Percy Granger: Irish Tune from County Derry*
When I was about 12-ish, we went to Las Vegas for a family reunion and to visit my grandma Ruby**. She was ninety-something, and suffered from dementia. All of her children and many of her grandchildren were there. (It's even possible there were some great grandchildren. The oldest great-grandchild is just two years younger than I am....) We went hiking at Mount Charleston and wandered downtown Vegas as it was thirty-plus years ago--a very different place than today.
There are songs that work their way into our everyday life and even national consciousness. Danny Boy is one of them. Whether you love it, or find it annoyingly sentimental slop (and I know people on both sides of the argument) you know it, as so does pretty much everyone else. Personally, I associate it with loss, two world wars, and my parents and grandparents. For my grandmother, who was young when this particular version of Londonderry Air exploded into popularity, and who lived through both of those wars, this association would have been especially strong.
It's been a long time since that family reunion, and I don't have many solid memories about it, but one. One night we all went to my uncle's church building and used the gym to have a little family performance night for my grandma. There was a lot of singing and other types of talents displayed. At one point during the evening, all my uncles and my dad sang Danny Boy to her.
I was surprised to learn in my research that the Irish consider this their song. I mean, I knew that the original tune was Irish, but I didn't realize that it's a symbol of Irish national pride. The lyrics were actually written by an Englishman, Frederick Weatherly. He set the lyrics to another tune, but it flopped. His sister heard this melody and sent a notation to him. He realized that his lyrics would fit beautifully and the rest, as they say, is history.
That moment, with those boys singing, was the first time that I truly began to understand the power of music. My grandmother, who didn't even remember that she had children, suddenly perked up and began telling stories about that song and how much Reese (her husband) loved it. I remember being excited that she was responding to people. There were murmurs of words like "miracle" and "blessing." It was so beautiful. It didn't last long, but it was enough that a 12-year-old girl who generally lived in her own fantasy world, would remember it thirty-something years later.
My grandmother died at 96. My memories are more about what I knew about her. She once drank so much carrot juice that the doctor thought she had jaundice, and couldn't figure out why she never got better. She put nuts on her pizza, and loved to drive crazy fast with one of my cousins. She always wore polyester paisley skirts and outfits, and nude nylons. I never got to know her as a person. But she lives on in this song for me.
**Grandpa Reese died of cancer before I was born. Grandma Ruby lived with my aunt and uncle*** for years before she died.
***I'm pretty sure my aunt and uncle, and their kids qualified for sainthood on those years alone.
Remind me one day and I'll tell you about another song that reminds me of my grandma, for very different reasons!
