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[Guest]

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[Sengbe Pieh]

A 'Danny Boy' for My Father
by Carol Noonan
March 12, 2006

For years, singer Carol Noonan avoided the classic Irish folk song "Danny Boy." She rediscovered the powerful and sad spell it casts when she sang it at her father's funeral.

LIANE HANSEN, host:

From NPR News, this is WEEKEND EDITION. I'm Liane Hansen.

(Soundbite of song Danny Boy)

HANSEN: Plans for this week's St. Patrick's Day celebrations are in the final stages. You know, there are sacred and secular ways to mark the occasion, but music will be at the heart of both. One song firmly rooted in the tradition of the emerald isle is Danny Boy. It's hypnotic, but what exactly is the nature of the spell it casts?

Singer Carol Noonan says it's the melody, the sadness of it. The kind of sad that makes you weirdly feel good. Carol is Irish, but she gave up singing Danny Boy. In 1985, when her father died, Carol wanted an opera singer friend to perform it at the funeral, but she wasn't available. So Carol Noonan decided it was time for her to reclaim it.

Ms. CAROL NOONAN (Singer): I perched myself up in the balcony of St. Anthony's, and as they rolled the casket out of the church, I sang what would be my father's final goodbye. I turned my back to him as he went away. I couldn't bear to see the casket and the shaking shoulders of the crying relatives and friends who wouldn't miss him half as much as me.

As I sang, my throat tightened, and it took all my strength to keep from crying; but I was determined to make this Danny Boy the best one I'd ever sung. I tried to put my mind somewhere else, somewhere where my dad was healthy and happy; a time when, ironically, I really hated this song. Every year my Dad offered my Danny Boy services to the annual Irish Step-Dancing Recital at the Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall.

They made me close the program after all the cute Catholic girls did their River Dance. My dad would proudly stand against the back wall, careful not to lean on the yellowed Irish flag. With a whiskey and cigarette in his well-worn Irish cap, he could have easily been a stand-in for John Wayne in The Quiet Man.

I would finish with a dramatic high note and the room would fill with cheers from old men and chubby mothers. They would tell my dad on the way out what a talented daughter he had. And as usual he tried to get them to stay and have another round.

Adults love my voice. My vibrato is mature for a nine-year-old, but freakish to the ears of my friends. Monday would come and I would endure a week of Glenda the Good Witch jokes and vow I would never sing that stupid song again.

When I turned 12, I did finally refuse to fulfill this annual engagement and never noticed the disappointment in my dad's face when I made the bold announcement. I would not sing this Danny Boy again until that day in the balcony of St. Anthony's. It was on that day that I heard this song for the very first time. I ached for the beauty of the melody and the meaning that it gave to so many.

I wish I was back at the AOH to see my dad at the back of the room, smoke swirling around his head, dabbing the tears away with his gray cotton handkerchief. But for now I can only cling to the memories and hope he is watching and listening.

And I will rest in peace until you come to me. Happy St. Patty's.

HANSEN: Carol Noonan lives in Brownfield, Maine. Her recording of Danny Boy is on the Carol Noonan Sampler, that's N-O-O-N-A-N, and it's available through her website at http://www.carolnoonanmusic.com/.

Copyright © 2006 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=5258559&m=5258560


Danny Boy performed during a Stone Mountain LIVE appearance by Carol
Noonan and the Stone Mountain Boys featuring Duke Levine, Kevin Barry,
Frank Gallagher and Sonny Barbato at the Stone Mountain Arts Center in
Brownfield, Maine.
Visit CarolNoonanMusic.com or StoneMountainArtsCenter.com for more details.

[Jan & John]

Yesterday Henry cheered me up with his smile...

and this morning my Karma Tube Video of the week is...



must be Karma

-jan-

[Sengbe Pieh]

Some Oldies but Goodies -



The Snake - Al Wilson


Did anyone else notice that the coup in Kyrgyzstan is not the only one that took place yesterday?
In a peculiar way, I am even reminded of The Mouse That Roared

[Henry]

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[Jan & John]

Always a favourite of mine, so glad she's back...

Award-winning Christian music artist Jennifer Knapp has returned from a seven-year hiatus with a bang.

Aside from touring with provocative singer-songwriter Derek Webb and preparing for the release of a new album, Knapp is confirming what some had for years suspected – she’s gay.

In interviews with The Advocate, Reuters, and Christianity Today – all published Tuesday – Knapp spoke openly about her sexuality while making it clear that she is not a pro-gay activist or even a self-described lesbian despite being in an eight-year relationship with a woman.

“I'm just a normal human being who's dealing with normal everyday life scenarios,” Knapp told Christianity Today.

-jan-

[Jan & John]

remember ?

"The Rainbow Connection" was written for The Muppet Movie and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song in 1979. It is sung by Kermit as the movie's opening number and reprised by the whole cast of Muppets at the end of the movie."

-jan-

[Diane R]

Today I'd like to recommend that you read this news story about an incredible band of street musicians from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, called Staff Benda Bilili (which means "Look Beyond Appearances").  They all came from poverty and most are disabled survivors of polio; all play and sing Congolese rumba with other influences.  Some were turned away by other bands, having been told they were likely to be late to practices because they were in wheelchairs, and they can't dance.  They aren't stars in their home country, in fact many of them are still traders or electricians, the sort of entrepreneurs we support through Kiva loans.  What's unique is the ingenuity they use in creating their music, the unusual instruments some of them play (check out Roger Landu's satonge, a one-stringed lute made from a fish can), and the fact that they are now on a major tour of Europe, where they have a large following.  Their album, "Très Très Fort", was released earlier this year.

And now Staff Benda Bilili has had a successful appearance at the Cannes Film Festival to accompany the release of the documentary film about the group.  This CNN video summarizes their history and recent activity, through interviews with the film's director and band members.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/international/2010/05/26/curry.benda.bilili.band.cannes.cnn.html

--Diane.

[Patricia SF]

Gato Barbieri and Carlos Santana playing "Europa" live in 1977:



I'm a Gato Barbieri groupie!  I've seen him at least 8 times in New York and San Francisco. 

 

[Patricia SF]

Nick Drake's "Pink Moon."

[JohnR]

Dub master Jah Wobble put out an album of Chinese dub, utilizing vocals from Chinese minority singers.  This is a live version of one of the tracks.

                       

John