Outlander has one of those theme songs that you just can’t help but hum along with, but it's changing once again for season seven. It's become something of a tradition for the tune to change slightly with each chapter of the story, and the upcoming, super-sized seventh iteration is no exception. Earlier this year, Starz shared the new version of the song, performed by Sinead O’Connor (above).
"We are honored to have Sinead O’Connor performing 'The Skye Boat Song.’ Her rendition is, for me, a reminder of all that’s beautiful about Outlander," says Matthew B. Roberts, showrunner and executive producer of the show. "She is talented beyond measure. Hers is a voice of the ages—one which pierces heart and soul—and embodies the spirit of the show."
In past seasons, those instruments have helped to give the song a sense of place: bagpipes in Scotland, Afro-Caribbean percussion in, well, the Caribbean, and the banjo, mandolin, and fiddle, as the story moves into the Appalachian Mountains.
In season five, the title sequence featured not only a chorus of female voices (as opposed in previous seasons, when it was sung by one voice), but male singers as well, perhaps symbolizing the community Claire and Jamie are forming at Fraser's Ridge. It was also sung almost entirely a cappella this season, which again, is a shift from previous versions of the theme song, which have always heavily featured instruments.
The original theme song is a slightly adapted version of "The Skye Boat Song," a traditional Scottish folk tune that tells the story of Bonnie Prince Charlie (otherwise known as Prince Charles Edward Stuart), the romanticized instigator of the failed Jacobite rebellion, and his escape to the Isle of Skye after the Battle of Culloden.
Outlander of course, built to Culloden in the first two seasons, with the battle depicted in episode one of season 3. But show's team made just a few tweaks to Robert Louis Stevenson’s words to make the song apply to not only Charlie but also to Claire.
“The line is ‘Sing me a song of a lad who is gone, say could that lad be I,' and we changed it to ‘lass,’ because that just felt like it tied it into the story of Claire and her disappearance," Ron Moore has explained. "'Sing me a song of a lass who is gone,’ just felt like, well, that becomes our show."
That tweak combined with Raya Yarbrough's haunting vocals have audiences all but convinced that Claire is the one singing in the Outlander opener.
As the digital director for Town & Country, Caroline Hallemann covers culture, entertainment, and a range of other subjects
