Danny Boy is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Its tune was collected 1n 1855 and published as "Londonderry Air" or "Air from County Derry"(where it was discovered.) Many individuals set the Irish tune to words. The first successful words were by Katherine Hinkson. The title: "Would God I Were the Tender Apple Blossom." In 1913, the popular version,"Danny Boy" was created by an English lawyer, Fred Weatherly.

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                         Danny Boy"(One of a Kind!)

Rarely do melodies get matched with perfect lyrics.   Indeed, Danny Boy's melody, originally known as "Londonderry Air" or "Air from County Derry" (composer unknown) was first   collected and published around the year 1855.   The melody is reputed to have had as many as one hundred different sets of lyrics composed to fit it   (- before the Danny Boy words.)   Although many sets of religious lyrics (hymns) were created, the most popular title (with its accompanying lyrics) was "Would God I Were the Tender Apple Blossom," an Irish love song written by Katherine Hinkson.   In about the same period, the great Irish poet, Thomas Moore, created lyrics for the melody and named it   "My Gentle Harp."    The ultimate lyrical match for the Irish melody came from an English lawyer, Fred Weatherly in 1913 and it soon became a hit in both Europe and America.

It is instructive to consider what there was about the Danny Boy lyrics that created the intense emotional synergy between the words and the Irish melody.   Weatherly wrote two verses to the song, with the first setting up the second for a strongly emotional climax, which invariably activates large numbers of lachrymal glands.   (Okay"this is a "tear-jerker!")   In the first verse, a father contemplates his son's leaving (presumably for one of many wars,) and expresses his deep love to "Danny boy," as the lad goes away, assuring him that he'll be there when he returns, -whether it be in summer or winter.   In the second (final verse) the father's forebodings emerge ("- as dead I may well be"") He foresees Danny's finding his burial

place, where he will "kneel and say an Ave there for me." And as he lies in his grave" "warmer and sweeter it will be."   And then, the almost unbearable ending:

"For you will bend, and tell me that you love me, And I will sleep in peace until you come to me."

(A few words about music and lyrics - and a critical aspect of a musical performance.) In an instrumental performance of a song, a player should play the melody's notes exactly as though he or she were singing the words !    ( This obviously does not apply to jazz to the same extent, since improvisation is such an important element of that musical medium.)

Here are the two verses.   Please keep the above in mind, as you listen to this beautiful old song.

 

Danny Boy (Londonderry Air)   lyrics by Fred Weatherly

Verse 1

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!_

Verse 2

But when ye come, and all the flow'rs 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!_

Authors Bio:
I have spent a long and interesting life involved in music, as a performer (piano,) educator (at every level from elementary to graduate school,) solo pianist, bandleader, composer/songwriter; entertainer, storyteller and humorist.

In my final position as a teacher, I taught functional keyboard harmony at Onondaga Community College at Syracuse, N.Y. I earned a B.S. in music education at the Crane Department of music at SUNY Potsdam and a M.S. in music education at Ithaca College.

I also had the honor of serving as president of the New York School Music Association. After retiring from music education I have performed extensively, presenting musical programs which featured stories about the great standards, coupled with performance. These performances were facilitated by my having a repertoire of over 3,000 songs, coupled with extensive knowledge of their origins, which included many humorous stories.

In the last decade, I have worked with a songwriting partner, Maria DeAngelis, a vocalist who provided lyrics and performances of our tunes. We succeeded in having many of our songs used both in movies and network television as background music.

As a bandleader, I was involved in playing with my group for over 1,500 wedding receptions. Because of this extensive experience, I was motivated to write a book WEDDING RECEPTION SECRETS, which provided much valuable and "inside" information (from the viewpoint of a bandleader) for couples who were planning their wedding. Along the way, I composed music for a syndicated children's TV series.
I was the first of four children, born to my Mom and Dad in Saranac Lake, N.Y. Both of my parents, although untrained, had wonderful musical ears. I and my siblings inherited their musical sensitivities.

One can see from the foregoing that I had ample opportunities to enjoy music from several vantage points. I am 83 years old and happy to say that I continue to be very active. I attribute much of my good health to my interest in information in the area of healthy living and care. For the past fifteen years, I have undergone EDTA chelation therapy. I believe my longevity is related to that.

In addition to the foregoing, I must add my deep concern with today's course of events in the world. I've always been interested in politics and what factors are responsible for what is happening in the world.

I sense, with deep sadness, a degradation of manners, morals and public awareness. My gut feeling is that television has been misused, and become a device that Aldous Huxley would have given a prominent role in his BRAVE NEW WORLD.

I have many favorite quotations, but the one that is most profound, in my opinion, is one by Albert Einstein: "WITH THE SPLITTING OF THE ATOM, EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED EXCEPT OUR WAY OF THINKING." *

* In the summer of 1944, I was boatboy at a private consortium of six summer homes on Lower Saranac Lake (The Knollwood.) The occupant of Cottage 6 was Albert Einstein.
I saw him several times over the course of that summer. To me (in retrospect) that was an awesome experience!

Phil Klein