The Affair opened with Fiona Apple and closes their credits with one of our favorite singer-songwriters, too. Adding to Apple’s long-running oeuvre of haunting covers, she sings “The Whole of the Moon” this time, a chart-topping, mid-’80s tune from Edinburgh’s the Waterboys, over the end credits to the Showtime series’ 5th season.
At first it seemed they chose to let Apple’s voice alone carry the urgency of this cut, surely enough to fill the burn-it-down triumph originally blaring from Mike Scott’s violin and sax backers. But producer Tony Berg and Co. weren’t going to go out quiet on a jam like this: trumpets, strings, drums, the works bolster the frame as Fiona builds up something that should stir even the coldest of hearts. Hear her take above.
Meanwhile, I have to say this did what every great cover does, which is to bring some newfound respect for the original. Don’t you miss this kind of shoot-at-the-moon anthemic ambition? The Waterboys original is a lot more joyous in many respects, and I dig both takes together. Here’s theirs: