Danny Boy
Danny Boy is a song of farewell and remembrance written by the English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly and set to the Irish melody known as the Londonderry Air. Since its publication in 1913 it has become one of the best-loved songs of the Irish diaspora.
- Written by
- Frederic Weatherly (died 1929)
- In the video
- Celtic Woman
- Context
- Song by Frederic Weatherly set to the Irish tune "Londonderry Air" (1913)
- Year
- 1913
- Language
- English
Danny Boy lyrics
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 here 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 Ave 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!
The story behind Danny Boy
Frederic Weatherly (1848-1929) was an English barrister who wrote the words of thousands of popular songs. He wrote the Danny Boy verses in 1910 for a different tune, then reworked them in 1913 to fit the Londonderry Air after a relative sent him the melody from America.
The Londonderry Air had been collected in County Londonderry and published by George Petrie in 1855 without words. Weatherly's lyric gave it the form most listeners know today.
The contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink made the first recording in 1915. The song has since been sung at countless funerals and memorials, and recorded by artists across classical, folk and popular music.
What Danny Boy means
The first verse is a parting. The pipes are calling Danny away, summer is over and the roses are falling, and the singer must stay behind. The promise is simple: whether he returns in summer or in snow, the singer will be waiting.
The second verse looks further ahead, to a return that may come too late. If the singer has died, Danny is asked to find the grave and kneel to say an Ave, a prayer, and the singer will hear him and rest in peace until they meet again.
The song does not say who is leaving or why, which lets listeners read it as a parent's farewell, a lover's, or a nation's, and gives it its long life at funerals.
Quick facts
- Words by the English barrister and lyricist Frederic Weatherly (1848-1929).
- Weatherly first wrote the verses in 1910 and refitted them to the Londonderry Air in 1913.
- The first recording was made by Ernestine Schumann-Heink in 1915.
- The Londonderry Air was first published by George Petrie in 1855.