Danny's Downs - Peter, Paul and Mary

On the day little Danny arrived

His father stared and his mother cried

They knew his name but they didn’t know why

He looked the way he did

This thing happens to other kids

How in the world are we gonna live

With a boy like that?

Doctor said,"Dan's the first bad news

Second is his heart won’t make it through

It must be fixed unless you choose

To send him back where he came

Starve the boy from his name

Just six short days of pain

Or maybe less"

Danny’s Downs but Love is up

It’s been known to be more than enough

For more and more of us

Danny’s downs but Love is up

«I'm not that strong,» his father said

«The dreams are gone, the hopes have fled

Won’t be long after he’s dead

We’ll try again to find

The child we had in mind

Where the hell are those papers to sign?»

And the man broke down

In a private room Danny’s mother wept

As an old Jamaican woman swept

And not by chance their eyes met

(And she said)

«God's gifts are only good y’know

And there ain’t no Love the Lord can’t grow

Aw honey, take that boy with ya when ya go

Back home

It’s been eight years since the surgery

His sister’s 5, his brother’s 3

He goes to school and he knows how to read

He takes the bus home by himself

Puts his lunch pail back upon the shelf

And he hugs his Momma till she melts

To the floor

They’re more than a home, they’re a family

'Cause blood and bones are still souls y’see

And someone’s baby’s just another Danny

And in the guest room in the back

Lives this old Jamaican black

'Cause when you give a gift

God gives it back again