Lyrics

Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling

    From glen to glen, and down the mountainside.

    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,

    For 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,

    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 Ave there for me.

    And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,

    And o'er my grave shall warmer, sweeter be,

    And if you bend and tell me that you love me,

    Then I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.

Other authors have added an additional, albeit a controversial verse:

    But should I live, and should you die for Ireland,

    Let not your dying thoughts be all of me;

    But say a prayer to God for our dear Sireland

    That He may hear and help to set her free.

    And I shall take your pike and sword, my dearest

    And strike a blow, though weak that blow may be,

    To help the Cause to which your heart was nearest

    And you will sleep in peace until I come to thee."

or

    But should it be in battle strife that I am slain

    Don't let your dying prayer be all for me

    But say a prayer to God for our dear country

    That He may hear and surely set her free

    And I shall hear and pray with you my dearie

    And I'll strike a blow, yet weak that blow may be

    To help our cause, our hearts' desire, my dearie,

    And we shall rest in peace when Ireland is free

History of the song Danny Boy

Frederick Weatherly

"Danny Boy" is a song, whose lyrics are set to the Irish tune Londonderry Air. The lyrics were originally written for a different tune in 1910 by Frederick Weatherly, an English lawyer who never actually visited Ireland, and modified to fit Londonderry Air in 1913. The first recording was made by Ernestine Schumann-Heink in 1915. Weatherly gave the song to Elsie Griffin, who made it one of the most popular in the new century. Weatherly later suggested in 1928 that the second verse would provide a fitting requiem for the actress Ellen Terry.

Ellen Terry

Ellen Terry was an English stage actress. Terry was the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain in her time .

The song is widely considered an Irish anthem, and the tune is used as the anthem of Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games, even though the song's writer was not Irish, and the song was and is more popular outside Ireland than within. It is nonetheless widely considered by Irish Canadians/Americans to be their unofficial signature tune. It is frequently included in the organ presentation at Irish-American funerals.

Though the song is supposed to be a message from a woman to a man (Weatherly provided the alternative "Eily dear" for male singers in his 1918 authorized lyrics, the song is actually sung by men as much as, or possibly more often than, by women. The song has been interpreted by some listeners as a message from a parent to a son going off to war or leaving as part of the Irish diaspora.

Danny Boy Sheet Music

 Danny Boy Karaoke

                                   Danny Boy flv                Danny Boy avi

                                       free wimpy flv player

Danny Boy Covers

Tony Bennett , released on the 1987 Columbia CD, Jazz,

Johnny Cash on American IV

Cher recorded it in 1969 on her Jackson Highway album

Bing Crosby recorded it for his Top O' the Morning album

Eric Clapton recorded an instrumental version of this song.

Glenn Miller did an instrumental version (Londonderry Air) in 1940

Roy Orbison on his 1972 Memphis album

Elvis Presley recorded the song in 1976

Thin Lizzy

Danny Boy mp3

mp3

Danny Boy in Movies

• Sung by the Irish-American character Maureen McBain in Sergio Leone's spaghetti western Once Upon a Time in the West, even though the movie was set before the song was written.
• In the 1989 movie Family Business, in the Sean Connery's character wake scene
• In Goodfellas, after being told by Henry Hill to not bug Jimmy Conway about his share of the Lufthansa Heist, Morrie Kessler sings the first two lines to Henry, replacing the name "Danny" with "Henry"
• Played in Miller's Crossing (1990) in the scene when Albert Finney's Irish mob boss defends himself against an attempted hit by a rival gang.
• Featured throughout the score of Memphis Belle (1990) and sung by the character Sgt. Clay Busby played by Harry Connick, Jr.
• Sung by the funeral congregation in the 1990 Andrew Bergman movie The Freshman.
• Sung in Into the West (1992) by one of the main characters Ossie, played by Ciarán Fitzgerald, to make money for chips.
• Rockabilly version performed by Brian Setzer of Stray Cats in The Great White Hype (1996) as the anthem of the Irish-American boxer portrayed by Peter Berg.
• Played by the The Grimethorpe Colliery Band in Brassed Off (1996) when Pete Postlethwaite's character Danny was in hospital.
• Referenced near the end of the film Good Will Hunting (1997), which takes place in Irish South Boston.
• The song is sung in the beginning of the Titanic Town (1998) starring Ciaran Hinds and Julie Walters. The story is set in West Belfast during the early 1970s.
• In the 2005 film, Cinderella Man, Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti) whistled the song before James Braddock's (Russell Crowe) fight with Max Baer (Craig Bierko).
• Featured in the New Zealand film River Queen (2005) sung in both Maori and English.

 St Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day in Chicago

Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá ’le Pádraig or Lá Fhéile Pádraig), colloquially St. Paddy's Day or Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa 385–461), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on 17 March.

The day is the national holiday of the Irish people. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland, and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Montserrat, and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In the rest of Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and New Zealand, it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday.

It became a feast day in the Roman Catholic Church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early part of the 17th century, and is a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland. The date of the feast is occasionally moved by church authorities when March 17 falls during Holy Week; this last happened in 1940 when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on April 3rd in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and will happen again in 2008, when it shall be held on 15 March.

 Privacy

Danny Boy: The Legend of the Beloved Irish Ballad

 by Malachy McCourt

 "Danny Boy" is one of the best-known and most beloved songs in the Western world. Whether sung at funeral masses or by Elvis Presley, it nearly always raises a lump in the throat and brings a tear to the eye. The song itself may be simple and direct, but McCourt (A Monk Swimming) has written a lively and detailed cultural history of the tune's origins, cultural meanings and political import that is as fascinating as it is frequently provocative

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