Outlander fans were divided this week when it was announced that the theme tune for the upcoming season would be sang by icon Sinéad O’Connor.
Every season 'The Skye Boat Song' changes slightly, last season the lyrics changed to 'sing me a song of a lad that is gone' instead of 'sing me a song of a lass that is gone'.
However, this season the lyrics are back to lass with Sinéad's powerful voice singing the beautiful words, which mean so much to many fans of the show.
Sharing the new version of the Skye Boat Song, the official Outlander page wrote: "Nothing compares to the #Outlander opening credits. Enjoy the official Season 7 rendition of The Skye Boat Song sung by the LEGENDARY Sinéad O’Connor!"
And Caitriona Balfe, who plays Claire Fraser in the show, said the version makes her completely emotional and thanked Sinéad.
She wrote: "There are few women as iconic as @SineadOConnor 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. Now I play another fierce, fearless woman on a show, and the two worlds collide. Thank you Sinéad."
She added: "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. And if you haven’t seen the amazing doc about her Nothing Compares check it out. Go raibh maith agat @SineadOConnor."
However, fans were completely divided on it with many flocking to the comments section.
Many said they loved it, with one writing: "So powerful can hear it over and over again."
Another added: "This is so beautiful."
While another commented: "This is magnificent! Brought tears in my eyes."
And another added: "this made my whole entire day!!!"
But some said they preferred the older versions and missed hearing the bagpipes.
One penned: "Did not like this version! I prefer the original & the bagpipes!"
While one wrote: "Season one is best. Do not care for this version."
Another commented: "Honestly I tried to like it.. On mute this opening is brilliant but with this new theme is like a totally another show. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened but the magic has gone.."
And another added: "It’s a no for me. I prefer the original singer. It fit better. New isn’t always improved. I’ll likely be hitting the skip intro button for the first time on Outlander ever with this one."
The Skye Boat Song not only became the theme for Outlander but was also the reason that the show's composer Bear McCreary believes he got the job.
After working together on Battlestar Galactica, Bear said that show's producer Ronald D. Moore reached out to him about a new show he was working on.
When he explained that it was about Jacobites, Bear joked that he was delighted as he'd studied Jacobite music all through High School.
After sending Ron an instrumental of the Skye Boat Song as a kind of audition, Ron quipped that he may even have found the show's opening song.
Bear also joked that Ron was delighted to have found one other person in the US (other than author Diana Gabaldon of course) who knew what a Jacobite even was.
History behind the song
The original lyrics were written by Englishman Sir Harold Boulton in 1870 to a song collected by Scottish trad musician Anne Campbelle MacLeod.
The words tell the tale of Prince Charles Edward Stuart's journey as he fled the field of Culloden in 1746 where his Jacobite army had just been routed by Government forces - another story Outlander fans will be familiar with.
It reveals how the 'Bonnie Prince', now dressed as a serving maid, escaped from the island of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides to Skye with the help of the heroine Flora MacDonald.
And from there onto France, where he hoped to appeal to the French King for more support for his cause.
Hugely popular at the time, the lyrics were changed again when they were re-written by Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped.
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