"Danny Boy" is a folk song with lyrics written by English lawyer Frederic Weatherly in 1910, and set to the traditional Irish melody of "Londonderry Air" in 1913.
Contents
History
In 1910, in Bath, Somerset, England, the English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly initially wrote the words of "Danny Boy" to a tune other than "Londonderry Air". One story is that his sister-in-law Margaret Enright Weatherly (known as "Jess") sent him a copy of "Londonderry Air" in 1913, and Weatherly modified the lyrics of "Danny Boy" to fit its rhyme and meter. 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, Jess, 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.
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.
Lyrics
The 1913 lyrics by Frederic E. Weatherly:
Meaning
There are various conjectures about the meaning of "Danny Boy". 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, 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" adapted the "Danny Boy/Londonderry Air" melody for wind ensemble in 1918.
The song is popular for funerals, but the National Catholic Reporter wrote in 2001 that it "cannot be played during Mass."
German poet and playwright Bertolt 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 many times by a variety of performers. Several versions are listed below in chronological order.
1917 Ernestine Schumann-Heink
1928 Colin O'More
1940 Judy Garland for the soundtrack of the MGM musical-comedy film Little Nellie Kelly. Garland also sang it live at her concerts in Ireland and Scotland and most famously at her 1951 debut at the Palace Theatre in New York City. The song also features on her 1955 album Miss Show Business (Capitol Records).
1940 Glenn Miller and His Orchestra released a single that climbed to No. 17 in "Pop Memories 1890–1954" (not Billboard's charts); Arranged by Glenn Miller and pianist Chummy MacGregor.
1941 Bing Crosby Merry Christmas. "Danny Boy" was paired with "I'll Be Home for Christmas" on its original single.
1941 Deanna Durbin in the film It Started with Eve
1950 Al Hibbler released a single that rose to No. 9 on the US R&B chart.
1957 Harry Belafonte sang the song live on 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. Belafonte modified the lyrics in significant ways. At the end of the first set of lyrics, he changed "I love you so" to "I'll miss you so" His changes to the second set of lyrics were more substantial: "But if you fall as all the flowers are dying; and you are dead as dead you well may be; I'll come and find the place where you are lying; and kneel and pray and Ave there for thee." He then repeats the second half of the first set of lyrics as noted above, starting with "But come ye back . . ." and this time finishes it with "I love you so." These changes made it more explicitly an anti-war message.