O Danny boy, how oft I have to play thy song,
Because Joe Shmoe requests it ev’ry time,
And when it plays, the crowd will want to sing along,
With words so jumbled up they seldom rhyme.
'Twas all because Fred Weatherly got lazy!
The tune he wrote just had no wide appeal,
“I’ll use the Air of Londonderry,” says he,
And thus, a fine old air, “O Danny Boy” did steal!
And when, at last, the drunks have ceased their singing,
And silence falls upon the countryside,
Those words sometimes, within mine ears keep ringing,
I know that Danny boy has never died.
And ne’er he shall, as ages roll around me!
No grave for Danny boy shall ever be,
For he’ll live on forever, you just wait and see!
I blame it all on Frederic Edward Weatherly!
Great tune, but I hate the words they dropped on it. I usually tell people I don’t know Danny Boy but I’ll play the Londonderry Air for them instead…you should see the confused looks on their faces after I start playing!
I don’t play “Danny Boy” on ANYTHING! Not a whistle, not a guitar, not anything! However, I DO play “An Air from County Derry” on a Dixon Low G, in the key of C.
