O 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, 'tis 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.
And I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow;
Oh Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so!
And if tyou come when all the flow'rs are dying,
And I am dead, as dead I well may be.
You come and find this place where I'll be lying,
Please kneel and say an Ave there for me.
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me;
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be,
If you not fail to tell me that you love me;
I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow.
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow;
Oh Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so.
- lyrics by Frederic Weatherly
Song Notes: Oh Danny Boy is the first recording I made for this collection. It was my first recording after a collapsed lung and, boy, did it hurt to sing it! I was in pain from 5 days following. I kind of like that you can't really tell. It took more than 6 takes to get through it without coughing, and was exhausting. But the most important aspect of this performance is the piano, not the vocals.
The journey through which the chord progressions travel says it all for me. I wrote out all of these notes, making sure every chord, every note spoke to something specific in the emotion and visual nature of the lyrics. I am espcially proud of the third stanza. There are 40 different chords played. The last two notes in the right hand quote "Somewhere" (from West Side Story, Bernstein/Sondheiim) as a final open statement.
This song is usually song in a proud and masculine Irish tenor sort of way. I wanted to sing it from the point of view of the lost ghost in the lyrics. I hope it haunts.
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