A love of boxing, tales from his uncle and experience in the ring has inspired Danny Phegan’s latest single, ‘The Fight Song’.
Danny’s uncle was professional champion fighter Johnny Gorkom, and he grew up listening to him and his mates tell tales from the ring, before Danny himself took to boxing in his teens.
“I always thought the one-liners they used were funny, so I’ve collated them in one single volume, ‘The Fight Song’,” he said.
“I was sparring with my mate Mark, two or three mornings a week, and we’d go for a coffee after we’ve finished belting each other. I said one morning, ‘you know the trouble with you and me? Deep down you think you’re better than me, but further deep down I reckon I’m better than you’, and that’s where it all goes wrong”.
The Fight Song tells of his sparring with Mark and also another mate, Wayne, from whom Danny suffered two broken ribs after taking part in a ‘shark tank’ (a round robin of several sparring participants). His mates offered plenty of inspiration and now star in the film clip, shot by award-winning video director Duncan Toombs of The Filmery.
“I was sparring Wayne and then I had to fight Mark the next round with two broken ribs – that was a tough day at the office,” he said.
The Walla Walla farmer, singer-songwriter and The Voice favourite from Team Keith this year, wrote the song for a laugh.
“It was a little ditty that fell out of my head pretty quickly, and it was something a bit light-hearted to introduce to my live show,” he said.
“I only recorded it because I played it at Country on Keppel in 2021 and Dicko (Ian Dickson) was in the crowd, and we all ended up having breakfast the next morning when Dicko said, ‘your song was the highlight of my weekend’, so I thought I should bloody record it.”
The born storyteller said he hoped it was a moment of distraction from people’s troubles.
“I want people to have a laugh and realise it could be worse: You could be ready for a sneeze with two broken ribs,” he laughed.