Danny Boy
English words, Irish airLondonderry AirPublic domain
Danny Boy is not a lullaby: it is a slow Irish ballad about parting. We include it here as quiet sleep music, because its long, unhurried tune is loved around the world. You will find the first verse, what it says and the story of the tune.
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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!
(The pipes are calling from valley to valley and down the mountainside. Summer is over and the roses are falling. You must go and I must stay behind. But come back when summer returns to the meadow, or when the valley is quiet and white with snow. I will be here, in sunshine or in shadow.)
Good to know
What this song means
The song is a farewell. Someone who stays at home speaks to a person who has to leave, and promises to be waiting whatever the season. People have read it as a parent speaking to a son, or as the voice of emigration, of families who were separated by distance. The mood is tender and slow, which is why it works well as calm instrumental music.
We show only the first verse. The second verse imagines the singer's own grave, and we have left it out on this children's site. The English lines under the verse are our own paraphrase.
History
Where this song comes from
The words were written in 1910 by Frederic Weatherly, an English lawyer and songwriter living in Bath, who first wrote them for a different tune. When a copy of the Irish air known as the Londonderry Air reached him from his sister-in-law in America, he adapted the words to fit it, and the song was published in 1913.
The tune itself was collected by Jane Ross of Limavady, in County Londonderry, and printed without words in George Petrie's The Ancient Music of Ireland in 1855. Where it came from before that is still debated. The song became a favourite of the Irish diaspora and is often sung at funerals. It is worth saying plainly that the words were written by an Englishman, while the melody is Irish.
Sources & rights
- Tune: the Londonderry Air, a traditional Irish air collected by Jane Ross and printed in 1855. Public domain.
- Words: Frederic Weatherly (1848 to 1929), first published in 1913. Public domain.
- We do not use any modern arrangement, extra verse or altered words of this song.
- Meaning: our own paraphrase, written for understanding.
- Video: a selection from our own handplayed videos. This song does not have a dedicated recording by us yet.
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