What is the meaning of the song “Danny Boy”? The nearest I can figure is that it’s sung to someone going off to war, by someone who’s staying behind. Am I right, or is there some other meaning?
DANNY BOY
*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 flowers are dying
'tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come you back when summer’s in the meadow
Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow
'tis I’ll be there in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You’ll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an “Ave” there for me.
And I shall hear, tho’ soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you’ll not fail to tell me that you love me
I simply sleep in peace until you come to me.*
Man, that song always makes me teary.
I always thought it was a father singing to his son who was going off to war. The singer is usually male because it’s a popular song for Irish tenors (or Lebanese ones) to sing.
I think Wile E has it… The pipes calling certainly suggests that Danny is going off to war, but the singer is worried more about dying himself or herself before Danny gets back, than about Danny’s own safety. That, and referring to Danny as “Danny boy”, suggests an elder, and there’s clearly a loving relationship in the song, which suggests a parent. Of course, it could well be a mother, too, rather than a father, especially given the narrator’s choice of prayers, and the flowery imagery. But it’s not so motherly that a man couldn’t sing the song, too.
That’s some great research, although, to nitpick, The Londonderry Air is the name of the tune itself, which goes back a lot further than the Danny Boy lyrics.
If you believe Julian May, it goes back to the Pleistocene.
I always thought it was the song of a mother whose son has gone to America (and who knows that she will never see her son again). I’m not sure where I picked this up, though.
Hey, that’s the first time I’ve seen the whole song. Everybody just always sings the first line. And by everybody, I mean that pretty much every Irish character on TV will eventually start singing it at some point.
:smack: This is the first time I’ve seen the lyrics, instead of hearing them. I had no idea the line was “'tis you must go and I must bide – I thought it was " 'tis you must go and I must fight” – a man is sending his young son away to safety before going to war. Got to change my whole vision of the song, now, but I still like it, even more now that I have a son of my own.
That’s always been my interpretation as well, given that about half the nation of Ireland packed up and left – not just for America, but for Australia, New Zealand, etc. I expect that very few of those people ever made it back, so that when they said their good-byes, it was well and truly good-bye.