Song to the Siren

"Song to the Siren" is a song written by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett, first released by Buckley on his 1970 album Starsailor. It was also later released on Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology, the album featuring a performance of the song taken from the final episode of The Monkees.

Pat Boone was the first to release a recording of the song when it was featured on his 1969 album Departure, predating Buckley's album. The song has become perhaps Buckley's most famous due to a number of artists covering the song after his death in 1975, most notably This Mortal Coil in 1983.

Background
"Song to the Siren" was written in 1967, but Buckley was dissatisfied with early attempts at recording it. It would finally appear on his album Starsailor three years later. In 1968, Buckley first performed the song solo in its original folk song style as a guest star on the series finale of The Monkees. This stands in contrast to the lusher, reverb-filled version present on the Starsailor album. The Monkees television spot features the song in the key of E major, while the album version is played in B♭ major. The album version also features heavy reverb on the electric guitar and high-pitched background vocals, while on the earlier version Buckley's voice is accompanied only by his twelve-string acoustic guitar. The 1968 performance also features different lyrics, with the line "I am puzzled as the oyster" in the final verse being changed to "I'm as puzzled as the newborn child" in the album version. This was reportedly because when Buckley played the song to Judy Henske, wife of producer Jerry Yester, she responded to the line with laughter.

Buckley and Beckett regarded this song as their greatest collaboration, with Beckett later stating "It's a perfect match of melody and lyrics. There was some kind of uncanny connection between us."

The song's reference to the sirens tempting sailors at sea stems from Greek mythology. Its lyrical style is an example of Larry Beckett's literary inspirations, and stands in direct contrast to Buckley's own more personal writing style.

Larry Beckett
Beckett wrote the lyrics to "Song to the Siren" as part of his ongoing collaboration and friendship with Buckley throughout their high school years. Beckett has been working alongside the English musician, vocalist, and songwriter Stuart Anthony in a number of guises. The collaboration with Anthony began with the Lancaster-based band The Long Lost Band in 2014 when Beckett began contributing lyrics to their work. "Song to the Siren" formed part of their collaboration when Beckett visited the UK for two tour dates in 2015 – Liverpool and Lancaster. The live version of the song featured a spoken word part by Beckett explaining the origin of the lyrics, which was previously included in documentary footage with the author. Subsequently, a studio version of the song was recorded in 2016 to reflect the live rendition, making this recording somewhat special as (amongst the raft of cover versions) this is the first time the lyricist has appeared on the track. The Larry Beckett and The Long Lost Band version was released online on 21 October 2016. The song was also performed live by Stuart Anthony on the boat Odysseia, a replica Ancient Greek ship, setting sail from Lefkada. This rendition denotes a spiritual "homecoming" for the song; the surroundings being thought to be Homer's Ithaca.

This Mortal Coil version
This Mortal Coil recorded a version of "Song to the Siren" that was released as a single in September 1983. It entered the UK Independent Singles Chart at No. 31 on 24 September, and reached No. 3 on 5 November. It also reached the main UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at No. 66 on 22 October. Eventually, the single appeared for 101 weeks on the UK Indie Charts, a run that ranked fourth in the 1980s after three classic long-selling records: "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus (131 weeks), "Blue Monday" by New Order (186 weeks) and "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division (195 weeks). "Song to the Siren" was included on the group's 1984 album It'll End in Tears which was released a year after the single.

This Mortal Coil was a loose collective of musicians under the leadership of producer Ivo Watts-Russell, most of whom had recorded for his 4AD label. Singer Elizabeth Fraser and guitarist Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins, who were at the time signed to 4AD, performed on the This Mortal Coil version of "Song to the Siren". Fraser also recorded a duet with Tim's son, Jeff Buckley.

Following the release of the single by This Mortal Coil, Buckley's work experienced a reappraisal. This revival of interest in the artist would be one of the greatest factors in the increase of his posthumous sales, along with Jeff Buckley's own success.

Early EDM duo Messiah sampled the cover in their 1992 hit "Temple of Dreams".

This Mortal Coil's version is featured prominently in David Lynch's 1997 film Lost Highway. Lynch had originally intended to use the cover in his 1986 film Blue Velvet, but the rights proved prohibitively expensive, so instead he wrote the song "Mysteries of Love" with composer Angelo Badalamenti.

In 2009, the This Mortal Coil version of the song was featured in the supernatural fantasy film The Lovely Bones, to critical acclaim.

In 2012 Dawn French selected this song on Desert Island Discs as "the song that made me fall in love again". In 2021, the song featured on an episode of Soul Music, a music documentary series on BBC Radio 4.

Other versions
Various trance cover versions exist. The track "Sunrise (Here I Am)" by Ratty covered the song in 2000, as well as Vengeance featuring Clare Pearce in 2001. Lost Witness' "Did I Dream (Song to the Siren)" featuring Tracey Carmen also covered the song.

A cover of the song by Susheela Raman features on her 2001 Mercury award nominated debut album Salt Rain.

Half Man Half Biscuit performed it live on the John Peel show.

Robert Plant recorded the song on his 2002 album Dreamland.

The Czars recorded the song on their 2006 album, Sorry I Made You Cry.

English tenor Alfie Boe also covered the song alongside Robert Plant on the album Alfie in 2011.

John Frusciante also covered the song in 2009, on his album The Empyrean.

Sinéad O'Connor covered the song in 2010.

Brendan Perry also covered the song in 2012, performing the song live on KEXP-FM.

Bryan Ferry covered the song for his 2010 album Olympia.

English rock band Wolf Alice also recorded a version in 2017.

The 2021 director's cut Zack Snyder's Justice League includes a recording of "Song to the Siren" by British singer-songwriter Rose Betts.

Third Eye Blind released a cover of the song on their 2018 EP Thanks for Everything.

George Michael performed the song during his 25 Live and Symphonica tours, and released a cover version of the song on the "White Light" single on August 11, 2012.

Garbage released their own cover of the song on the Lie to Me EP (2024).