Oh Danny Boy

"Where dad had been my North Star, mom had been my bedrock. I simply could not imagine life without her." ~ Moon Child: Growing Up NASA Music filled our home... all types of music. Mom's favorite song of all time was "Oh Danny Boy." In a rare moment when she would stop her household chores I'd curl up next to her on the divan, look up at her as she stroked my hair. The sound of Oh Danny Boy could stop her in her tracks. The smells of scrumptious cooking from the kitchen wafted in the air and textures of a loving comfortable home fill my memory. The feel and look of the simple nubbed, green, wool tapestry divan and our hearts were as one... filled with the beauty of the music. Her eyes told the story of a love and yearning for her homeland as she drifted to beautiful green landscapes and the weather worn shores of Ireland. I hold dear these treasured memories... simple times of just sitting with mom while watching her favorite tenor (other than Dad), Dennis Day, sing this song on our black and white console TV with the green, oval screen.

Dennis Day sang a beautiful rendition of Danny Boy on the Jack Benny radio show in 1946. The year my brother was born... a bit before my time but very similar to the TV shows he appeared on when I was a child in the 1950s. www.youtube.be/PWh0H0ExuPE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side The summer's gone, and all the flow'rs are dying 'Tis you, 'tis 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 'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow Oh, Danny boy, oh, Danny boy, I love you so. And if you come, and all the flowers are dying If I am dead, as dead I well may be I pray you'll 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 warm and sweeter be And then you'll kneel and whisper that you love me And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me. * "Oh Danny Boy" song is a ballad written by English songwriter Frederic Weatherly and usually set to the Irish tune of the “Londonderry Air”.

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