by philipchevron Wed Dec 15, 2010 2:08 am
ManniGee wrote:Hi !
One Question...maybe Phil can answer this. Which version of "Galway Bay" is meant in FONY ? The one by Frank A. Fahy or the one by Arthur Colahan which Bing Crosby made famous in the late 40ies ? I personally prefer the first one sung by Dolores Keane.
Take care !
WikiPedia tells me ours refers to the Colahan song and who am I to argue? It does seem more likely that the Boys from the NYPD Choir, if they existed [they don't] would be familiar with the Bing Crosby song. I must say it came as a surprise to me to learn that this song was written as recently as 1947: I knew it mainly from the singing of an elderly family friend, Bridgie Moran, who gave it unfailingly, lubricated by a couple of Baby Powers, at our Christmas Day family gatherings in the late 60s/early 70s in Dublin, along with "The Old Bog Road", and it never occurred to me then that the song might not be at least as old as dear old Bridgie herself! There's no reason to suppose that Shane & Jem did not mean the
other, possibly superior "Galway Bay", and I don't think they've ever specified which one they meant, but I think it would be counter-intuitive to assume it is not the sentimental one that begins "If you ever go across the sea to Ireland/Then maybe at the closing of your day............"
Good question mind.
[quote="ManniGee"]Hi !
One Question...maybe Phil can answer this. Which version of "Galway Bay" is meant in FONY ? The one by Frank A. Fahy or the one by Arthur Colahan which Bing Crosby made famous in the late 40ies ? I personally prefer the first one sung by Dolores Keane.
Take care ![/quote]
WikiPedia tells me ours refers to the Colahan song and who am I to argue? It does seem more likely that the Boys from the NYPD Choir, if they existed [they don't] would be familiar with the Bing Crosby song. I must say it came as a surprise to me to learn that this song was written as recently as 1947: I knew it mainly from the singing of an elderly family friend, Bridgie Moran, who gave it unfailingly, lubricated by a couple of Baby Powers, at our Christmas Day family gatherings in the late 60s/early 70s in Dublin, along with "The Old Bog Road", and it never occurred to me then that the song might not be at least as old as dear old Bridgie herself! There's no reason to suppose that Shane & Jem did not mean the [i]other[/i], possibly superior "Galway Bay", and I don't think they've ever specified which one they meant, but I think it would be counter-intuitive to assume it is not the sentimental one that begins "If you ever go across the sea to Ireland/Then maybe at the closing of your day............"
Good question mind.
