"Danny Boy" is a traditional song, with lyrics written by English lawyer Frederic Weatherly in 1910, and set to the traditional Irish melody of "Londonderry Air" in 1913.
1940 recording by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra on RCA Bluebird, B-10612-B
In 1910, in Bath, Somerset, the English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly initially wrote the words to "Danny Boy" to a tune other than "Londonderry Air". An alternative story is that his sister-in-law Margaret Enright Weatherly sent him a copy of "Londonderry Air" in 1913 and Weatherly modified the lyrics of "Danny Boy" to fit its rhyme and meter.[1][2] A different story has Jess singing the air to Weatherly in 1912 with different lyrics. Yet another story is that Frederic did not set the poem to any tune, but that, in 1913, Margaret, who, with her husband Edward Weatherly, was living at the Neosho mine near Ouray, Colorado in the US, set it to the "Londonderry Air" which she had heard as a child in California played by her father and other Irish railway workers.[3]
Weatherly gave the song to the vocalist Elsie Griffin, who made it one of the most popular songs of the new century. Ernestine Schumann-Heink produced the first recording of "Danny Boy" in 1915.
Jane Ross of Limavady is credited with collecting the melody of "Londonderry Air" in the mid-19th century from a musician she encountered.[4]
Oh, Danny boy, 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 you, it's you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,
It's I'll be there in sunshine or in shadow,—
Oh, Danny boy, Oh Danny boy, I love you so!
But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,
If 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 Avé 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!
Meaning
There are various conjectures about the meaning of "Danny Boy".[6] Some interpret the song to be a message from a parent to a son going off to war.
The 1918 version of the sheet music with Weatherly's printed signature included alternative lyrics ("Eily Dear"), with the instructions that "when sung by a man, the words in italic should be used; the song then becomes "Eily Dear", so that "Danny Boy" is only to be sung by a lady". Nonetheless, it is unclear whether this was Weatherly's intent[7] and it is common practice for exactly the same lyrics to be used when sung by both women and men.
Usage
Percy Grainger's Irish Tune from County Derry adapts the Danny Boy/Londonderry Air melody for wind ensemble in 1918.[8]
The song is popular for funerals; but the National Catholic Reporter wrote in 2001 that it "cannot be played during Mass."[9]
German poet and playwright Bertold Brecht wrote an alternative version of the lyrics in 1920 and called it Reminiscence of Marie A. Erinnerung an die Marie A.
Select recordings
"Danny Boy" has been recorded multiple times by a variety of performers. Several versions are listed below in chronological order.
1940 Judy GarlandLittle Nellie Kelly soundtrack. Garland also sang it live at her concerts in Ireland and Scotland and most famously at her New York Palace Theatre debut in 1951.
1950 Al Hibbler released a single that rose to No. 9 on the US R&B chart.[13]
1957 Harry Belafonte sang the song from the album "An Evening with Harry Belafonte", where he began the song with a spoken recitative, before singing the two verses. He repeated the second half of the first verse the second time around. The Recitative goes: "The Time, a time of strife. The Place, the place is Ireland. And as Irish legend had it, as the last rose of Summer fell, and all the young men of Ireland were to gather to strike a blow For Ireland's Freedom and Ireland's Liberty, There were songs for those who stayed at home, and songs for those who went away, and all of Ireland was sad".
1993 Shining Time Station used the song, performed by Rory Dodd, in the episode "Mr. Conductor's Evil Twin"
1993 Sinéad O'Connor sang the song acapella on the Christmas Eve broadcast of The Late Late Show. This rendition had an added verse which goes "But if I live, and should you die for Ireland. Let not your dying thoughts be just of me. But say a prayer to God for our dearest island. I know she'll hear and help to set her free."[21]
1997 Riot recorded an instrumental version in their "Inishmore Trilogy" closing the namesake Inishmore album
1998 Sinéad O'Connor sang the song over Davy Spillane's uilleann pipes on Spillane's album The Sea of Dreams. This rendition has the added verse from the 1993 Christmas acapella as well as another added verse which goes "And I will take your pike and place my dearest. And strike a blow, though weak the blow may be. Twill help the cause, to which your heart was nearest. Oh, Danny boy, oh, Danny boy, I love you so."[22] Actor-filmmaker Gabriel Byrne said this version is his favourite.[7]
2014 The song appears in a scene of episode 2.6 of British period drama Mr Selfridge performed by Alfie Boe. The song is also heard in Series 2 Episode 1 of period crime drama Peaky Blinders, this time performed by Johnny Cash.
2017 Emmet Cahill, an Irish tenor, released the song in his solo 2017 album Ireland[24] while part of the band Celtic Thunder.
^ abcdMcCourt, Malachy (30 Mar 2005). Danny Boy: The Legend of the Beloved Irish Ballad (Reprint ed.). New American Library. p. 128. ISBN0-451-20806-4.
