Danny Boy Read Online Free Page B

like “It’s a Long Way to Tiperrary,” “There Is an Isle,” “There’s a Long Long Trail a Winding,” “Keep the Home Fires Burning,” “Roses of Picardy,” and “Lily Marlene.” But “Danny Boy” whipped the masses into a sentimental clutch, and as Fred was too elderly to go to war, he stayed home and collected his royalties on the sheet music and performances.
    Weatherly did not have much to say about the writing of or inspiration behind “Danny Boy,” or the song’s profound effect on the public. In 1926, when he wrote his autobiography, the song, although popular, had not yet reached the level of immortality that it ultimately achieved. But he did make very telling statements about his work at various points in his life. On one occasion in the twilight of his years, Weatherly was asked to give “The Immortal Memory,” a traditional speech at a dinner with The Burns Society, which usually included the most celebrated musicians and songwriters in Europe at the time. Weatherly had strong feelings about the impact of songs, and in his address to The Burns Society, he reveals the passion that must have stirred him when creating “Danny Boy.” In Piano and Gown , he recalls the speech:
    S ONG AND STORY ARE INDEED CLOSELY CONNECTED . A SONG, AS IT SEEMS TO ME, IS A SHORT POEM WHICH EITHER TELLS A SIMPLE STORY OR EXPRESSES A SIMPLE IDEA . A ND IT IS DIFFICULT TO FIND A SONG WHICH IS NOT AT THE SAME TIME A STORY . A SONG EITHER SUGGESTS MUSIC OR IS SUGGESTED BY MUSIC, AND IT IS PERFECTLY CERTAIN THAT IT IS UPON THE WINGS OF MUSIC THAT SONGS BEST REACH THEHEART . O NE OF THE FEATURES OF THE SONGS OF B URNS, SELDOM NOTICED BY HIS MOST ARDENT WORSHIPPERS, IS THAT THE MAJORITY OF THEM WERE WRITTEN TO FIT THE OLD NATIONAL MELODIES OF S COTLAND, PROVING THAT HE WAS NOT ONLY A POET BUT A MUSICIAN . I LOVED THE SONGS OF B URNS WHEN FIRST MY MOTHER SANG THEM; AND BECAUSE IT WAS SHE WHO SANG THEM, MY EARLIEST AND PERHAPS MY ONLY AMBITION WAS THAT SOMEDAY I, TOO, MIGHT WRITE SONGS . O XFORD, TO MY SURPRISE AND DISAPPOINTMENT, TOLD ME THAT THE SONGS OF B URNS WERE NOT CLASSIC, AND WERE NOT EVEN WORTHY TO BE CALLED LITERATURE; AND IT WAS RESERVED FOR THIS GREAT CITY OF COMMERCE (B RISTOL ) TO SHOW ME THE MEANING OF THE CULT OF B URNS . I T WAS A HAPPY HOUR THAT BROUGHT ME BACK TO SETTLE IN MY COUNTRY OF THE W EST, TO WALK ONCE MORE OVER THE GREEN HILLS OF S OMERSET, TO DREAM AGAIN OF A RTHUR AND OF A VALON, TO SEE AGAIN IN THE FANCY THE EARLIEST C HRISTIAN C HURCH PLANTED BY J OSEPH . W HY IS IT THAT SONGS APPEAL? I S THERE NOT A STORY IN EACH? A MELODY WHICH REMAINS DEEP DOWN IN OUR HEARTS? W E MAY LISTEN TO THE NOBLESTSERMONS . W E MAY STUDY THE DEEPEST PHILOSOPHY . W E MAY BE ELEVATED BY THE LOFTIEST SPEECHES . W E MAY READ THE BRIGHTEST PAGES OF HISTORY . A ND YET NONE APPEAL TO US WITH QUITE THE SAME APPEAL AS SONG AND STORY . I S IT NOT PERHAPS THAT ALL THE REST APPEAL TO THE INTELLECT AND NEED MENTAL POWERS WHICH ONLY THE FEW POSSESS? B UT SONG AND STORY APPEAL TO THE HEART . F ROM THE HEART THEY COME AND TO THE HEART THEY GO . T HEY EXPRESS THE JOYS AND SORROWS OF THE POET HIMSELF; AND JUST BECAUSE HE IS A POET THEY EXPRESS THE JOYS AND SORROWS OF THE WORLD . T HINK TO-NIGHT OF THE MILLIONS WHO ARE SINGING SONGS, NOT MERELY ON THIS FESTIVAL NIGHT OF THE GREATEST SONG WRITER OF THE WORLD . T O-NIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT, WHEN THE SONGS OF THE BIRDS ARE SILENT AND THE STEPS OF THE PASSERS ARE HUSHED IN THE STREET; IN ALL PLACES, HIGH AND LOWLY, IN CIRCUMSTANCES COMMONPLACE AND IN THE MOST TRAGIC MOMENTS, SONGS ARE BEING SUNG . T HOSE WHO WENT FROM THAT U PPER C HAMBER TO THE GREATEST TRAGEDY OF THE WORLD SANG A HYMN BEFORE THEY WENT ; P AUL AND S ILAS SANG HYMNS IN PRISON; WHEN THEGREAT SHIP SETTLES DOWN TO HER DOOM, WHEN THE LAST MOMENT IN THE BELEAGUERED FORT HAS COME, WHEN THE ENTOMBED MINER KNOWS THERE IS NO ESCAPE; IT IS NOT ARGUMENT, IT IS NOT