Peg o' My Heart

Album: Ziegfeld Follies (1913)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This popular Irish-American song was written by American songwriters Alfred Bryan and Fred Fisher and originally featured in the 1913 musical Ziegfeld Follies. Among the first recordings of the song were ones by American tenor ballad singers Charles W. Harrison, Walter Van Brunt and Canadian vocalist Henry Burr. Since then, the most notable version was by the American harmonica-based group, Jerry Murad's Harmonicats, whose 1947 recording sold over one million copies within three years, reaching #1 on the US Billboard chart.
  • Amongst versions that have cropped up on TV is a recording by Max Harris and his Novelty Trio, based on Jerry Murad's Harmonicats version, which was used as the theme of the 1986 BBC miniseries The Singing Detective. Also episode 4 season 1 of the ITV drama Downtown Abbey features the second footman William playing the song on the piano in the servants' hall.
  • Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys covered the song on their 2011 album, Going Out in Style. Their version features a guest appearance by Bruce Springsteen. Singer/bassist Ken Casey told Billboard magazine the Springsteen/Dropkick connection began when the Boss attended one of his band's shows in New York. From there, the band performed with Springsteen at one his shows, then felt that "Peg O' My Heart" was their chance to collaborate in the studio. "Mainly [the song] struck us sound-wise as something you could hear the E Street Band doing when they pull something out of their hat, so that was part of the inspiration," explained Casey. "I still can't believe he actually sang on our record -- it's pretty great. But that's just how he is; he's down to earth. For every minute you want to pinch yourself because he's on your record, the next part of you that knows him says, 'Well, why wouldn't he?' because he's just a regular guy."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul Station

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul StationSongwriter Interviews

Paul Stanley on his soul music project, the Kiss songs with the biggest soul influence, and the non-make-up era of the band.

80s Music Quiz 1

80s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

MTV, a popular TV theme song and Madonna all show up in this '80s music quiz.

Keith Reid of Procol Harum

Keith Reid of Procol HarumSongwriter Interviews

As Procol Harum's lyricist, Keith wrote the words to "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." We delve into that song and find out how you can form a band when you don't sing or play an instrument.

Bible Lyrics

Bible LyricsMusic Quiz

Rockers, rappers and pop stars have been known to quote the Bible in their songs. See if you match the artist to the biblical lyric.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.