Danny Boy

Charlotte Church

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 roses falling
It's you, it's 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
I'll be there in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so

But when ye come and all white flow'rs are crying
If I am dead, as dead I may well be
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an ave there for me

And I shall hear through soft you tread above 'em
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be
For you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to meet me


Lyrics submitted by wickedred88

Danny Boy Lyrics as written by Terry Rendall Traditional

Lyrics © ALFRED PUB CO INC, Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Danny Boy song meanings
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4 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment
    Pretty much regardless of who's singing it, this is one of my all-time favorite songs. It's about a mother who sends her son off to make a life for himself, knowing only too well that chances are she'll be long dead before he does well enough to come back to her. But her own death is unimportant to her. It's sooooo sad. It's the best song to sing when yr having one too many Guinnesses.
    bigfatqueeron July 28, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    This was one of my favorites when I heard her first CD. It's still one of my favorites now. I had to sing it for my grandmother once and she started bawling. But she bawls just about every time I sing....
    MrReallyBigBadManon April 06, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Everyone else thinks it's about lovers, but I've always thought it was about a mother and her son. Either way, this is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
    Jojocrateron January 13, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    My children and ex sang this to my dying father in hospice after he had received the Last Rites for the sixth time. He came back to us and lived another three years. It's a beautiful song, yet very sad. I used to think it was about death. Apparently my father did not agree:)
    SweetCheeks2on February 28, 2012   Link

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