Hi Toney and Ark,

Thanks for the positive comments.

I have decided it will be played at my funeral but as I plan on living to be 120 years old that is some time off, so you have another 58 years of putting up with me .

Roger

Hi DevilCat and welcome to Chordie,

I assume that you are playing D using your index, middle and ring fingers. Some of my students find it easier to use the index finger to barre the first three (G, B and e) strings on the second fret and then use the middle finger to play the second (B) string on the third fret. This way you are only having to postion two fingers.

At then end of the day though it is only through repetition that changes become easy and of course that means practice, practice and then even more practice. What you are doing with practice is training your muscles and tendons in your fingers to automatically lock into a certain configuration to form each chord, there is no easy shortcut to this I'm afraid.

Good luck,

Roger

Hi Phill,

Another great song from you and I guess you will be getting breakfast in bed for the next few weeks after this one. Nice to know that you found your soul mate in spite of your family's initial objection.

Roger

Your Songbook is a place to store the songs that you want easy access to, without searching through the index each time. When you find a song that you want to keep click the 'Songbook ADD' on the right of the page and it will be added to your Songbook. If you make sure that it is transposed to the key that suits your voice it will be saved in that key and not the original. Once in your Songbook you can edit it if it not correct.

Roger

I too very often transpose to G but this is because this key usually suits my voice. Occasionally though I find that a song does not sound right unless played with the original chords - I then sing the praises of the person who invented the capo .

Roger

Nice one Russ, well worth the wait for you to get it completed and uploaded. Well done.

Roger

Thanks Helena,

As I have not been eating much I went and got some multi vitamins with zinc today. Fingers crossed that they do the trick.

No problem Jerry. 'Friends of Chordie' is run exclusively for Chordie members to have their work displayed.

Roger

Hi Selso,

I have just been and looked at the Songwriting section and it seems fine to me so perhaps one of the Moderarors there have sorted it. Sometimes if the ChoPro switches are not exactly right the formatting can go haywire and I guess this is what you have seen. It is also possible that some maintainance work that is being done on Chordie could have caused a temporary glitch.

However post again if you are still having a problem.

Roger

Hi Russ,

Great to hear you have your recording gear back, you must have been suffering withdrawal symptons being without it so long.  I am looking forward to hearing some new recordings from you.

Roger

I agree with Ken on this one Lieven, so here is my offering:

I left the UK in two thousand and five,
I was fed up with the change in England,
So I sold my home and to start a new life,
Bought a caravan and new pastures beckoned.

I wanted a place where the weather is warm,
England is too often very cold and so wet,
It was a big decision to make but
Leaving my family was my only regret.

I came to the very south of Portugal,
To the Algarve that's on the Atlantic,
Sea, sun and sand to enjoy most of the year,
Where life is laid back and not hectic.

The locals are polite and so friendly,
A handshake and "Bom Dia" is the greeting,
A kiss on both cheeks from the fairer sex,
A warm welcome and smile at each meeting.

The food simple, plain but delicious,
Piri piri is the usual optional spice,
Frango, pork and fish are the usual fare,
Served with potatoes, vegetables and rice.

The local wines are inexpensive and fine,
Whether it be the white, the green or the red,
But Madronha and Aguadente take with care,
It is moonshine and will go to your head.

The best thing I have done is to move here,
And I do not want to turn back the clocks,
There are only two ways that I will go back,
Screaming and kicking, or packed in a box.

'Bom Dia' - Portuguese for Good Day
'Frango - very young and tender chicken

Roger

Hi Jamie,

I believe the line "say an 'ave' there for me" means "say a prayer there for me".

As this song was written in 1910 and the WW1 did not start until 1914 it could not have been written for a soldier going to fight in it.

But here is some more info I found about about this song for you:-

"Danny Boy" is a song whose lyrics are set to the Irish tune Londonderry Air. The lyrics were originally written for a different tune in 1910 by Frederick Weatherly, an English lawyer, and were modified to fit Londonderry Air in 1913 when Weatherly was sent a copy of the tune by his sister.

The first recording was made by Ernestine Schumann-Heink in 1915. Weatherly gave the song to Elsie Griffin, who made it one of the most popular in the new century. Weatherly later suggested in 1928 that the second verse would provide a fitting requiem for the actress Ellen Terry.

Though the song is supposed to be a message from a woman to a man (Weatherly provided the alternative "Eily dear" for male singers in his 1918 authorised lyrics),[1] the song is actually sung by men as much as, or possibly more often than, by women. The song has been interpreted by some listeners as a message from a parent to a son going off to war or leaving as part of the Irish diaspora.

Although many view the above interpretation of Danny Boy as the true meaning, some interpret it differently. The lyrics were supposedly written by a father to his leaving Danny with the knowledge the father-figure will die. The phrase, "the pipes, the pipes are calling" refers to the tradition funeral instrument.

The song is widely considered an Irish anthem, considered by many Irish Americans and Irish Canadians to be their unofficial signature song.

Roger