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Danny Boy | | Elizabeth.
Posts: 5470
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Posted:
16 May 2005 at 09:25 | I only caught half of the John Cavanagh "Songlines" programme on Sunday - it was devoted to the song "Danny Boy". This is a excellent series on Radio Scotland exploring the stories behind the songs. Danny Boy probably the best known Irish song in the world, was, according to the programme, first overheard being performed by a blind fiddler in Limavady in the nineteenth century although there's a school of thought which says it's much older and derived from an ancient harp tune. Yet, an Irish singer (whose name escapes me) said that for an old Celtic tune there's a lack of gracenotes in Danny Boy in comparison to say My Laggan Love. There was snippets of versions by Johhny Cash, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Eva Cassidy. Described variously as sacred, poignant, melancholy, and the hardest song in the world to sing. Even today, its performance seems always to be a showstopper.
My own favourite version - not featured on the programme :-)) was in the repertoire of Scots band Seannachie. Their singer Elspeth Cowie sung a version titled Anthem for Ireland and the backing arrangement for fiddle concertina, bouzoukie and guitar was beautiful.
You can still hear the programme on BBC Radio Scotland:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/view/show.shtml?features#songlines | domhnull
Posts: 517
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Posted:
16 May 2005 at 12:32 | This was an excellent programme, informed and informative. The tune has attracted many sets of words, most of them in the same soppy vein as 'Danny Boy'. John McCormack wrote words for it himself ('O Mary dear, a cruel fate has parted us.....etc, etc). And yet, because of an artistry that concealed art, McCormack's rendering of it never sounded mawkish. He and I often sing it when there's no-one in! It's a real challenge , with its octave and a half range, and has been murdered more often than any song in the Irish repertoire; we had an example or two on Sunday!
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