Caitríona Balfe Thrilled With Sinead O’Connor Recording of ‘Outlander’ Theme: ‘I Am in Awe’
Outlander ‘s “The Skye Boat Song” is one of the most iconic songs of any TV show. With season 7 fast approaching, the show has secured legendary Irish singer Sinead O’Connor to put her own spin on the tune, and Outlander star Caitríona Balfe is more than impressed. Balfe recently expressed her excitement for O’Connor’s recording of the Outlander theme song, saying, “I am in awe.”
Sinead O’Connor is season 7’s theme song artist
The Outlander theme song is undoubtedly one of the catchiest tunes on TV today, and for the upcoming season 7, the show secured O’Connor to put her spin on it. “We are honored to have Sinead O’Connor performing ‘The Skye Boat Song,'” Outlander showrunner Matthew B. Roberts told Entertainment Weekly in a statement.
Singing her praise, Roberts said, “Her rendition is, for me, a reminder of all that’s beautiful about Outlander. 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.”
Series composer Bear McCreary did the arrangement for the Outlander theme song. McCreary is behind other iconic theme songs for shows like Black Sails, The Walking Dead, and Battlestar Galactica. While McCreary wrote the songs for these shows, he didn’t write the Outlander theme song as it was adapted from a traditional Scottish folk tune.
The song narrates the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie to the Scottish Isle of Skye after he and his supporters were defeated at the Battle of Culloden. The first two seasons of Outlander cover the events leading up to the Battle of Culloden, so the song was a great fit as the words perfectly explained Claire’s story and journey.
The only difference McCreary made in the song’s lyrics was changing ‘lad’ to ‘lass’ to fit into the story. McCreary’s wife, Raya Yarbrough, sang the theme song for the first four seasons. However, her voice was replaced with a choir in the fifth season.
Caitríona Balfe’s enthusiastic reaction to Sinead O’Connor’s rendition of ‘The Skye Boat Song’
Balfe, who plays Claire Fraser in Outlander, shared O’Connor’s rendition of the theme song on Twitter, with her fans praising the Irish singer. “There are few women as iconic as Sinead O’Connor. I grew up wanting to emulate her, wore docs, shaved my head + wished I had the courage to speak truth to power as she did,” Balfe wrote.
“Now I play another fierce, fearless woman on a show, and the two worlds collide. Thank you, Sinead,” she added. Balfe quoted the tweet further expressing her love for O’Connor, writing, “I can’t express enough what a privilege this is. I am in awe of this woman, and that she is sharing her talent with us gives me goosebumps + makes me so emotional.”
The star urged her fans to watch O’Connor’s documentary, which aired in September 2022. “If you haven’t seen the amazing doc about her Nothing Compares, check it out,” she wrote. The documentary, directed by Kathryn Ferguson, chronicles O’Connor’s rise to fame.
McCreary also tweeted about his excitement for this rendition of the song. “I have had a lifelong dream to collaborate with the legendary Sinead O’Connor, and that dream finally came true,” he wrote. “Thank you, Sinead, for bringing your voice and spirit to my music.”
‘Outlander’ season 7 premieres in 2023
The penultimate season of Outlander will pick up after the events of the sixth season. Season 7 picks up following Claire’s arrest by Richard Brown for witchcraft and the murder of Malva Christie. The Revolutionary War is on the horizon, and Jamie has a lot on his plate.
He races against time to prove his wife’s innocence and prevent her from hanging. The 16-episode season will debut in the summer of 2023 and will be based on author Diana Gabaldon‘s sixth and seventh books from the series, A Breath of Snow and Ashes and An Echo in The Bone.
