When we were in India we went to some Irish festival for St. Patrick’s Day. I remember the soda bread, the corned beef, the beer and my husband belting out “Danny Boy” to the band that provided the accompaniment. Then there was the karaoke bar we went to in Hsinchu, Taiwan. A friend who was visiting us from the U.S. could hardly sit up straight she was laughing so hard. Let’s just say my husband has a way with “Danny Boy,” particularly in Taiwan where the video background doesn’t exactly go along with the lyrics. You could be singing “California Dreaming” to images of people on bicycles in Vietnam. No joke.
If my husband had the urge to belt out “Danny Boy” at Foley’s Pub and Restaurant in New York City, he’d be stopped in his tracks. The bar owner has banned it from being sung in the pub for the month of March.
The owner Shaun Clancy thinks “Danny Boy” fits a funeral more than a celebration, and that it has been over done. He may change his mind if he heard my husband’s version. All it requires is a few Guinness. He’s loud enough a microphone isn’t necessary. I wonder how Shawn Clancy feels about “Proud Mary?” It’s not an Irish tune, but my husband and I do this one as a duet. The last time we sang this one was at a wedding reception in Vietnam. Those were the days. [see article about the reaction to the ban]