{title: Sonny's Dream}
{artist: Ron Hynes}
{album: 1976; one of the most-recorded Newfoundland songs of the 20th century; popularised internationally by Christy Moore}
{key: G}
{tempo: 80}
{difficulty: intermediate}
{phase: 3}
{strand: CR}
{feel: ballad}
{lead_voice: mid}
{lead_mode: solo}
{lead_demand: showpiece}
{harmony: M,H,B}
{a_cappella: no}
{kit: gtr,conc}
{set_role: breather}
{lang: en}
{country_tags: NL}
{copyright: copyrighted}
{tags: canadiana,chorus,copyrighted,forecastle,harmony,newfoundland,ron-hynes,shanty,slow}
{credit: Ron Hynes — 'Sonny's Dream' (1976). (c) Ron Hynes / Morgan Music. Chord skeleton only — for full lyrics see the published songbook or licensed lyric services.}

{c: Ron Hynes' beloved Newfoundland song — a son's longing to leave the cape, and a mother who wants him to stay. Gentle, melodic, deceptively simple. Demands real vocal blend on the chorus. One of the most-covered Canadian songs ever written.}
{c: Four chords (G, C, D, Em). Slow, around 80 BPM. Capo 3 on guitar for the recorded key.}
{c: CHORD SKELETON ONLY. Copyrighted lyrics.}

{c: ===== STRUCTURE =====}
{c: Verse / Verse / Chorus / Verse / Verse / Chorus / Bridge / Chorus / Chorus.}

{start_of_verse}
{c: VERSE: gentle, conversational pace.}
[G] / / / | [C] / / / | [G] / / / | [D] / / /
[G] / / / | [C] / / / | [G] / [D] / | [G] / / /
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
{c: CHORUS: "Sonny don't go away..." — harmony comes in here.}
[C] / / / | [G] / / / | [Em] / / / | [D] / / /
[C] / / / | [G] / [D] / | [G] / / /
{end_of_chorus}

{c: ===== HARMONY NOTES =====}
{c: The chorus wants two voices, not three — tighter intimacy. Lead carries the melody, harmony voice sits a third above for most of the chorus, then drops to a sixth on the long held notes.}
{c: Keep the strum minimal — this song lives or dies on the vocal blend.}

{c: ===== REFERENCE RECORDINGS =====}
{c: Ron Hynes — original recording (multiple albums). The definitive version.}
{c: Christy Moore — widely-distributed Irish recording that internationalised the song.}
{c: Great Big Sea — 'Sonny's Dream' (live recordings; their arrangement is the standard band version).}
{c: Emmylou Harris — covered it for the tribute album.}