From England, Ireland & Colorado
Danny Boy is probably the most recognizable Irish tune. But where did it come from? And what do the lyrics mean?
The music is an old Irish tune. It was first written down in the 1800s, but it may be as old as the 1500s. It was an obscure and little know tune, and hundreds of different lyrics have been applied to the tune.
The melody was called Air from County Derry or Air of Londonderry, depending upon ones’ persuasion.
In the early 20th Century, England’s most prolific songwriter was Frederick Weatherly. Weatherly wrote hundreds of songs during his career. Weatherly wrote the lyrics to Danny Boy in 1910, and used an entirely different melody than we are familiar with today.
Songwriters in those days made their living selling sheet music. This was before iTunes, or CDs, or 8 track tapes, or even records. But consumers and musicians paid for sheet music so that they could play the songs. Weatherly’s Danny Boy, with the other melody, was a total flop. No one bought the sheet music, and Weatherly went on to other projects.
Weatherly’s sister-in-law was an Irish-American. She was born in Ireland and lived in Colorado. In Colorado, she heard Irish miners sing to the tune of Air of County Derry. While visiting England in 1912, she suggested to Weatherly that he use Air of County Derry with his Danny Boy lyrics. Weatherly tried it, and loved it.
The sheet music was re-released with the new melody and became very popular among Irish-Americans. It did not really catch on much at all in England or Ireland.
My mother loved the song so much that she named by brother Daniel because of it. It was used at John F. Kennedy’s funeral. Elvis thought the song was written by an angel and requested it for his funeral.
Many police and firefighters who died at the World Trade Center were Irish-Americans, and Danny Boy was played at so many funerals, that the song is now almost the 9/11 theme song.
So what do the lyrics mean?
People have argued about this for over a century. The debate is almost like American Pie. Many think it is a parent saying goodbye to a son going off to war, or perhaps to a son leaving for America. Or it may be a girl saying goodbye to a sweetheart going to war or leaving Ireland.
The phrase “Danny Boy” was also a slang expression in a few parts of Ireland, as in “You’re Danny Boy”, as in “You’re fucked” (or “You’re screwed”). But I didn’t find any evidence of use of this slang until after the song was written.
I’m not going to suggest an answer to this “What does it mean?” question, except to tell you that Weatherly gave us a hint. I’ll let you ponder it a while.
There is a footnote in the original sheet music.
The song title is indeed Danny Boy, and the lyrics use “Danny Boy” when the song is sung by a woman – suggesting, of course, that it is a woman saying goodbye to a man.
But the footnote says that if the song is sung by a man, he is to substitute “Elly Dear” for “Danny Boy”, converting the song into a man saying goodbye to a woman.
In all my years, I have never heard the song sung by a man, addressing the lyrics to Elly Dear instead of Danny Boy.