As it is in nearly every session around the globe, about once a month a punter staggers over to the edge of the group and hollers "sing Danny Boy!" After the usual groans from the rest of the group, a whistle player usually obliges and plays it one time through. (We're a pretty polite group) Last week a woman leaned over and asked me quite sarcastically if it was ever OK to sing Danny Boy anymore. After some reflection I remembered the time Danny Boy was perfect. It was 1985 and Barry McGuigan was about to defend his newly won featherweight boxing title for the first time in Belfast. In front of a hushed crowd, his father got up and sang Danny Boy - the whole crowd joined in - Loyalist, Nationalist - it didn't matter. It was a remarkable moment sewn together by a simple tune during some of the most difficult times in "Norn Iron."
Some fifteen years ago I was in a nominally “Irish” pub’ in Tooting, South London. It was 17 March and in honour of the Welsh evangelist and serpent scarer the pub’ was having a tasteful “Irish Karaoke Night”!
Many got up and murdered everything from U2 to Val Doonican let alone the p*ssed and excruciating versions of Athenry and Carrickfergus and so forth.
Then a tall thin black man got on the stage. He had a long leather coat on and ample locks stuffed in a big red, gold and green hat. There was a degree of consternation when he said that he was going to “do” the old “London Derrière”. He told us that back in Jamaica when he was a kid his family always “did” Paddy’s Day on account of his grandmother being “Irish”. Then he sang the song in a high beautiful haunting tenor. The whole place stopped and exploded into applause when he ended. It was a magic moment for that tune, and him and us!!!
There is a young singer guitarist who plays with the Josephine Marsh Band who I was fortunate enough to hear singing this song in a session after hours at the Gathering in Killarney about 3 years ago. It was stunning
yhaalhouse, No need for quotes on the word "Irish." Your black gentleman could easily have had an Irish grandmother, a lot of Irish went to the Carribean, and from what I hear, there are traces of Irish culture found here and there throughout the islands.
Yeah! Absolutely!! I agree.
But he wasn't "Irish" he was a Londoner.
"Irish" is if you are born in Ireland.
Having parents or ancestors (or even worse, one parent or ancestor) from Ireland doesn't make you "Irish" despite what a million-trillion "Irish" around the world (Hello Amerika!) claim!
If your parents are Irish and you were born in London you're not Irish, you're a Londoner.
I didn't say he was Irish, I said his grandmother might very well have been Irish. I know there are some who would argue with your definition of Irish, but you don't seem the type to shy away from controversy.
For myself, I play or sing Danny Boy any time it is requested, and give it my best. I like the song, and love the air, and don't mind doing them at all. The fact that some do the song poorly does not take away from its beauty when done right. And being past the middle of my years on earth, repetition doesn't bother me--it is a big part of my life.....
Yhaalhouse....Unless of course if you excel at something good like sports, or the arts etc, within the UK, then you are claimed by Ireland as one of their own. Then again if you do something wrong in the UK you are claimed by Britain as one of Ireland's own. Can't win one way or the other....
Free Reed - Your point reminds me of a story the Limerick born actor Richard Harris used to tell. Whenever the actor won an award, the press would have a headline along the lines of "British actor Harris wins Oscar" etc. Whenever he got in trouble off stage the newspapers screamed "Irish actor thrown out of pub."
yhaalhouse - your sentiments reflect the opinions of many native born Irish I have met. However, my father once remarked to his mother that he was American and not interested in "being Irish." His Waterford born mother then slapped all the taste out of his mouth. For children of the great diaspora, holding on to their roots is very important.
Do you mean there are people born in Ireland that aren't Irish then?!
And I'm still at a loss as to what Dow found insulting about his playing. Can anyone explain?
Yep, I'm sure there are people born in Ireland who do not consider themselves Irish.
Nationality, for me, is more than a birth cert, it's about ancestry, culture, upbringing, beliefs etc.
According to your system yhaalhouse, if you were born in clapham, your not a londoner your a south londoner etc. Actually, don't take notice of what I have typed.....I'm not going to bother with you.....you're doing my head in already
I wonder how is the family who has owned a Chinese resturaunt in Cork city for three generations is considered? Or the Croat immigrant to Dublin who now has three Irish born kids - shall we go on? Perhaps if they new all the words to Danny Boy...
Irina, thanks for that link -- will definitely remember it come next March 17!
Reminds me of a skit on "Saturday Night Live" in which Tonto, Tarzan and Frankenstein "sang" Christmas carols, about as coherently as that trio of Muppets.
As for "Danny Boy," the best version I ever heard was by Richard Thompson and his band. It began with Richard doing it very -- and I mean _very_ -- soulfully, with jazzy guitar riffs. Then the drummer burst into life, and he and the band did it up punk rock.
Busking in Melbourne's Preston Market in 1979, we got big notes whenever we did "Never on a Sunday" (from a Greek stallholder), "O Solo Mio" (an Italian) and "Danny Boy" (from a Polynesian).
Strange how you can get to like a song when you're on the dole.
We will only play it as a slow foxtrot - really hammed up ot the nth degree followed by
I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen and
When You And I Were Young, Maggie
it never fails to get them singing (in time) and dancing
Well, it is a beautiful air, and I intend to keep playing it, calling it the Derry Air. Amazing that some people forget they are not supposed to like it or it isn't cool enough if they don't recognize the name!
A number of weeks back I was playing at a nursing home and one of the residents left the performance early. As I was leaving I passed this resident's room and was asked by her son to please sing Danny Boy for her. I stowed my gear and as I stood at the end of this lovely woman's bed, sang as requested. Now I am not a great singer by any stretch and have always had difficulty singing this song but to my amazement I belted out a rendition that even gave me chills. I was completely lost in my singing almost as though something else was controlling it and when I opened my eyes this lovely woman was smiling with a small tear running down her cheek. Both she, with a nod of her head and that brilliant smile, and her son thanked me and I walked off, gathered my gear and left.
A few weeks later I returned to this facility for another performance. As I was setting up a staff member handed me a note. It was from this woman's son and read: “my mom passed only a few hours after your singing to her and in her final moments she managed to whisper to me that she loved me and to please thank “the lovely young man that sang Danny Boy, it was such a comfort to hear it one last time”.” I was so humbled and moved by this note that I had to take a few private moments to regain my composure. I knew indeed it wasn't my singing but the song itself.
I know it carries a bad rep and I don't normally oblige requests for it mainly because I've never felt I could sing it well enough, and truth be told I am still of the same mind, but rest assured the song has found new meaning in my heart. This said, don't worry I won't be singing it at a session near you any time soon.
Two reflections; firstly Irish culture is capable of being transmitted one generation
Secondly, if it is not, what were. Éamon de Valera, born in America (incidentally, his father was Spanish), James Connolly, born in Glasgow, first saw Ireland when he came here as part of the British Army, and Philip Larkin born in the then exculsively Irish speaking docks of Liverpool?
'An té a rugadh i stablá, ni chapall é'
'If you are born in a stable, it doesn't make you a horse'
In a magnificent irony, the Duke of Wellington used the translated phrase to maintain he was English, though born in Dublin
Ed, Very moving story. There are a lot of folks who love Danny Boy, have it tied to fond memories, or link it to the death of a loved one. That is why I never turn down a request for the song--it may be overly familiar to me, but I can certainly put up with it one more time in order to share it with someone who loves it so dearly. I would rather take the chance of wasting the song on a person who does not truly appreciate it, than I would risk the chance of denying it to someone who truly loves it and is moved by it.
Thank You Pol! - and Yhaalhouse, if you ever come to South Boston, The Bronx, Brooklyn, or Chicago - I strongly suggest you not tell any of those folks they "aren't Irish" - it might make for a short visit.
I think Connolly was from Edinburgh, not to be a smart ar#e, but I think you would want to know that Pól.
James Larkin, "Ireland's Greatest Hero" (arguably) albeit from Liverpool. On a few occasions managed to unite the workers' in Belfast, and managed to get them to ignore the old sectarian call upon them to break strikes and solidarity.
Poor Connolly, another great "Irish hero", from Scotland, had to give up on us bugg#rs from the North, although he tried.
And Danny Boy is a beautiful air and song, I dobn't care how hacknied it is, it is still a beautiful tune.
And Ed, I am sure even Llig would forgive you performing, just once. A lovely story, but one I have seen many times with the same song, in various circumstances.
James Connolly was born on June 5, 1868, at 107, the Cowgate, Edinburgh. His parents, John and Mary Connolly, had emigrated to Edinburgh from County ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Connolly - 66k - Cached - Similar pages
Ok, that's just wikipeda or whatever it is called, but I always believed him to be from Edinburgh, and I used to teach history.
The one time Danny Boy was perfect
The one time Danny Boy was perfect
As it is in nearly every session around the globe, about once a month a punter staggers over to the edge of the group and hollers "sing Danny Boy!" After the usual groans from the rest of the group, a whistle player usually obliges and plays it one time through. (We're a pretty polite group) Last week a woman leaned over and asked me quite sarcastically if it was ever OK to sing Danny Boy anymore. After some reflection I remembered the time Danny Boy was perfect. It was 1985 and Barry McGuigan was about to defend his newly won featherweight boxing title for the first time in Belfast. In front of a hushed crowd, his father got up and sang Danny Boy - the whole crowd joined in - Loyalist, Nationalist - it didn't matter. It was a remarkable moment sewn together by a simple tune during some of the most difficult times in "Norn Iron."
"Other than that" - I told the lady - "no."
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
One of the best fiddle tunes ever written
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by P-K
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Some fifteen years ago I was in a nominally “Irish” pub’ in Tooting, South London. It was 17 March and in honour of the Welsh evangelist and serpent scarer the pub’ was having a tasteful “Irish Karaoke Night”!
Many got up and murdered everything from U2 to Val Doonican let alone the p*ssed and excruciating versions of Athenry and Carrickfergus and so forth.
Then a tall thin black man got on the stage. He had a long leather coat on and ample locks stuffed in a big red, gold and green hat. There was a degree of consternation when he said that he was going to “do” the old “London Derrière”. He told us that back in Jamaica when he was a kid his family always “did” Paddy’s Day on account of his grandmother being “Irish”. Then he sang the song in a high beautiful haunting tenor. The whole place stopped and exploded into applause when he ended. It was a magic moment for that tune, and him and us!!!
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by yhaalhouse
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
There is a young singer guitarist who plays with the Josephine Marsh Band who I was fortunate enough to hear singing this song in a session after hours at the Gathering in Killarney about 3 years ago. It was stunning
Can't remember his name
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by telboy
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Probably Tommy Carew, telboy. Great singer.
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by GaryAMartin
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
yhaalhouse, No need for quotes on the word "Irish." Your black gentleman could easily have had an Irish grandmother, a lot of Irish went to the Carribean, and from what I hear, there are traces of Irish culture found here and there throughout the islands.
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by AlBrown
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Yeah! Absolutely!! I agree.
But he wasn't "Irish" he was a Londoner.
"Irish" is if you are born in Ireland.
Having parents or ancestors (or even worse, one parent or ancestor) from Ireland doesn't make you "Irish" despite what a million-trillion "Irish" around the world (Hello Amerika!) claim!
If your parents are Irish and you were born in London you're not Irish, you're a Londoner.
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by yhaalhouse
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
I didn't say he was Irish, I said his grandmother might very well have been Irish. I know there are some who would argue with your definition of Irish, but you don't seem the type to shy away from controversy.
For myself, I play or sing Danny Boy any time it is requested, and give it my best. I like the song, and love the air, and don't mind doing them at all. The fact that some do the song poorly does not take away from its beauty when done right. And being past the middle of my years on earth, repetition doesn't bother me--it is a big part of my life.....
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by AlBrown
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Yhaalhouse....Unless of course if you excel at something good like sports, or the arts etc, within the UK, then you are claimed by Ireland as one of their own. Then again if you do something wrong in the UK you are claimed by Britain as one of Ireland's own. Can't win one way or the other....
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by Free Reed
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Free Reed - Your point reminds me of a story the Limerick born actor Richard Harris used to tell. Whenever the actor won an award, the press would have a headline along the lines of "British actor Harris wins Oscar" etc. Whenever he got in trouble off stage the newspapers screamed "Irish actor thrown out of pub."
yhaalhouse - your sentiments reflect the opinions of many native born Irish I have met. However, my father once remarked to his mother that he was American and not interested in "being Irish." His Waterford born mother then slapped all the taste out of his mouth. For children of the great diaspora, holding on to their roots is very important.
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
My favourite:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OCbuRA_D3KU
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by Irina
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
FAO yaalhouse.......being born in a stable doesn't make you a horse!
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by ireland78
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Do you mean there are people born in Ireland that aren't Irish then?!
And I'm still at a loss as to what Dow found insulting about his playing. Can anyone explain?
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by yhaalhouse
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Yep, I'm sure there are people born in Ireland who do not consider themselves Irish.
Nationality, for me, is more than a birth cert, it's about ancestry, culture, upbringing, beliefs etc.
According to your system yhaalhouse, if you were born in clapham, your not a londoner your a south londoner etc. Actually, don't take notice of what I have typed.....I'm not going to bother with you.....you're doing my head in already
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by ireland78
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
I wonder how is the family who has owned a Chinese resturaunt in Cork city for three generations is considered? Or the Croat immigrant to Dublin who now has three Irish born kids - shall we go on? Perhaps if they new all the words to Danny Boy...
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Irina, thanks for that link -- will definitely remember it come next March 17!
Reminds me of a skit on "Saturday Night Live" in which Tonto, Tarzan and Frankenstein "sang" Christmas carols, about as coherently as that trio of Muppets.
As for "Danny Boy," the best version I ever heard was by Richard Thompson and his band. It began with Richard doing it very -- and I mean _very_ -- soulfully, with jazzy guitar riffs. Then the drummer burst into life, and he and the band did it up punk rock.
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by sts
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Great song, especially in "Brassed off", Richard Thompson, Eva Cassidy, loads and loads more.
And being originally from West Belfast I am proud to be British.
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by bodhran bliss
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
sts.... paddys day next year isnt on the 17th!! due to easter shenanigans,.. http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0718/breaking85.htm
And what is the Nationality of somebody born on a ferry exactly halfway across the irish sea, with one english parent and an irish one?
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by flanum
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
This is almost perfect (if you can cope with guitar, that is)
http://www.guitarvideos.com/assets/mcmanus/danny.ram
Bye now
Keith
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by ocarolan
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
And what is the Nationality of somebody born on a ferry exactly halfway across the irish sea, with one english parent and an irish one?
The last nation the ferry put to port in.
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by peterlenz
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Welsh.
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by nicholas
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Busking in Melbourne's Preston Market in 1979, we got big notes whenever we did "Never on a Sunday" (from a Greek stallholder), "O Solo Mio" (an Italian) and "Danny Boy" (from a Polynesian).
Strange how you can get to like a song when you're on the dole.
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by Bren
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
The Muppets' version is the best, that's correct Irina.
Nothing like the Swedish Chef singing words an English Lawyer wrote to an Irish Air that was popularized through American vaudeville.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Boy
So yhaalhouse, that makes it a...er...um...well, it...uh...
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
On muted tuba. Prison band. Bikini-clad female visitor accompanying on ginormous lambeg drum.
# Posted on July 31st 2007 by NEW Pure Drop® Ear Canal Oil
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
We will only play it as a slow foxtrot - really hammed up ot the nth degree followed by
I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen and
When You And I Were Young, Maggie
it never fails to get them singing (in time) and dancing
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by geoffwright
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Well, it is a beautiful air, and I intend to keep playing it, calling it the Derry Air. Amazing that some people forget they are not supposed to like it or it isn't cool enough if they don't recognize the name!
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by irisnevins
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Great story JNE.
A number of weeks back I was playing at a nursing home and one of the residents left the performance early. As I was leaving I passed this resident's room and was asked by her son to please sing Danny Boy for her. I stowed my gear and as I stood at the end of this lovely woman's bed, sang as requested. Now I am not a great singer by any stretch and have always had difficulty singing this song but to my amazement I belted out a rendition that even gave me chills. I was completely lost in my singing almost as though something else was controlling it and when I opened my eyes this lovely woman was smiling with a small tear running down her cheek. Both she, with a nod of her head and that brilliant smile, and her son thanked me and I walked off, gathered my gear and left.
A few weeks later I returned to this facility for another performance. As I was setting up a staff member handed me a note. It was from this woman's son and read: “my mom passed only a few hours after your singing to her and in her final moments she managed to whisper to me that she loved me and to please thank “the lovely young man that sang Danny Boy, it was such a comfort to hear it one last time”.” I was so humbled and moved by this note that I had to take a few private moments to regain my composure. I knew indeed it wasn't my singing but the song itself.
I know it carries a bad rep and I don't normally oblige requests for it mainly because I've never felt I could sing it well enough, and truth be told I am still of the same mind, but rest assured the song has found new meaning in my heart. This said, don't worry I won't be singing it at a session near you any time soon.
Peace,
Ed
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by ejsant
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Ejsant - I think you understand better than most the power of the tune when given as a gift to the right set of ears. Well done.
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Yhaalhouse,
'If you are born in London, you are a Londoner'.
Two reflections; firstly Irish culture is capable of being transmitted one generation
Secondly, if it is not, what were. Éamon de Valera, born in America (incidentally, his father was Spanish), James Connolly, born in Glasgow, first saw Ireland when he came here as part of the British Army, and Philip Larkin born in the then exculsively Irish speaking docks of Liverpool?
'An té a rugadh i stablá, ni chapall é'
'If you are born in a stable, it doesn't make you a horse'
In a magnificent irony, the Duke of Wellington used the translated phrase to maintain he was English, though born in Dublin
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by Pól
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Which Philip Larkin would that be? The Liverpool Larkin and not the Coventry one I guess?
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by pavlf
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Ed, Very moving story. There are a lot of folks who love Danny Boy, have it tied to fond memories, or link it to the death of a loved one. That is why I never turn down a request for the song--it may be overly familiar to me, but I can certainly put up with it one more time in order to share it with someone who loves it so dearly. I would rather take the chance of wasting the song on a person who does not truly appreciate it, than I would risk the chance of denying it to someone who truly loves it and is moved by it.
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by AlBrown
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Thank You Pol! - and Yhaalhouse, if you ever come to South Boston, The Bronx, Brooklyn, or Chicago - I strongly suggest you not tell any of those folks they "aren't Irish" - it might make for a short visit.
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Pavif
Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, I've speaking and reading a lot of English recently. Happens
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by Pól
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
'Happens'
Is that how English speakers say that?
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by Pól
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
I think Connolly was from Edinburgh, not to be a smart ar#e, but I think you would want to know that Pól.
James Larkin, "Ireland's Greatest Hero" (arguably) albeit from Liverpool. On a few occasions managed to unite the workers' in Belfast, and managed to get them to ignore the old sectarian call upon them to break strikes and solidarity.
Poor Connolly, another great "Irish hero", from Scotland, had to give up on us bugg#rs from the North, although he tried.
And Danny Boy is a beautiful air and song, I dobn't care how hacknied it is, it is still a beautiful tune.
And Ed, I am sure even Llig would forgive you performing, just once. A lovely story, but one I have seen many times with the same song, in various circumstances.
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by bodhran bliss
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
BB,
No.It was Glasgow. It was established by C.
Desmond Greaves for the definitive biography. But Jeremy will close us down if we continue in this vein!
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by Pól
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
Pol (sorry can't get the accent for the o ), I assumed it was an error - just couldn't resist the question!
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by pavlf
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
James Connolly was born on June 5, 1868, at 107, the Cowgate, Edinburgh. His parents, John and Mary Connolly, had emigrated to Edinburgh from County ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Connolly - 66k - Cached - Similar pages
Ok, that's just wikipeda or whatever it is called, but I always believed him to be from Edinburgh, and I used to teach history.
Well, maybe no-ones perfect.
# Posted on August 1st 2007 by bodhran bliss
Re: The one time Danny Boy was perfect
BB, you are right of course, I am happy to stand corrected by a gentleman and a scholar!
# Posted on August 2nd 2007 by Pól