!! I imagined (perhaps hoped) that my windfall would end up as an entry under the "Miscellaneous" column of the lobbyists' expense report(s). Before I go, I will say these things about "Danny Boy". Taken on it's own, it's a beautiful song to a lovely air. It's got a challenging range and, IMHO, many who will not sing Danny Boy, cannot. I might want to pay more honor to the song since it was once a solemn unifying anthem of my caste - big-city, working-class Irish America. My own people loved it. In another circumstance, when McGuigan's father sang it in Belfast before the bout with the Panamanian, it clearly served as a unifying element in that city. Sadly, over the decades it's been abused by the likes of me, though I always try to make a good go of it. Thankfully, I can do it little harm. Regards, Danny |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Mick Date: 06 Mar 08 - 01:56 PM Well said. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: artbrooks Date: 06 Mar 08 - 02:03 PM DannyC's story reminds me of the Irish pub in Pensacola, Florida that (at least for a while) had a sign up on the performer's platform that said, "Requests $1 - Danny Boy $10". |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 06 Mar 08 - 02:15 PM Sorry folks, maybe I'm out of touch, but I will always willingly sing DB on request, as it's a lovely song with a lovely melody. Mind you, I always do any request that doesn't end with the word OFF! Don T. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 06 Mar 08 - 02:29 PM I prfer the simplified version, where you just sing "Oh Danny Boy" over and over again through the whole tune: Oh Danny Boy, Oh Danny Danny Danny Boy, Oh Danny Boy, Oh Danny Danny Boy, Oh Danny Boy, Oh Danny Danny Danny Boy, Oh Danny Boy , Oh Danny Danny Boy... And so on. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,Acorn4 Date: 06 Mar 08 - 02:35 PM It's a good song but needs a reasonably good singer to make a fist of it - I was once in a pub where I was the only sober person(my turn to drive) when it was attempted - don't you just DREAD that top note in situations like this -with an out of tune fiddle it's possibly even worse -if you're pissed, anything sounds fine! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,Tom Bliss Date: 06 Mar 08 - 02:39 PM McGrath - that was the Witches version I was referring to... But it's the punchline that makes it: Keep going and going till the audience have got over the shock and given in, and then on the very last line sing 'I love you so' It's genius, and as always, the laugh's in the timing. Tom |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: katlaughing Date: 06 Mar 08 - 02:42 PM Well, I've got a soft spot for it, but even softer ones for others which I learned, on Mudcat, are not "authentic" or have been done to death...which doesn't bother me because one my mom sang me to sleep with, being Irish Lullaby; one my grandson loves, being The Leprechaun Song and also the Green Alligators song; and three, or is it four, m'dad always played Irish Washerwoman, at my request, so that I could dance to it; and fifth or whatever, I'll Take You Home again Kathleen because both mom and dad sang it me, and, being a "Kathleen" I always felt my heart being tugged to the auld country when they did. So sign me unabashedly trite or whathaveyou and Danny, I'd pay ya to hear ya sing it, too!:-) kat |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Schantieman Date: 06 Mar 08 - 02:57 PM Oh, no, not The Fields of Athenry I've heard that song so much I want to cry. dah dee dum dee da de ding There are far better songs to sing I've had it with The Fields of Athenry. The only person I've heard sing that is Janet Gifford, but I wish I knew it all. It deserves a wider audience. Steve |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Suegorgeous Date: 06 Mar 08 - 02:57 PM Any chance of starting a campaign for a national ban? :) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,Dani Date: 06 Mar 08 - 02:57 PM Stop me if I told this already, but I'm currently working at a place where folks with Alzheimer's are cared for during the day, and the people are just wonderful, and the music is a big part of the day, every day. There is one gentleman, though, who STILL thinks it's funny to sing it when he remembers my name..... Oh, well, delivered with affection, I'll take all the serenading I can get. Kudos on the ban, for sure, thought. Dani |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Schantieman Date: 06 Mar 08 - 02:58 PM ...and either it's a different parody from the one in Digitrad or I've got my wires crossed. S |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Beer Date: 06 Mar 08 - 03:07 PM Couldn't agree with you more Big Mick. I believe there is a place for it but not in a festive atmosphere of a pub setting. I have sung it many times at old folks home and have heard it just as often at funerals. I have also heard John McDermott sing it in a concert setting and it felt very appropriate. But that is about it. Beer (adrien) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: John MacKenzie Date: 06 Mar 08 - 03:12 PM The Middle Bar at the Anchor in Sidmouth has a system of fines for misdemeanours, the largest fine on the list is for singing the Wild Rover, perhaps they should add Danny Boy to the list? Giok I think I got that right? |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Rapparee Date: 06 Mar 08 - 03:17 PM I don't want it sung at my funeral. I'd prefer something like "Bring out the Black and Tans Come on and drink 'em like a man...." Actually, I don't like DB all that much. Too sentimental for my taste, at least in most settings. And I'm starting to feel that way about "Spancil Hill" as well. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Jim Lad Date: 06 Mar 08 - 03:18 PM Well: We're paid to entertain and to me, there is nothing more disheartening than the look on some-one's face when they ask for a song like Danny Boy and don't get it. It's also about demographics though. Seems my audience is getting older every day. Same people I sang to 25 years ago but some how, they've aged. Now... If somebody wants to ban John McDermott, I'm up for it! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Jim Lad Date: 06 Mar 08 - 03:20 PM Jeeze! I just noticed! Yous want to ban half my bleeding repertoire! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Peace Date: 06 Mar 08 - 03:29 PM LOL Jim, you have more than that to sing. I know! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Micca Date: 06 Mar 08 - 03:31 PM Schantieman, the song you are referring to is by Malcolm Austen of Maidenhead folk club and is a gem, PM me if you want the full words |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Phil Cooper Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:07 PM I'm ambivalent about Danny Boy. I've heard and enjoyed it sung well, and heard it murdered by bad singing. Margaret and I were playing for people in an AIDS ward years ago (way before the wonder drugs, and most people we were playing for were on the way out). Someone asked if we could play Danny Boy. I did, on the bowed psaltery, and he raised his head up (he was lying down) and said he would applaud, but didn't have the strength. I wouldn't deny someone that moment. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Beer Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:07 PM Good one Jim. Lol. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's unplugged Apprentice Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:13 PM "there is nothing more disheartening than the look on some-one's face when they ask for a song like Danny Boy and don't get it" I do a fairly large number of what I call mini-concerts, at the local retirement community, every year, and I perform Danny Boy because that's one of the songs the audience likes to hear it;and you know what? I'm not going to stop performing it just because a few people don't like it. Charlotte (the view from Ma and Pa's piano stool) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Mick Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:17 PM There is no question there are any number of times the song is appropriate. One of the last times I sang it was on the shores of a wilderness lake on Beaver Island. I had gone there because a dear friend who was descended from the Irish settlers of the Island had his ashes spread there. I sang it to him, his name was Danny O'Donnell. It is a beautiful lyric, and a beautiful tune. But I just don't sing it for a bunch of drunk, once a year Irish folks, in a pub where most folks aren't listening anyway. I completely agree with the sentiment expressed by Jim Lad and others. We are entertainers, but this is just a shortcoming on my part. I just won't do it, unless I feel it is the time and place. BTW........ I won't sing The Unicorn either ....... it has already marginalized one pretty damn fine Irish band, it ain't gettin' mine.... Mick |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's unplugged Apprentice Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:24 PM "So sign me unabashedly trite" unabashedly honest, kat, and kudos for that :-) (omigod THAT rhymed *LOL*) Charlotte (a sentimental old fool) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Richard Bridge Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:34 PM Cho: Oh no the Fields of Athenry If I hear it one more time I think I'll die It's such a boring song it goes on and on and on I'm so fed up with the Fields of Athenry By a lonely prison wall I heard a young girl calling Michael they are singing it again If I hear it one more time, I think I'll lose my mind I'm so fed up with the Fields of Athenry Cho From within the prison wall I heard a young man calling Mary why do you think I'm here In here we all agree Transportation'll set us free Free from the Fields of Athenry Cho. By a lonely harbour wall I saw the last star falling As the prison ship sailed out against the tide Hold on that girl did say I'm coming with you to Botany Bay To escape from the Fields of Athenry Cho |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Jim Lad Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:38 PM Right! "The Unicorn". Got it. Didn't like that Humpty backed Campbells" line anyway. Any others or should I just throw out the whole pub set? Wait a minute... I've quit pubs. Think I mentioned that recently. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: WFDU - Ron Olesko Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:44 PM Unfortunately it has become a song like "Kumbayah" and "Tom Dooley" that stir up all kinds of sterotypes. The shame of it is, it is a beautiful sentimental old song and in the right circumstances, it is a joy to listen to. In a pub, sung with the wrong enthusiasm, it is a terror. There are some beautiful stories shared hear, which just shows the power of music. We can be cynical about this and other songs - but we are the poorer for it. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: SINSULL Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:45 PM This reminds me of a comedy skit on the radio. The head of a choral group was being asked how he managed to get so much funding for his group. He had discovered a federal grant that paid you every time you did NOT sing Shenandoah. So his group had learned and invented several hundred versions including Samba and Fox Trot. It was hilarious to hear them sing them. They were paid for not singing each and every version. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Richard Bridge Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:46 PM You actually need a singer as good as the late Count John MacCormack to make it work. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: SINSULL Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:47 PM I love danny Boy and loved the hour long special on PBS with everyone from Sinead O'Connor to Johnny Cash singing a version. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Rapparee Date: 06 Mar 08 - 04:53 PM I agree with Mick. In the right setting, at the right time, DB is a lovely piece of music. Same thing with "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen." Or "Spancil Hill." They get tiresome after twenty or thirty times in the same night, however, and so does a bunch of bleary-eyed drunks trying to roar out "A Nation Once Again." I think that I'll just hole up and sip my Bushmill's 16 on the 17th. Or I could go up to Butte. More Irish-Americans up there per capita than anywhere else in the US. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Jean(eanjay) Date: 06 Mar 08 - 05:22 PM ....... promised a free Guinness to patrons who sing any other traditional Irish song at the pub's pre-St. Patrick's Day karaoke party ... A karaoke party says it all. That would certainly not be the place to be singing Danny Boy. Songs like Danny Boy, Carrickfergus, She Moved Through the Fair, are all at their best when played or sung by someone who can bring out the magic in them. My husband has played Danny Boy for years on chromatic harmonica and still gets requests for it at all the bookings he does - you could hear a pin drop when he plays it. There is a beautiful version, on the Eva Cassidy CD "Imagine". |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Bat Goddess Date: 06 Mar 08 - 06:46 PM Jeez, and here I always thought it was about a plumber -- "the pipes, the pipes, are calling". There've been requests for it in our circle, but very seldom done. Back in the old days when former Portsmouth mayor (and husband of another Portsmouth mayor) John Foley was alive, he'd get up during the band's break St. Patrick's night at The Press Room and sing "Danny Boy" in at least 4 or 5 different keys (all at the same time). The only person who had the nerve (and skill) to try to accompany him was Bob Frost -- on banjo, yet. We're also very fortunate that "Fields of Athenry" has not only not been overdone at our sessions, but I don't think it's actually EVER been sung in 25 years. (I may possibly be wrong; I've missed a couple sessions over the past 25 years, but not many.) The parody HAS been sung -- when Micca's been in town. Linn |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Janice in NJ Date: 06 Mar 08 - 06:59 PM I've heard some surprisingly good renditions of "Danny Boy" over the years, most recently from Tommy Sands. One of my favorites was the one Joan Baez recorded many years ago. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 06 Mar 08 - 07:43 PM Guest Acorn4 said above 'don't you just DREAD that top note in situations like this?' I dread it all the time. The melody for this song was around long before the words 'Danny boy' were penned. I doubt if the melody was intended for voice at all. It was probably written for an instrument such as harp or violin. (I believe the words were written by an Englishman during the era known as the Celtic Revival.) Either that, or this possibility. There used to be a tradition where a man sang one part of a song in his normal voice and then leapt to falsetto-countertenor [whatever you want to call it] for the next. That may have been what the composer had in mind for this song. But in that case, why are there no original words? ============ I have a suggestion for those singing the song. Our church choir had a visit from an expert, who pointed out that it is perfectly possible to come to a high note and sing it SOFTLY. I had never thought of that before. However, I've practiced it, and is possible to sing a high note and sort of 'aim it at the floor,' minimizing the effort and the impact. I believe this would work for Danny Boy. How important is the word 'here' anyway? Fortunately, my crowd doesn't do music like Danny Boy. We are not into Victorian. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Jim Lad Date: 06 Mar 08 - 08:25 PM That's it! Tonight, I' recording Danny Boy in "C". Nice and easy. No bum notes and positively no falsetto! Then I'm going door to door 'til I've tracked every one of yous down. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: SINSULL Date: 06 Mar 08 - 08:28 PM LOL Jim Lad, PM me for my address. I will buy it. Mary |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Bert Date: 06 Mar 08 - 10:17 PM Hah! It was Down in "Noo Joisey", Annamill had arranged a session in her local boozer and all of us Mudcatters got a turn to sing. When my turn came around some guy at the back of the bar kept calling for Danny Boy. Well there was only one way to shut him up and that was to sing it. 'Corse, I didn't know the chords. So I asked him why was he asking an Englishman to sing Danny Boy; Put my guitar down on the floor and got on with it and sang it. So, the appropriate time to sing it is when somebody asks for it. It may have been overdone in places, but it is a great song and I enjoy singing it. One day I will learn the chords. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Jim Lad Date: 06 Mar 08 - 10:48 PM Chords? What chords? ... oh bugger! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Dave the Gnome Date: 07 Mar 08 - 03:08 AM Wonder if they will ban 'I'll take you home again Kathleen', 'Forty shades of green' and 'Dirty old town' by the same token. I can't see anyone taking them off the money spinning 'Celtic Collections' CDs though. D. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,Val Date: 07 Mar 08 - 12:53 PM Guest leeneia wrote: (I believe the words were written by an Englishman during the era known as the Celtic Revival.) It's probably been noted in another thread at some point, but here is a site with a fair amount of research on the history of Danny Boy I keep meaning to learn the tune Bunting transcribed for Aisling An Oig-Fhir, but haven't quite gotten that proverbial round tuit. I do occasionally mess about with playing the Derry Aire as a bouncy march, similar to "76 Trombones" by Meredith Wilson (from "The Music Man"). Adding the Danny Boy lyrics to such an arrangement would be downright sarcastic, but the melody is very pretty and can be fun to play with. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: PoppaGator Date: 07 Mar 08 - 02:00 PM Would I be correct in concluding that "Danny Boy" is done-to-death in the US, but less so in Ireland and Britain, while "Fields of Athenry" is overdone much more thoroughly in the old world than in the new? |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Peace Date: 07 Mar 08 - 02:06 PM Canada had Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne". Great song--killed by its own popularity. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 07 Mar 08 - 03:22 PM 'I'm recording Danny Boy in "C". Nice and easy.' Do you have a range of an octave plus a fifth? Because that's what it takes. I've never liked the song, even before I knew the words. I've pecked it out on the keyboard, and the first phrase moves up to the sixth of the key. (In D, the high note on 'THE pipes are calling...' is a B.) I have never liked the sixth. I'm beginning to suspect that on keyboards, the sixth is out of tune (even temperament and all that.) Try minimizing that note, singing it very softly, almost skipping it. How important is 'the' anyway? |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: The Mole Catcher's Apprentice (inactive) Date: 07 Mar 08 - 03:32 PM "Canada had Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne". Great song--killed by its own popularity. " another lovely song I've played on occasion and will probably play again regardless of what others think. Charlotte (the view from Ma and Pa's piano stool) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Maryrrf Date: 07 Mar 08 - 03:33 PM Rather than try to hit the note and botching it, I skip it. I only sing Danny Boy when it is requested but I feel as Jim Lad does, if I'm being paid a fee to entertain then within reason I will do what the audience wants to hear. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Peace Date: 07 Mar 08 - 03:49 PM "another lovely song I've played on occasion and will probably play again regardless of what others think" Fuckin' right. So you should! Casablanca. Play it again,. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,Dani Date: 07 Mar 08 - 03:55 PM "FREE BIRD" "FREE BIRD" "FREE BIRD" |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Connacht Rambler Date: 07 Mar 08 - 06:08 PM It's the singer(s), not the song. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Charley Noble Date: 07 Mar 08 - 08:02 PM It's just a pop song that's easily over done. I prefer my songs rare. Charley Noble |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Al Whittle Date: 07 Mar 08 - 08:11 PM I know Danny Boy - he is a disreputable character. If I had a pub, I would ban him as well. there is too much laxity in modern life - parents spare the belt and the cigarette end and see what happens..... I remember a time when you could leave your doors unlocked, you could shit on the carpet (cos we liked a laugh) - but we always went to Sunday school and we knew where to draw the line..... It all went wrong in the 1960's when folks started taking drugs and stopped listening to decent music. Under the Bridges of Paris,,, that was my sort of music. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Bert Date: 07 Mar 08 - 08:16 PM Ban something because it is popular!!! The logic escapes me. Perhaps the bar owner knows something that I don't. Kinda like the time I went to a songwriters workshop and they said "Don't use clichés". |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Bert Date: 07 Mar 08 - 08:19 PM Why the F**k do they think clichés exist. Same as Danny Boy. It is popular because it is a great song and will still be being sung long after that particular bar owner is dead and forgotten. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Peace Date: 07 Mar 08 - 08:24 PM Reminds me of the old saw about the student who said he didn't think "Hamlet" was a very good play because it was full of quotes and Shakespeare could have at least tried to be a bit more original. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Bert Date: 07 Mar 08 - 08:33 PM Oho!!! Great one. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Beer Date: 07 Mar 08 - 08:49 PM I agree Bert. Like it or not it is one of those songs that will live forever. Amazing Grace is probably number One but I think Danny Boy is a close second. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Bert Date: 07 Mar 08 - 10:15 PM Amazing Grace is another one Beer. So many great songs. Let's all be small minded and ban the lot of them. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Beer Date: 07 Mar 08 - 10:50 PM Jim Lad, I curious. Why would you want to ban John McDermott? He's a good Scotsman and I've seen him sing Danny Boy and I'll be damn if I would say he doesn't have the voice for it. So what gives. Is it because he reminds you of a Glen Campbell in his sparkle suit? Or maybe just the media blitz that he has received. Surely it can't be his voice. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Beer Date: 07 Mar 08 - 10:51 PM I'm curious. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 07 Mar 08 - 11:03 PM 'Rather than try to hit the note and botching it, I skip it.' How do you mean, exactly? Do you substitute another note? You can't just leave a moment of silence, can you? Of course, it may depend on how many beers the patrons have had... |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Folk Form # 1 Date: 08 Mar 08 - 03:36 AM Danny Boy should be banned everywhere. Sentimental waffle. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Date: 08 Mar 08 - 03:49 AM Perhaps all those in favour of a ban would like to give us a list of the things we mustn't do, say, or sing, to avoid offending their sensibilities. It's a tad arrogant wouldn't you say, to insist that anything should be banned, simply because YOU don't like it? Personally, I can take it, or leave it, but that doesn't give me the right to impose my views on anyone else, and my respect for the audiences who listen to me because they enjoy what I do, causes me to think very carefully about where the next gig comes from, when considering ignoring a request. Don T. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,JTT Date: 08 Mar 08 - 05:28 AM The Derriere was once a lovely song, poignant and moving. But it's become a whinge. It always reminds me of the tour of Ireland book written by an English clergyman during the Famine. (Can't remember the name of the book, but it's quoted in one of Cathal Póirtéar's books of contemporary writing brought out for the anniversary of the Great Hunger.) The man at first found the whole business rather amusing, and giggled to himself in print in a London newspaper about two grey-bearded brothers he saw embracing each other over and over and crying inconsolably as they waited by the dock where one was taking ship. But by the end of his tour of Ireland he was incandescent with rage, and writing from a very different point of view. Incidentally, I don't know anything about Weatherly, but with many people identified as English, there's an Irish mother or grandmother/s lurking in the background. As for the unicorn ... |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Seán Báite Date: 08 Mar 08 - 07:18 AM DannyC - hilarious anecdote, very well recounted too :-> Didn't that McGuigan bout you mention take place at the Loftus Rd football ground in London ? I've never understood how a song mentioning an 'Ave' came to be seen as a source of reconciliation between the Orange and the Green - maybe that it was the 'Londonderry Air' to begin with ?? I agree with most around here that it tends to be overdone but as to banning it, a bit much... especially when we can get versions of this sort of authenticity, artistry and indomitable Irishry : Danny Boy - The Leprachaun Brothers |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Brakn Date: 08 Mar 08 - 10:51 AM Wetherley's father was born in Ealing and his mother in Bristol. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Mick Date: 08 Mar 08 - 11:30 AM That Amstel commericial linked to in JTT's post is absolutely brilliant!! Mick |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Jim Lad Date: 08 Mar 08 - 11:42 AM Before Danny Boy became popular, "The Rose of Tralee" was the song that had to be sung. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Jim Lad Date: 08 Mar 08 - 11:43 AM Beer probably remembers that! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's unplugged Apprentice Date: 08 Mar 08 - 11:59 AM Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Rockin' Reeler Date: 08 Mar 08 - 03:36 AM Danny Boy should be banned everywhere. Sentimental waffle." The pro-censorship crowd must absolutely adore you Charlotte (the Saturday view from Ma and Pa's piano stool) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Ernest Date: 08 Mar 08 - 12:30 PM Actually Danny Boy is banned already. But since the usual places (Australia, Tasmania) already had been fully occupied (by Mrs. Mathilda Waltzing) the only place left have been the Oirish Pubs of the U.S. of A. ;0) Ernest |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's unplugged Apprentice Date: 08 Mar 08 - 12:42 PM It appears it was only banned for the month of March, something to do with that other sentimental waffle, St Patricks Day Charlotte (does not drink green beer) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Suegorgeous Date: 08 Mar 08 - 12:55 PM Errr, if you can't hit the note, why not just change the key? (or is that just a naive statement from someone who has practically zilch music theory?). That Wetherley stuff was interesting, took me off on all sorts of tangents...... hence, does anyone have a link to an mp3/listenable file of Stonecracker John, whose lyrics were written by him? (tune by Eric Coates). It appears to be on some EC albums, but not to listen to. Sue |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Beer Date: 08 Mar 08 - 01:01 PM Yes I dop remember it very well Jim. Mum use to sing it along with Danny Boy as Dad played the piano. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Peace Date: 08 Mar 08 - 01:05 PM Sentimental pap? Maybe. But I can never listen to "Amazing Grace" by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards without getting tears in my eyes. It fosters thoughts of Thermopylae, Dieppe, Ia Drang Valley, Juno Beach, Anzio, Ypres, Dien Bien Phu: places where people have given all they have to give for others simply because their leaders--their countries--asked them. I despise war; I venerate courage. When I listen, I sometimes wonder if I would have what it took for them to do what they did on behalf of their friends and comrades. And I pray to my God that I will never have to find out. Youtube. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Al Whittle Date: 08 Mar 08 - 01:44 PM I once did a support gig at Oswestry Conservative Club with a guy who played Danny Boy on the accordion whilst yodelling the melody. His Dad was roadying for him, and he told me: he's very talented our lad - he makes colour televisions as well....... Very strange how sometimes you think you must have dreamt it, but you didn't....! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Al Whittle Date: 08 Mar 08 - 01:46 PM He closed the first half playing the accordion and kneeling down as in prayer and yodelling Abide With Me. he was received with wild applause. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Stringsinger Date: 08 Mar 08 - 02:36 PM Often known as the London Derriere. (Derry aire) A maudlin song if there ever was one though the tune is pretty. Frederic Edward Weatherly (1848-1929) penned it. Edwardian, Victorian and Georgian poet. "And I will hear though I am sleeping".......I don't think so, it's a bit much. This theme does crop up in Irish popular music though. Sentimentality reminiscent of "Mother Machree" and "My Yiddische Mama". (Don't cry in the Green Beer). Frank |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: The Mole Catcher's Apprentice (inactive) Date: 08 Mar 08 - 02:42 PM "we knew where to draw the line....." on the pavement(sidewalk to our North American friends)when you wanted to play hop-scotch..... Charlotte (still plays when she thinks no one's looking) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Tattie Bogle Date: 08 Mar 08 - 06:12 PM Would yer man in the new York pub ban this version? (probably older than Danny Boy), same tune, also a wee bit sentimental, but IMHO, a preferable set of words. (Is this the one you meant, Skarpi?)The tune itself may be up to 4 centuries old: Sibelius attribute it to Rory Dall O'Cahan (1560-1660) LONDONDERRY AIR (IN DERRY VALE) W.G.Rothery In Derry Vale, beside the singing river, So oft I strayed, ah, many years ago, And culled at morn the golden daffodillies That came with Spring to set the world aglow. Oh, Derry Vale, my thoughts are ever turning To your broad stream and fairy-circled lea, For your green isles my exiled heart is turning, So far awa-a-ay acro-oss the-e sea. In Derry Vale, amid the Foyle's dark waters, The salmon leap above the surging weir, The seabirds call – I still can hear them calling In night's long dreams of tho-o-ose so dear. Oh, tarrying years, fly faster, ever faster, I long to see the vale belov'd so well, I long to know that I am not forgotten, And there at ho-o-ome in pe-eace to-o dwell. And Giok is right about the "Wild Rover" and the Middle Bar at Sidmouth; £5 fine for singing it. Last time I remember someone getting caught it was a somewhat nervous Antipodean singer, who was cajoled into singing, and said he would do the only song he could remember. Another singer got away unfined after singing the chorus in German.(Nein, nicht, nieber) I'm tempted to try out the trad version of Wild Rover (minor key and none of that no, nay, never, no, nay, never no more nonsense)to see if they'd notice, or impose the fine. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: DannyC Date: 08 Mar 08 - 06:26 PM Sean: Thanks for having the laff with me. I was hoping for Pulitzer consideration by virtue of the Harry Chapin quip. Tattie: That Rory Dall must have been some fierce man. Here's a bit more about him from Capt. O'Neill (my edits): RORY DALL O'CAHAN It is doubtful if any harper of any age was so renowned as Rory Dall... The O'Cahan's were a powerful clan in the portions of Antrim and Derry called the O'Cahan country... born in 1646, was nicknamed Dall after losing his eyesight... he early devoted himself to the harp... travelled into Scotland attended by the retinue of a gentleman of large property... he seemed to have traveled in the company of noble persons... Proud and spirited, he resented anything in the nature of trespass on his dignity... Lady Eglinton commanded him to play a tune. Taking offense... O'Cahan refused and left the castle... her ladyship sought a speedy reconciliation. This incident furnished a theme for one of the harper's best compositions, "Tabair Dam Do Lamh", or "Give Me Your Hand". ... the fame of the composition induced (King James) to send for the composer. O'Cahan accordingly attended the Scottish Court, and created a sensation. His performance so delighted the royal circle that King James familiarly laid his hand on the harper's shoulder. When asked by one of the courtiers if he realized the honor thus conferred on him, to their consternation Rory replied: "A greater than King James has laid his hand on my shoulder." "Who was that man?" cried the King: "O'Neill, Sire!" proudly answered Rory standing up. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Tattie Bogle Date: 08 Mar 08 - 06:31 PM Well maybe the dates were wrong, but great to know there's a Scottish connection! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Jim Lad Date: 08 Mar 08 - 09:48 PM Nice song, Totty Bogul! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Barry Finn Date: 08 Mar 08 - 10:41 PM Sinsul, "I love danny Boy and loved the hour long special on PBS with everyone from Sinead O'Connor to Johnny Cash singing a version" I have a store of whips & chains I'd love to sell you. Barry |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Tattie Bogle Date: 09 Mar 08 - 07:58 AM Got "In Derry Vale" out of a "News Chronicle" songbook (ca 1930 edition)I got at a book sale. Many other gems therein. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Snuffy Date: 09 Mar 08 - 08:08 AM We used to sing "In Derry Vale" in school. Not sure if it was in Juniors or first year at Grammar. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,McGee Date: 09 Mar 08 - 08:24 AM There's an old saying that the Irish are "the men that God made mad, for all their wars are happy, and all their songs are sad". Maudlin and sentimental? Certainly describes a lot of my Irish relatives....DB was my grandmother's favourite song and one she was always asking me to sing for her. It was sung at her funeral but that was one time I couldn't honour her request. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: DannyC Date: 09 Mar 08 - 01:57 PM Hey Tattie, I'd say Chief O'Neill would need your dates to be kind of accurate for his story to hold true. Cheers, Danny |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Bat Goddess Date: 09 Mar 08 - 02:41 PM Chesterton: "The great Gaels of Ireland / Are the men the gods made mad / For all their wars are merry / and all their songs are sad." Linn |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: KT Date: 09 Mar 08 - 03:51 PM Discussion of Danny Boy has come up often in the last few years. Refusal to sing it or the suggestion to ban it has seemed the trend of late, and I've often felt a tad out of touch, even somewhat politically incorrect, for not being in agreement. While I can understand tiring of a song which has been overplayed in certain areas, I can't imagine myself ever refusing to sing it for someone who requests it, sincerely. Whether DB is my favorite or not, is immaterial to me, when I'm being offered the opportunity to share music with folks who love it, and who might not otherwise be able to hear/play/sing it for themselves. In my 14 years of singing for folks from many parts of the world, I can't recall a time when the crowd did not "hush" considerably when they heard the first strains of Danny Boy. A song like that has much meaning for many people, and for some, touches a deep part of them. Most non-musicians have no clue about its origins, and that doesn't really matter, if it speaks to them. If its sentimentality moves them to tears, even amidst a rollicking St. Patrick's Day celebration, that's not at all a bad thing. Tears bring people just a wee bit closer. Some would perhaps chose not to sing it in some settings to, in a way, guard it from abuse. I still think I'd rather sing it if requested, give it my best, and let anyone's response to it be their own. MHO - KT It just occurred to me ....As much as some resent having it played on St. Patrick's Day, I'd wager a bet that there are more (uninformed though they are as to its origins) who feel they haven't fully celebrated the day if they didn't get to hear it. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: KT Date: 09 Mar 08 - 03:57 PM "Waltzing with Bears" though, is a different story. I can honestly say to anyone who requests it, that I don't know it. And ever shall it be. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Thompson Date: 09 Mar 08 - 04:41 PM GUEST McGee, let me get this right: you're using a song apparently written by an Englishman to prove that the Irish are sentimental and maudlin? Hmmm... odd logic here! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Mick Date: 09 Mar 08 - 04:56 PM At a gigg on this last Friday, I had a woman come up and ask for the Unicorn. I told her I don't do the song. She told me I wasn't very Irish. I asked her how not playing a song written by a Jewish fellow in the Catskills made me not very Irish. She was quite adamant that it was not, it was an Irish song. I referred her to the works of Shel Silverstein, and told her of the book of poetry of his that I used to read from to my girls when they were small. She still insisted I was wrong, God bless her. Funny how this stuff goes with these songs. All the best, Mick |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: The Mole Catcher's Apprentice (inactive) Date: 09 Mar 08 - 04:59 PM The Unicorn will be, forever, associated with The Irish Rovers hence the woman's mistake... Charlotte (isn't remotely Irish either) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Mick Date: 09 Mar 08 - 05:39 PM ...Before I go, I will say these things about "Danny Boy". Taken on it's own, it's a beautiful song to a lovely air. It's got a challenging range and, IMHO, many who will not sing Danny Boy,cannot. I might want to pay more honor to the song since it was once a solemn unifying anthem of my caste - big-city, working-class Irish America. My own people loved it. In another circumstance, when McGuigan's father sang it in Belfast before the bout with the Panamanian, it clearly served as a unifying element in that city. Sadly, over the decades it's been abused by the likes of me, though I always try to make a good go of it. Thankfully, I can do it little harm. Regards, Danny post of 06 Mar 08 - 01:50 PM in this thread Funny how this place, with all its characters, knowledge, and views, can affect your opinion on things. Danny C, I hope you know exactly what a pearl of great worth it was you penned into those two paragraphs. It made me hope that one day we can sit down over a pint and just have some conversation. That post, in the pondering of it, sparked a whole conversation yesterday, as I was being interviewed on a PBS talk show. The conversation swung to the reasons, historical, economic, and such, for why St. Pat's has evolved the way it has in this country. There is a pub in Grand Rapids, Michigan where the Irish performers, and others such as Bogle, and Stewart, love to come perform. It is called Quinn & Tuite's. Yesterday we had our annual Irish Family gathering where the families and kids all come to this marvelous place and make memories like I had when I was a kid. The wee lasses and lads step dance, the bands play, the Moms and Dads solve the problems of the world, and go home feeling like they are part of something, a community. A college PBS station set up a camera in the snugs area and was doing an interview with myself and the publican, and the comment came up that this was so different from the other Irish pubs. I pointed out that this is what a pub should be. That the Irish community was about family, music, song, and story, and feeling like you are a part of something. I pointed out that the places he is referring to are really just theme bars, but these rare finds (like Quinn & Tuite's)are a throwback to the time that DannyC refers to. Often we hear the Irish American referred to in derisive terms, and called things like Plastic Paddys. I guess there is legitimacy to some of that. We find some way to express our identity and sometimes we find that in a tune with words written by an English fella who never stepped foot in Ireland, or a Jewish lad who wrote a kids poem with no idea it would resonate with folks, or a band from Ireland, and become iconic. Our celebrations, in general terms, have folks wearing silly pointed ears and full of stereotypical views of brawling, drunken Irish folks. I have often asked myself how this happened, when for me and the folks in my community, being of the Irish is a part of who we are, and understanding the history, culture, and language of our heritage is paramount. In our community, teaching our children the pride of being the grandchildren of that place, teaching them the values of love, loyalty, and friendship, teaching them to play the instruments, tell the stories, and sing the songs, is a big part of their growing up. I think, going back to the pondering of Danny's two short paragraphs, it lies in how and why we came to this great land of opportunity. Our people came here as indentured servants, or the cast offs of a great hunger, to start our lives at the very bottom of the rung. Our religion was not the dominate one, and we were viewed as little more than a commodity to be used up and cast off. Our lives were controlled by the predudice against us, and the economic forces that sought to use our labor without regard for our well being. But one day a year, the day the Holy Church set aside as the feast day of the Patron of our ancestral home, we could feel good about who we were. And we passed that on to our children. And they passed it on to theirs. And in the passing of the generations, as our people worked themselves out of that bottom place in this land, we lost much of the spiritual tie, and the cultural ties to Ireland. Ireland and being Irish became iconic, and pain of separation from her, and the memory of the conditions that sent us here became a distant memory. And the celebration became something different. But there are those communities out here of folks that clung to their connections with the past, who seek to use their heritage to remind them that the way forward is deeply influened by reflection on the past and understanding the journey and values of a people that got you this far. So for all that rambling, I apologize. But it comes down to this. I started this thread with a tongue in cheek post, but the miracle of the Mudcat took over and in the posts, especially DannyC's, I have once again had my thinking evolve. The great beauty of the song lies in what it has become, and what it has meant, to the children of Ireland around the world. Its symbolic value, in many cases, is far greater than its message. It has been an anthem for working folks here, struggling to hold on to who they are, and yet doing what they must to allow their families to prosper in a new land. So off to work I go to put together an interpretation of it, that has the reverance it deserves in its new place in my world. Good man, ya are, DannyC. When I see you, the jars are on me. But I still ain't singin' The Unicorn unless you show me a pistol.... All the best, Mick |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Peace Date: 09 Mar 08 - 05:42 PM Yer a friend, so singin' it is optional. Be careful whatcha ask for . . . |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Mick Date: 09 Mar 08 - 05:44 PM ******ROARING WITH LAUGHTER******* Mick |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: KT Date: 09 Mar 08 - 06:54 PM "So off to work I go to put together an interpretation of it, that has the reverance it deserves in its new place in my world." Bravo, friend Mick! Reverance, indeed, as that is what the song deserves, for all of the power and meaning it has had. It would be my privilege to hear you sing it, especially now. Look out St. Paddy's revelers! And if you're in Mick's locale, bring the kleenex, for it will most assuredly move you. And THAT is a good thing! KT |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: skarpi Date: 09 Mar 08 - 08:22 PM Danny who ? instaed we should start a song about Mick . Here it goes : Mick now there was a gentleman , with guitar in his hand he sang like his live gone , and kicked his drum with a stick so if some one would hold this up with me ........:>) ATB Skarpi Iceland |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Jim Lad Date: 10 Mar 08 - 02:42 AM Hello! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: DannyC Date: 10 Mar 08 - 03:13 PM Hey Mick, Thanks for the nice things you said here. Yeah, hopefully we'll have a chat and a pint when the ice thaws and Obama clears. Best, Danny |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Arkie Date: 10 Mar 08 - 09:23 PM After hearing Dayle Ann Bradley sing Danny Boy it has jumped way up on my list. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: PoppaGator Date: 11 Mar 08 - 03:01 PM Bravo, Mick. Nice post. I've sung-along on Danny Boy many a time, but I don't perform it ~ not out of any great distaste or weariness, I just never yet sat down to learn it. And I certainly won't start doing it now ~ unless and until I work up a way to do it REALLY WELL.! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: PeadarOfPortsmouth Date: 11 Mar 08 - 03:38 PM < You know, I forwarded the article about the banning to a few musician friends figuring they'd get a laugh at the notion. But here's the thing: If I could, I'd sing it -- it absolutely was part of my family's tradition and our community's identity when I was growing up. BTW - if anyone from across the pond ever questions the legitimacy of the "Irish-American" identity, can we just link to Mick's post? Peter |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Tattie Bogle Date: 11 Mar 08 - 09:12 PM DannyC: not MY dates: just quoted what it said on the Sibelius site: if dates are true that would mean he lived to be 100: fairly rare in the 16th/17th century?? |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Reiver 2 Date: 13 Mar 08 - 01:01 AM I really didn't have time to read every post on this thread, so I apologize if I'm repeating something that has already been posted. A locally popular young Celtic singer/musician named Shay Veno formed a group called the Clare Voyants that used to perform around Phoenix, AZ. They're no longer playing as a group but Shay Veno still performs as a solo act. He likes to compose as well as sing, and while with the Clare Voyants wrote this piece he called "Danny Boy (RIP)". It expresses the sentiments of those who have had it up to "here" with the traditional song and the whole counterfeit pseudo-Irish scene. It's not sung to the same tune as the real Danny Boy, but has a few good lines and a rollicking tune. It goes: DANNY BOY (R.I.P.) 1) I met him in a pub one night, In a crowd of well-to do's. He had a claddagh on each finger And a shamrock on each shoe. And when he said "top 'o the mornin' My heart was filled with dread... But he said his name was "Danny Boy" So I shot him in the head. Chorus: Raise up a cheer and lift your pints And hold them way up high; And sing a song of tragedy Beneath the Irish sky. From the glens the pipes are callin', But he never will reply, 'Cause I buried Danny Boy Beneath the Fields of Athenry. Too-ra-loo, too-ra-lay, I thought I might dump him in Galway Bay. Too-ra-loo, too-ra-lie, But I buried Danny Boy beneath the Fields of Athenry. 2) Well the Garda, they came upon me And they took away me gun And a hush fell o'er the crowd When they saw what I had done. Said the Garda, "God forgive me For I'm sure in hell to burn," Then he shot poor Danny Boy again, To make sure he won't return. Chorus: 3) Now some call me a hero And some call me a fiend, But the still sing his sad auld song While drinking beer dyed toxic green. But my sentence it was commuted. It seems I'm off scot-free. Well I think I'll have another pint And wait for Michael Flatley. Chorus: OK. The lyrics are only so-so, but it has a real catchy tune. And personally, I like the old standard songs (well, most of them) and see nothing really wrong with a certain degree of affectation of Irishness. I see most of it as an intended compliment on the part of many who aren't Irish, but wish they were. Reiver 2 |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Reiver 2 Date: 13 Mar 08 - 01:17 AM Oh, I almost forgot. I was in Scotland and Ireland last August, and attended a caberet in an Edinburgh hotel one evening. (Even got to try haggis for the first time and found it quite good.) The highlight of the evening was when the Scottish MC asked if anyone wanted to request a Scottish song. A lady in the back (an American tourist, probably) immediately called out, "Danny Boy." The MC almost choked and the reaction of the audience was a 50-50 mixture of raucous laughter and angry shouts from some who, I'm sure, would have liked to boil the poor lady in a sheep's stomach. Reiver 2 |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Ernest Date: 13 Mar 08 - 02:57 AM Funny song, reiver. Any place where we can find the tune? Bst Ernest |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Reiver 2 Date: 13 Mar 08 - 01:05 PM Ernest, "Danny Boy (RIP)" is on the CD album, "Pass It On" by the Clare Voyants. I don't think their website, www.clarevoyants.com, is active anymore. I think the album is still available on Amazon. Check out Amazon.com, then music, and then the album name and artist. It may be available through other websites that handle CDs. You could also email the Arizona Irish Music Society at aims@irishmusic.com and ask if they know where you could obtain that CD. Hope this helps. Riever 2 |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Ernest Date: 13 Mar 08 - 02:09 PM Thank you Riever, had a look and the website is offline... Maybe time brings another chance... Best Ernest |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Mick Date: 13 Mar 08 - 02:43 PM The Clare Voyants have a Myspace page with this song on it. It is fun, I may have to grab this song. It has a chorus that the crowd could respond to. Fun stuff. All the best, Mick |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: jeffp Date: 13 Mar 08 - 03:45 PM Guess it's a good time to post this again. It's in the Mudcat Songbook. It was written by myself and a Yorkshire friend, Peter Benson. Oh Boy, Danny by Jeff Porterfield and Peter Benson Oh, Danny boy, they claim that you are Irish But we both know you're English through and through And if you really want to know what I wish I truly wish that I had never heard of you 'Cause every March they make me sing about you And every drunkard thinks that he can too And when they miss that high note it's so painful That if you heard it I think it would kill you too Oh, Danny boy, when Irish eyes were smiling It was before they ever heard of you. In Galway Bay the tides are still retiring Because that song you caused has made them blue. So don't come back in summer or in springtime Don't show your face at state or county fair. Some drunken sot will sing your praises loudly; And we find that we must ban your Derry air. So Danny boy, we'll raise our glasses to you. And thank the Lord you've left for God knows where. Black Velvet Band is being sung in lieu of you, And we would rather go to Hell for her. But we remember how you raised our glasses, And made our voices ring the whole night long. So Danny boy, although we love you dearly Hit the road and take your misbegotten song. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Reiver 2 Date: 13 Mar 08 - 10:27 PM Thanks, Big Mick. The chorus is definitely the best part of the song in my opinion. Reiver 2 |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,pattyClink Date: 14 Mar 08 - 09:34 AM Thanks, Big Mick. I can imagine the roars of laughter from Pat Bonner and Eddie and Pat O'Donnell at the very idea of Danny Boy being banned by Irish-American musicians. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's unplugged Apprentice Date: 14 Mar 08 - 11:42 AM "Guess it's a good time to post this again. It's in the Mudcat Songbook. It was written by myself and a Yorkshire friend, Peter Benson. Oh Boy, Danny by Jeff Porterfield and Peter Benson" one can hope that this not representative of The Mudcat Songbook or the Digital Tradition Charlotte (the song remains the same) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Mick Date: 14 Mar 08 - 12:10 PM Charlotte, care to explain the context of that comment? Thanks, Mick |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Bernard Quenby Date: 14 Mar 08 - 12:49 PM D**n this thread - I only looked out of curiosity, now I can't get the tune out of my head!!! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: the lemonade lady Date: 18 Mar 08 - 05:48 AM When threads get soooo long, i'm afraid i can't be bothered to read every entry (am I alone?) anyway, you can sing the tune of Danny Boy to the words ... ahem...Oh Danny Boy, oh Danny, Danny, Boyoyoy, Oh Danny Boy, Oh Danny, Danny Boy, .... etc no other words are needed. I believe this comes from the singing of The Mrs Akroyd Band. Here's Les, for some light relief |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: The Mole Catcher's Apprentice (inactive) Date: 18 Mar 08 - 12:18 PM "When threads get soooo long, i'm afraid i can't be bothered to read every entry (am I alone?)" in a word....Yes "you can sing the tune of Danny Boy to the words ... ahem...Oh Danny Boy, oh Danny, Danny, Boyoyoy, Oh Danny Boy, Oh Danny, Danny Boy, .... etc no other words are needed. I believe this comes from the singing of The Mrs A(c)kroyd Band. well Les Barker and The Mrs. Ackroyd Band do have a sense of humour. Charlotte (viva a spaniel) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: the lemonade lady Date: 18 Mar 08 - 01:12 PM oh yes and I forgot, I'm Ms Sourpuss I forgot lol Sal |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Reiver 2 Date: 18 Mar 08 - 03:14 PM Thanks for posting the My Space Page for the Clare Voyants, Big Mick. I finally got a chance to play it and it is, indeed, the same song there, although a slightly different presentation than that on the CD, but same words and tune. Hope you were able to listen to it Ernest!! Joe Offer, maybe you can get a chance to add it to the DT sometime. Reiver 2 |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Reiver 2 Date: 18 Mar 08 - 03:29 PM I see where some posts on this thread correctly note that the tune for Danny Boy is called the Derry Air (or in some non-Irish publications, Londerry Air.) Riever 1 always referred to it as the "Derriere." It's not my favorite song, but I don't hate it. I never try to sing it publicly -- afraid of missing that high note! Reiver 2 |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh Date: 18 Mar 08 - 03:36 PM Glad I returned to this thread after reading the first entries a fortnight ago, not just because of Big Mick's wonderfully lyrical but thoughful "rambling", but also for that contribution from jeffp. God help us, I think I'll learn it (first verse and third, probably; hope that would be all right), though I'd be very, very careful where I chose to sing it. The comic possibilities of "miss that high note" are very, very tempting. With regard to Weatherley's words, well, they're very much of their time, and the main reason I decline to sing them is that line about a grave, of all places, being warmer and sweeter. No, no, never, never, never. John McCormack's "Oh, Mary Dear" is better, dealing with similar material, but is still pretty maudlin. The words posted on 8th March are the best, in my own view anyway, of maybe a dozen sets made for this air (and many people have been quite happy when these are sung when "Danny Boy" is requested, with a short introduction about finding them in a late C19th/early C20th music book and a hope that people might like to hear these less familiar words). Anyone know anything of W G Rothery, who made this version? He certainly also translated/made lyrical versions of many European Folk Songs. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Seamus Kennedy Date: 18 Mar 08 - 03:39 PM Best version. damn, I still can't make a blue clicky. Seamus |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Big Mick Date: 18 Mar 08 - 04:16 PM How in the name of heaven did I never see that Muppets clip???????? Shit, buddy, I am still laughing!!!! All the best, Mick |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Beer Date: 18 Mar 08 - 04:32 PM Seamus, That is definitely the best. A sure keeper and I already copied it to send to my friends. Thank you so much and A Belated Happy St. Patrick's. Beer (adrien) |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: GUEST,Shay V. Date: 18 Mar 08 - 04:40 PM Reiver2: Thanks for passing it on. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Tattie Bogle Date: 18 Mar 08 - 07:35 PM Link to a really nice version of "In Derry Vale" below. Seems that WG Rothery did a lot of arrangements of Handel, Brahms, Cesar Franck etc - "a London Schools inspector" so maybe no more Irish than Weatherley? (Google it!) http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yR9xlD_hfQI |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Beer Date: 18 Mar 08 - 07:48 PM Simply Beautiful. |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: MartinRyan Date: 18 Mar 08 - 08:14 PM The TUNE is called the Londonderry Air (because the first person to note it called it that) - we've (little or) no idea what anyone called it before then. The CITY is variously called Derry/Londonderry or Stroke City (or even Doire Cholmchoille, más mian leat). The SONG is called "Danny Boy" because that's the only set of (many) words that, for better or worse, has caught on. As for me, I prefer "Maidin i mBéara", written by a Protesant Gael - but probably only because I learned that set when very young. Regards p.s. And, of course, the only thing that should be banned in pubs before (or after) closing time is obnoxious singing - of ANY song! |
Subject: RE: Danny Boy banned in pub.... From: Tattie Bogle Date: 18 Mar 08 - 08:28 PM Secret is: start as low as you can go! |
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