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Danny Boy Lyrics
Posted by LOTGK on March 17, 2007
Perhaps the most popular American Irish song is Danny Boy. Many people here in the states identify Danny Boy to Ireland and its people. It is sung and played at many Irish funerals and the tune can be heard throughout the day at almost every drinking establishment in the United States on St. Patrick’s Day. But did you know Danny Boy is really not an Irish tune? That is correct! It was written by Frederick Weatherly who was an English lawyer, in 1910. Weatherly later married the lyrics to an old melody, Air From County Derry, (Londonderry Air) which became the classic song everyone knows today.
But what is Danny Boy about? What do the lyrics mean? There is plenty of speculation that it is about an Irish father watching his son go off to war knowing that he will (The father) will be gone, (Dead) or of the IRA going to battle, or a sickly mother to her son saying goodbye as her son leaves for the states. But, the real meaning is a love song from a woman to man. Even so, the lyrics are written well enough to have several meanings throughout the ages and the Irish have taken this song as one of it’s own. It will be sung at my own funeral one day. Hopefully a long long time from now.
What about the revisions of the song the past 100 years. Well, the verses below are what my grandmother Veronica sang to us.
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
‘Tis you, ’tis 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
‘Tis I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so
And when ye come, and all the flowers 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 shall warmer, sweeter be
For you shall bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me
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LURKING, ERIN GOES BRALESS, ON THE GRASSY KNOLL
LOTGK said
Evil-Lep – Posted 3/12/2007
Danny Boy is really a love song about a man and a woman, I always thought it was a father telling his son that was going off to fight the English that when he returned, he would be dead.
LOTGK – Posted 3/14/2007
Yes, that is one interpretation of the lyrics, and there are several others. It seems that Danny Boy can mean whatever one wants it to.
CalYouLater – Posted 3/19/2007
Why do you have orange on this page. It’s supposed to be green for st patricks day.
LOTGK – Posted 3/19/2007
Cal, Ireland’s flag is three colors. Green, white, and orange. Notice on my St. Patrick’s page that these are the three colors used. Hope that answers your question.
betty adams – Posted 6/4/2007
My Fathers very favorite song ever and I sing. I have also sung the hymn Amazing Grace to this melody I never hear it or think of it without thinking of Him He was in WW11 and was a Navy CB and kelly green was his favorite color. I now have 2 nephews in Iraq and the terrible beat goes on thanks for the words had forgotten some.
LOTGK – Posted 6/4/2007
You are very welcome Betty.
kevin kelly – Posted 7/1/2007
yea my grandma had this song sung by my uncle at her funeral in the wake and i couldnt stop cryin and i know they say men dont cry but my grandma used to sing it to me all the time and now im going to teach it to my kids whe im older and then have it played at my funeral
Thomas Sunnyville – Posted 7/12/2007
My favorite song: I am 53 aged man and christian (catholic church). I love phlippines people.Is there anyone who teach me tagalog. God save us
Dan – Posted 7/29/2007
We will always hear about England wanting to take credit for the song Danny Boy. I remember my dear Irish Grandmother singing it to me hundreds of times. Let people say what they want but “Danny Boy” is Irish by origin.
Dandyflower – Posted 8/6/2007
I love this song. I sing along to this song when I listen to Celtic Women sing it and gosh it is just so beautiful.
Vikram Rao – Posted 8/13/2007
Its the significance of this song not its origins that make it important, Im from India and my mother used to hum this tune, I work with all Irish Folks in NYC, me being the only non white person there and treated as one of them, true testament to the Irish spirit.
ian wildingh – Posted 8/18/2007
i was one of the faverorit sung that my father-inlawb sang when he was alive and the sung is so sweet it remindes me of the the good times we had together
Soolaimon said
Dan, you are wrong. Danny Boy is not Irish by origin. Londonderry Air is. And true to form, written by a drunk Irish man and the fairies, as folk lore tells. The lyric that made the song Danny Boy was written by an English lawyer by the name of Fred Weatherly in 1908. He came from Somerset, England and never even set foot on Irish soil.
gentledove said
Hey, Hi I don’t normally spam [honestly] peoples sites but I just put a lovely versh of Danny Boy up, annnd it proves conclusively that it is a GREEK song.
http://gentledove2.wordpress.com/oh-derelict-so
johnny boy won ton said
many meaning for those words ~” `tis you must go” go where but whatever agreement they have carved on that place,
remains…
cutefahd said
u r wrong lotgk.
The original song was written by a blind Rory Dall O’Cahan. Blind Rory was a singer and composer who lived sometimes between 1560 and 1660 and who was well-known for his purths, or harp tunes, the best known of which is “Tabhair Dom do Lamh”, or “Give Me Your Hand”.
LOTGK said
Somehow, I cannot be swayed with your argument. Please supply more evidence and documentation on your claim.
steve said
i’m an Englishman an lovethis song. I dont care who wrote it be they Irish, English or Scottish. I am surprised it was written by an Englishman but many supposed Irish songs have been. lets face it even Guinness was brewed by an Englishman.
LOTGK said
Perhaps brewed by an Englishman, but certainly drank by the Irish,
bernie said
i would still like to know (positively) who is singing the father or the mother of Danny Boy…
LOTGK said
That question may not ever be answered definitively. There are so many sources claiming to be the original lyrics and meaning. My advice, take my answer as the one true answer.
Douglas Burgess said
It’s been sung by every great singer, and they all sang it well.
But until you’ve heard Johnny Mathis sing it, you haven’t heard is at all.
Dave said
Not sure why it would ever symbolise an Irishman going off to fight the English? Seems to be some American mythology here. The Irish at the time were fighting (as part of Britain) the Germans during The First Worl War
Chris W said
I’ve never associated this song with going off to war. If the woman may well be dead by the time the man returns, it suggests a number of years. No soldier ever thought he was going for 8 or 10 years.
I presumed it must refer to the potato famine in Ireland when those that could emigrated to America. So the mother was telling her son by the time things got better and he could return home, his mother would probably be dead.
LOTGK said
Chris, there are many thoughts on the meaning of this song. You touched on a few of them.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Jody L said
One of the greatest versions is Harry Connick’s in the movie Memphis Belle. My daughter is learning it on the clarinet and it brings tears to my eyes everytime I hear it. I always thought it was about somebody going off to war too and the woman he loved waiting for him to come back, even if it was through eternity.
LOTGK said
Harry Connick is a great singer. I haven’t heard that version but will rectify that in the near future.
Scarlett said
What does “nave” mean in the song? It’s supposed to mean the center of a church, but the definition doesn’t really fit into the song…
LOTGK said
Another term for a prayer, usually a short prayer, as in God bless you, may you rest in peace.
Pheonix said
Might it mean an ‘Ave Maria’? Or is it just any prayer?
LOTGK said
Very good thought process. I always want to say Ava Maria when I sing the song.
Scarlett said
Oops I meant “ave”…
LOTGK said
See below comment…
Anonymous said
i love this song so much:D
LOTGK said
It is a very nice song, with so many different tones and variations, each performer sings it differently.
Anonymous said
After listening to and singing this song countless I came to the conclusion that a mother was telling his son she was dying. I considered he was leaving for some reason for a time, but now think he will be around until she dies.
Peter McGuire said
posting again to get follow up
Anonymous said
The story I have heard of the origins of the words, and the one that makes the most sense to me, is that it is written to represent Mary O’Connell, living back in Ireland while her husband Daniel was sitting in the British Parliament in London.
She was ill and knew that his commitment to his political cause meant that she would most likely not survive to live happily with him again.
LOTGK said
That is a most excellent story. The story continues.
Anonymous said
Its a Japanese song. Written by Kitaro.
He lost great money playing the pacinko. Thus, I am dead, he profess. But come summer, he knelt down and found a whole bunch of bearings (steel balls) under one of the pacinko machines. He exclaimed: “Aye” there for me. ha ha
Thus, hemicrowaved the bearings with lemon and honey and mandated it to be buried with him when he’s gone. “My grave will be warmer and sweeter”
The day came while he was “bending” the bearings on the pacino to claim them, sleeps creeps in and that day was “Danny boy’s day.
Finally.
Isaac
LOTGK said
And yet another interpretation of the Danny Boy song.
Alan said
Perhaps not an informed opinion, but I have assumed “the pipes are calling” refers to bagpipes on the hills calling the men to war. Thus, this a song about a man going to fight somewhere. I am also one (a romantic) who assumed the singer was his sweetheart exerting subtle pressure on him to change his mind, and not go off to an uncertain future from which he may not return in time to share life with her.
What a song. I first heard in in the 1988 movie “Gotham” sung by Jimbo the tramp (This was a grade B movie with a grade A performance). Being totally ignorant of it (no Irish in me) I recorded it off the air and kept that recording for years, until the internet gave me a source of information about that amazing song. Jimob’s is still my favorite rendition.
LOTGK said
Great insight Alan. Thank you for commenting.