What do the lyrics to “Danny Boy” (a/k/a Londonderry Air) mean? For reference, here are the lyrics:
I had always assumed that the song was being sung by a father (or possibly a mother) to a son who was going away to war. (I assumed the line which says “the pipes are calling” is a reference to the use of bagpipes in wartime, and that the son is being called away to war while the parent remains behind.)
Does anyone know if this interpretation is correct?
The link was interesting but it didn’t address the issue of what the words mean–it’s all about the tune, and where it came from.
Spoke, I think you may just have to chalk it up to being a serious “art song”, meant to be performed with great sentimentality in a parlour after dinner, to a rapt audience. “Art songs” don’t always have a plot where you can say, “Okay, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back”.
I would suppose that the reference to “pipes” means Irish bagpipes, which are a folk instrument viewed with great affection by the sort of people who sing this song to each other after dinner, in the parlour.
But there’s nothing in the song that specifically addresses itself to war either way, and that’s what makes it so universally popular. It’s a generic song, it can mean anything. The singer could be a mother saying goodbye to her son, a sweetheart saying goodbye to her fellow, it could be anything.
AFAIK, the song doesn’t specifically have anything to do with a war, although I suppose that it may have certain connotations for certain people who sing it to each other in a certain time and place. AFAIK, it’s not like some “secret code” song.
AFAIK, the Irish bagpipes were never used in wartime, not the way the Scottish pipes were. They have a different, softer sound, more suitable for dancing, not quite as martial (or as noisy).
Does this help?
P.S. One of my all-time favorite P.G. Wodehouse stories involves a take-off on “Danny Boy”, called “Jeeves and the Song of Songs”. Everybody within the sound of my voice should find it and read it.
From spoke-:
The “mother” alternative is pretty much how Charlotte Church introduced the song on a recent A&E special.
I always assumed the song was a father talking to his son about being the boy being called to war. Don’t know about Irish bagpipes being used as a call to arms, but the line “'Tis you must go and I, 'tis I must bide” I took to be the father’s way of saying, “I’ve already been to war, I’m too old to fight. You’re the one being conscripted now, so don’t go out and get yourself killed. There will always be a welcome home for you.” And “the summer’s gone and all the roses falling” could be a poetic references to the father’s advanced years, being in the autumn of his life.
This is all mere speculation on my part, of course.
I took six years of singing classes as El Camino College in Torrance, CA. In a Singer as Actor class, I had to do research for “Eily Dear,” the male singer’s counterpart for “Danny Boy.” In a volume furnished by a friend of mine, a retired reference librarian from Redondo Beach, I found that Eily (or Danny) was staying behind on the Ould Sod while the other was sailing for America–as was common in the middle of the 19th Century because of famines and other serious problems burdening Ireland. In other words, in “Eily Dear,” Danny is on the deck of the ship, singing to Eily, on the dock. In “Danny Boy” it’s the other way around.
Here’s one scholarly opinion;
http://www.standingstones.com/dannyboy.html
The site claims that the song ain’t even Irish.
Oh, well.
Still a beautiful ditty, is it not?
Peace,
mangeorge
dougie_monty–
That’s interesting. I’ve never heard of any “Eily Dear” counterpart. Do you have the lyrics, by any chance? Is it possible that the “Eily Dear” counterpart post-dates the original “Danny Boy”?
Well, if it WERE Irish it would be more likely to be about leaving home to emigrate than about going to war since the Irish never really “went to war” but hundreds of thousands did have to leave their homes and their country to escape what the English were doing to them.
Depends what you mean. Plenty of Irishmen served in the British Army until independence, including the First World War.
I’ve been looking for an actual reference to the highland pipes being used to muster troops – and while I haven’t found a direct cite, I did find this note about an early pice of bagpipe music:
Piobaireachd Dhomhnuill Dubh
This call to arms was composed around the time of the Battle of Inverlochy in 1431. This tune is also known as “Lochiel’s March”. The Chief of the Cameron’s was MacDhomhnuill Dubh or son of Black Donald.
…and also that, "Pipes have reportedly been heard at distances over six miles,and under favorable conditions at ten miles, which would make them useful for gathering people in the rough and craggy highlands.
PS: Wouldn’t the use of the word glen also suggest Scotland?
The use of “glen” might suggest Scotland, but the author of the song was English, although the tune is a traditional Irish one. In other words, trying to place some genuine “Irish” construction on the words is completely futile.
In general, it would be interesting to consider how many of the things which are considered traditionally “Irish” are in fact Engliush, how many of the things that are considered traditionally “English” are in fact Welsh, and so on. But that’s another thread.
(FWIW, the Highland Regiments used bagpipes in battle as recently as the First World War.)
on the issue of Irish pipes, there are at least two different types.
the classic Irish pipes are the Uillean (sp?), which are meant for indoor use at dances. They are much softer than the Scottish pipes. I think they were used for part of the soundtrack for Braveheart. They’re the pipes that the Chieftains use.
there are also Irish pipes for outdoor use. They look pretty much like the Scottish pipes, but only have 2 drones (the pipes that stick up from the bag), instead of 3 like the Scottish pipes.
The most recent use of the Scottish pipes in battle that I’ve read about was D-Day - some of the landing craft were delayed by engine trouble, and the piper from a Highland Regiment (can’t remember if it was Brit or Canadian) played his pipes on the landing craft to encourage the troops.
Thanks for all the replies, everyone.
Reading through the posts, I still think the song is about a young man going to war. If there is dissent on this, does anyone have an alternative interpretation of “the pipes, the pipes are calling?” What else could that line mean?
I also agree that the “'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide” line seems to be a father saying to his son that the son will have to fight because the father is too old.
I realize the lyrics were written by an Englishman. Fair enough. That still begs the question of what he intended the song to mean.
I always thought it was London Derriere.
I agree with spoke. It’s just a song after all, not a historical document. A poem needn’t be historically or even gramatically correct. Nor does it need to be written from life experience.
But it is kinda fun to talk about it.
Peace,
mangeorge
Mother or father? I’ve always thought it was Danny’s lover, possibly even his wife, saying goodbye as the lad went off to war…
I stand by my documentation. It was furnished by a (retired) reference librarian, from Redondo Beach, CA; someone I would consider an expert on music.
The lyrics I sang to “Eily Dear” (I used a musical arrangement composed about 1981 by Fred Weatherly):
I
Oh Eily Dear, the pipes, the pipes are calling;
From glen to glen, and down the moutainside;
The summer’s gone, and all the roses falling,
It’s I, It’s I must go and you must bide.
But I’ll be back when summer’s in the meadow,
Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow;
And you’ll be here, is sunlight or in shadow;
Oh Eily Dear, Oh Eily Dear I love you so.
II
Some day may be, when all the flow’rs are dying;
And I am dead, as dead I well may be;
Then you will see the place where I am lying,
Then you will say an Ave there for me.
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be;
Then you will bend and tell me that you love me,
And I will sleep in peace until you come to me.
Maybe it’s because I am Irish; it’s hard even to key in the lyrics here without starting to tear up. 
Excuse me–that should be 1918, not 1981. :o
I think the phrase " Danny Boy" is a metaphor of “life”.