De tekst van Danny Boy werd in 1913 aan het papier toevertrouwd door Frederic Weatherly. De melodie is gebaseerd op de aloude folksong Londonderry Air. Het is de afscheidsboodschap van een vrouw aan haar man – of mogelijk van ouders aan hun zoon – die naar de VS emigreert of soldaat is geworden en het land verlaat om in het buitenland te vechten.
Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountainside,
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,
It’s I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow,
Oh, Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so!
But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,
If I am dead, as dead I well may 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, though soft you tread above me,
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 me!
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me!
Come to me!
