Outlander’s eighth and final season may still be months away, but as an early holiday treat, Starz just released a look (and listen) at the show’s final title sequence.
Like tartan or gorgeous Highland vistas, music is an integral part of Outlander’s DNA — especially the opening sequence, which features a lush performance of the classic Scottish tune “The Skye Boat Song.”
If you’ve listened (and, let’s be real… sung along to) the theme song as a dutiful Outlander fan, you know that it’s gone through several iterations over the years: including the original intro sung by Raya Yarbrough, a choral version, and Sinéad O’Connor’s stunning cover for Season 7.
Now, for the final Outlander outing, the familiar song is performed by the acclaimed Scottish musician Annie Lennox. “I’ve loved and sung ‘The Skye Boat Song’ since I was a young girl growing up in Aberdeen,” Lennox said in a press release. “It represents such an iconic part of Scottish culture and history and it’s a real honor to have been asked to record it for Outlander’s final season.”
For composer Bear McCreary, there was no other choice for the show’s last hurrah. “I was delighted that Annie recognized the depth of the series’ narrative and channeled that into her heartfelt performance,” he said, calling Season 8’s score “the culmination of more than a decade of work.” He also said there are “musical surprises” in store for the show’s final chapter.
The Outlander Theme Song History
McCreary has written at length about his musical choices for Outlander on his blog, and more than a decade ago, he opened up about using “The Skye Boat Song” for the show’s title sequence.
“I’ve always adored this piece, and felt its well-known lyrical connection to the Jacobite Uprising would make it appropriate for this show,” he wrote in 2014. It’s naturally come to double as a swoony symbol of Jamie and Claire’s love story, and it doesn’t hurt that there’s real-life romance baked into the tune. McCreary and Yarbrough are married, and Yarbrough — in addition to providing her beautiful vocals — actually recommended using Robert Louis Stevenson’s poetic lyrics to the song (as opposed to the version penned by Harold Boulton).
In experimenting with the track, McCreary writes, “I could tell her uniquely timeless vocal quality would bring something special to Outlander, and Ron Moore and the other producers immediately agreed.” And thus, Outlander musical history was made.
