Music Blog

The Name Game

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Written for Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday theme
‘Namesake Day’, where he has asked us to
write about a song that mentions our name.
This is my name and these are my songs.

© Text Studio

My name is Nancy; it means “full of grace”. My mother named me after a nurse at St. Francis Hospital in The Bronx. This decision came about as a result of constant bickering between my grandmothers; they forced my mother’s hand. When my sister was born four years earlier, she was named Rosemarie in honor of our grandmothers. Typical for Italians, both grandmothers were named Rosa Maria. When I came along, it was decided by my grandmothers that I would be named after my grandfathers …. Vincenzo and Francesco; the female equivalent is Vincenza and Francesca (Vivian and Frances). The argument was about which of those two names would come first and which would be my middle name. The disagreements reached a fever pitch in my mother’s hospital room and the nurse kicked everyone out. Later that day, with everyone gone, my mother asked the nurse what her name was and she replied “Nancy“. My mother liked the name and it became mine. My grandmothers couldn’t believe it! Ever since then, I’ve been my own person.

This week in Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday post “Namesake Day”, he is asking his readers to write about a song that mentions their name. There are a lot of “Nancy songs”; here are a couple of the ones I really like.

The obvious choice is also my favorite and that will never change; it’s “Nancy (With the Laughing Face”) by Frank Sinatra. I wrote about that song back in August 2024 for another Song Lyric Sunday theme so I won’t write about it again today. However, you can read my post, “Who The Hell Was Bessie?”, and hear my song HERE.

My first song today is one I fell in love with as soon as I heard it. On March 3, 2017, Ed Sheeran released his studio album ➗  (Divide); for that album, Ed recorded one song for each of his grandparents. “Nancy Mulligan” is one of the most personal songs on the album, telling the story of how his grandparents, William Sheeran, a Protestant from Belfast, Northern Ireland and Anne “Nancy” Mulligan, a Catholic from the Republic of Ireland, met, fell in love during WWII and got married at the Wexford border. Sheeran said: “They got engaged and no one turned up at their wedding. He stole all the gold teeth in his dental surgery and melted them down into a wedding ring, and they wore borrowed clothes to get married, and just basically have this kind of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ romance, which is like the most romantic thing. So I thought I’d write a song about it and make it a jig [reel].”

This is “Nancy Mulligan” by Ed Sheeran


Songwriters: Amy Wadge/Benny Blanco/Ed Sheeran/Foy Vance/Johnny McDaid/Murray Cummings
Producers: Benny Blanco/Ed Sheeran

Another song I discovered while listening to The Highway on SiriusXM is called “Goodnight Nancy” by country singer, Chase Rice. For Rice and his band, touring means stopping at a lot of bars along the way. And every one of them has a lady who works the bar or who never misses a Friday night. She’s like the neon light above the bar, glowing as soon as you walk in, with a warm, welcoming smile. “Goodnight Nancy”, from Rice’s I Hate Cowboys album, was born at the legendary Flora-Bama Bar in Pensacola, Florida. Rice says “I love that bar and have a million memories stashed away in its corners. And a lot of memories of Nancy!”

This is “Goodnight Nancy” by Chase Rice

LYRICS

I’m headed on south where the salt water meets the sand
I ain’t going for the fish, I ain’t going for the July tan
Need a band with a song to spare and I sure hope she’s there
I’m headed on south where the salt water meets the sand

It’s a good night, Nancy, come dance with me
Goodnight, Nancy, my roadhouse queen
Would you good night, Nancy, for one more round?
Goodnight, Nancy, ’til I see you around

Good night
Good night

Where the hours float by like the smoke floatin’ out of my hand
And the walls tell all, from love to one night stands
Me and her ain’t one or the other
And she just pours another
And the hours float by like the smoke floatin’ out of my hand

It’s a good night, Nancy, come dance with me
Goodnight, Nancy, my roadhouse queen
Would you good night, Nancy, for one more round?
Goodnight, Nancy, ’til I see you around

Good night (na-na-na, na, na, na) (goodnight, Nancy)
Good night (na-na-na, na, na, na) (goodnight, Nancy)
Good night (na-na-na, na, na, na) (goodnight, Nancy)
Good night (na-na-na, na, na, na) (goodnight, Nancy)

It’s a good night, Nancy, come dance with me
Goodnight, Nancy, my roadhouse queen
Would you good night, Nancy, for one more round?
Goodnight, Nancy, ’til I see you around

Good night (na-na-na, na, na, na) (goodnight, Nancy)
Good night (na-na-na, na, na, na) (goodnight, Nancy)
Good night (na-na-na, na, na, na) (goodnight, Nancy)
Good night (goodnight, Nancy)

It’s a good night, Nancy, come dance with me (goodnight, Nancy)
Goodnight, Nancy, my roadhouse queen (goodnight, Nancy)
Would you good night, Nancy, for one more round? (Goodnight, Nancy)
Goodnight, Nancy, ’til I see you around (goodnight, Nancy)

Good night (na-na-na, na, na, na) (goodnight, Nancy)
Good night (na-na-na, na, na, na) (goodnight, Nancy)
Good night (na-na-na, na, na, na) (goodnight, Nancy)
Good night

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Barton Davies/Chase Rice/Jonathan Sherwood/Oscar Charles/William Reames
Goodnight Nancy lyrics © Concord Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

And then there’s this …. “Rocky Raccoon” by the Beatles. Did you really think I’d let this one slip by?


Songwriters: Paul Mccartney/John Lennon
Rocky Raccoon lyrics © Sony/atv Tunes Llc

That was a very fun find!

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week and every week. Be sure to follow the link and check out Jim’s site.

Namesake Day

That’s all she wrote. Thanks for stopping by and listening to some tunes.

See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2025

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy’s Notes 🖊️🎶, The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk, The Rhythm Section, et al., and are not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.

45 thoughts on “The Name Game”

  2. Nancy I love your story of the battling grandmas trying to decide on your name! Hilarious 🤣 The Ed Sheeran song is delightful. Such a great Irish pub song. I also enjoyed the country song by Chase Rice. It was great. I loved the inclusion of Rocky Racoon. Very funny. I am surprised it wasn’t your feature song! All these great songs, plus a Frank Sinatra one. Your name is so much cooler than mine 😃🤣❤️

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  3. I haven’t heard much of Ed Sheeran… I know of him more than know him. I forgot about Rocky Raccoon! See at least you are mentioned in a more cool Beatles song than me!

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  5. I like your song choices, and that you could find some Nancy songs! I really like the story of how you got your name, too!

    The Ed Sheeran song was fun to hear, first time hearing it. The Goodnight Nancy one was nice, too. I’d heard Rocky Raccoon before, but didn’t remember how it went. 🙂

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  6. Great picks, Nancy. Of course, my favorite is Rocky Raccoon. But I do like Ed Sheeran’s song, too.

    I just figured out you have been posting all along. For the longest time, by clicking the link to your blog in my email, I always landed on a page where the last post published was in 2024….🤪

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  7. Once again, we’ve learned a little more about you and your laughing face! An enjoyable set of songs. I couldn’t think of one with my name it, so I popped over to YouTube and found one called Keith by New Zealander Kaylee Bell!

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  9. Everyone knows you as Nancy, so Rocky Racoon was a perfect pick for you today. I loved how the nurse chased everyone away from the hospital room so you mom could get some rest and the way you got your name. There are a lot of great Nancy’s out there (Nancy Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, Nancy Kerrigan, and Nancy Pelosi to name a few) and you are one of them.

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    1. It was clear my family was not going to leave on their own so someone had to show them the door! I love how my mother did her own thing; in that regard, I’m like her.

      Thanks for such a sweet and gracious comment, Jim. I would expect nothing less from a guy as sweet as you! ☺️

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  10. I love the Irish influence in the Sheeran song. The second song made me feel sorry for that Nancy, because it is clear she served a purpose, and I feel like that was less than humanizing, and well, Rocky Racoon? that’s just a fun song all around. Excellent spectrum of music choices today, Nancy (could have been Vivian or Frances)

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    1. Now, Violet. You’re taking Goodnight Nancy a little too seriously! 🕶️ If I know Nancy …. and I do …. she’s quite happy spending time with Chase whenever he comes to town. And there ain’t a single thing wrong with that!

      I, too, love the Irish lilt of Nancy Mulligan and the story behind it is lovely.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Violet, and stopping by for a look & a listen. 🎶

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  11. My mother-in-law’s name was Nancy … and she was a great lady to me … Damn, I couldn’t find any “Ivor” songs, but here’s a great song by Ivor Davies & Icehouse, ‘Great Southern Land’

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    1. No Ivor songs? Shocking! 😮 Well, this Icehouse video was terrific and a fitting substitute.
      Nancy is definitely a generational name and I don’t meet too many other Nancys; however, here are on WordPress I’ve come across a few.
      Thanks, dear Ivor, for another wonderful musical comment! ♡🎶

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    1. You know, Dawg ….. sometimes you just gotta put your foot down and say “ENOUGH!” My grandmothers never approved of my name and insisted on calling me by the Italian version, but they never gave my mother a hard time.

      That Rocky Raccoon video was a lucky find. Clever, isn’t it?

      Thanks for your always kind and generous comments, Ernie. ☺️

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  13. I like the background to your name! Three very good songs. One of Ed Sheeran’s that I like, Chase sounds like Steve Earle, which is no bad thing, and I’d have been very disappointed with you if you hadn’t played the last one!

    Just a thought, but Amy Wadge was one of Ed Sheeran’s co-writers on that and a number of his songs. I can recommend her own albums, especially Woj – which is how her name is pronounced 😊

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    1. Steve Earle! That’s right! Chase Rice reminded me of someone and I just couldn’t think of it. I’m a fan of Steve Earle and featured his Back To the Wall on one of my posts. Thanks for reminding me.

      Phew! I’m relieved you weren’t disappointed! 🤣 Finding that Beatles video was a bonus; what fun!

      Thanks for your great comments, as always, Clive. I’m really looking forward to seeing your post today!

      PS – Thanks for that info on Amy Wadge.

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      1. The comparison struck me straight away – similar twang to his voice and Steve could have written that song. I’ve played him several times.

        The Beatles video was new to me as well, and very enjoyable.

        Did they show the BBC series Keeping Faith over there? It ran for three seasons here from around 2018ish. Amy wrote the evocative soundtrack so you may have heard her before.

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        1. Keeping Faith is not familiar to me. I just did a little searching and listened to Faith’s Song by Amy Wadge. Impressive; what a beautiful song and she has a great voice! She reminded me of Miranda Lambert on this powerful ballad. I immediately thought of Broadchurch while watching the Keeping Faith clip. Thanks for the info, Clive. 😊

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          1. I wasn’t sure if it had been shown there. It was a very good show and the music was beautiful, and a great fit for its themes.

            I have never watched Broadchurch so can’t make the comparison!

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