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 leaves are 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 here in sunshine and in shadow
Oh Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so
But when you've come if all the flow'rs are dying
And if I am dead, and dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" over for me
And I shall hear tho' soft you tread above me
And all my grave will warmer sweeter be
And you will call and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace 'til you come to me
Oh Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so
A son is leaving the hills, the coast, a village, and his loving widowed mother to make his own way in the world. She's old now, leaving behind a mother's loving message for him to read when he returns. This is a universal relationship between a mother and son; it certainly was in mine and a beautiful song that expresses the love of a mother or father and their children.