Did You Know Cats Love Danny Boy? (Patreon)

Greetings A few days ago, I told you the most-famous Irish song of the last 50 years was "Wild Rover". Well, the most-famous Irish song ever is "Danny Boy." Yet, when I started playing Irish music in 1999, I didn't know the song... at all!  

I was performing at a pub when a man requested it. My eyes blinked. "Sorry, I don't know that song," I said. 

My music partner was a bit more enthusiastic. He smiled his giant Irish smile and replied, "But we'll learn it for you tomorrow night!" 

I was aghast. 

After the show, I told him I had never even heard the melody. I spent the next morning fighting to learn the song. It took years before I was comfortable singing the song live. Only later did I learn its sordid history. 

"Danny Boy" is the bane of Irish musicians in America. One, because it's overplayed and over-requested. And two, because the lyrics are not even Irish. Yes, you read that right. The melody is Irish. It's called "Derry Aire", but the lyrics were written by an English lawyer named Frederick Weatherly. 

Nevertheless, it's still the most-popular Irish American song ever. And I confess, I love the song too. 

However, back in 2006 when I wrote my cat version of "Danny Boy", I was not so passionate about it. In fact,  I wanted to write a song that fulfilled two purposes. One, a song I could sing instead of the famous song that was requested (thus the reason I didn't change the song's name) and two, to help out new cat lovers, like I was. 

Full confession. I didn't grow up with cats. I got my first cat, Jasper, in 2000 while I was dating a huge cat lover. I grew up with dogs, but my passion for cats far supplanted anything I felt for dogs. Cats are much more like I am!

I didn't know, for instance, or at least it never registered to me, that cats were nocturnal. So when my ex and I split up, I got two cats, Tizi and Torre. They were hellions at night. It wasn't until I learned to play with them a LOT before bed that I finally learned the secret of how to survive cats when you have a day job. 

And now I sing my "Danny Boy" with a new passion that touches even non-cat loving hearts. Oh! And my cats love the recording too! 

Mreow!

Marc GunnPS. I hope you're enjoying the stories behind the Irish Drinking Songs for Cat Lovers. This is an important album series for me. I need all the support I can get to keep making music. That's why I directed you to my patreon page. Thank you again for all your support.