If you are searching information about this song, you may already know that you are reading about a folk song, written in 1913, by Frederic Weatherly.
The history goes way back, in 1910, when Frederic Weatherly, when in Bath, Somerset, started writing the lyrics to "Danny boy" to a tune which was different than "Londonderry Air".
Frederic’s Irish-born sister-in-law Jess sent him a copy of "Londonderry Air" in 1913, he decided to change the lyrics of "Danny Boy" and make them fit the rhyme and music of "Londonderry Air".
Elsie Griffin is the vocalist that helped Frederic make the song one of the most popular ones in the new century. So, in 1915 was produced the first recording of "Danny Boy", by Ernestine Schumann-Heink.
Looking into the meaning of the song, we can find many opinions. Some of them are looking into the message of the song as one from a parent to a son going off to war, or like leaving as part of the Irish diaspora.
What is interesting is that many say that the song sends a different message when sung by men than the times it is sung by women. The difference is that when the song is sung by men, it becomes "Eily Dear", meanwhile, when sung by women, it becomes "Danny Boy".
We can also understand that "Danny Boy" is an unofficial signature song and anthem, particularly by Irish Americans and Canadians, also anthem of Northern Ireland, popular for funerals, and it was also used as an instrumental theme song for the TV show "Make Room for Daddy".
The song is a piece of style, romantic, instrumentation, voice and piano. The Londonderry Air (Danny boy) free piano sheets are amazing to play on your beloved instrument.
We can find a lot of covers of the song, by numerous artists, for example Mario Lanza, Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Tom Jones, Peter Kay and many others.
You can enjoy your piano trying to play "Danny Boy", or why not, maybe "Eily Dear", with the help of our website.
Grab the Londonderry Air (Danny boy) free piano sheet music and let us know what you think of the song.
