‘Wuthering Heights’: Meet the Folk Singer Whose Obscure Radio Performance of a 19th-Century Ballad Captured Emerald Fennell’s Ear
Folk musician Olivia Chaney has performed “Dark Eyed Sailor” more times than she can count.
The 19th-century British ballad about a lost love returning was on her proposed track list for three separate albums, including her Grammy-nominated record “The Queen of Hearts”; each eventually ended up on the cutting floor despite being mastered. Chaney sang it at numerous gigs in London and around the world, delivering an especially haunting rendition for a BBC Radio set in 2013. Over a decade later, that specific cover found its way into Emerald Fennell’s sultry adaptation of “Wuthering Heights.”The film, now playing in theaters, primarily features an angst-ridden original soundtrack from pop superstar Charli xcx, including “House” and “Chains of Love.” Chaney’s is the only other singing voice to appear in the film, performing the soul-stirring melody as Cathy (Margot Robbie) crosses the moors to wed her future husband, Edgar (Shazad Latif), all while pining for her best friend and true love, Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). “Dark Eyed Sailor” is near-Odyssean in context, telling the story of a woman mourning her lost-at-sea sailor lover, only for him to return in disguise to test her faithfulness before revealing his identity and marrying her. It’s only fitting that it plays while a distraught Cathy promises herself to another, and later, when she finally reunites with Heathcliff.It also seems apt that the version Chaney recorded during her own period of heartbreak was the one that made the film.“It was always an interesting challenge singing that song, particularly at that time in my life. I was going through a lot of turmoil, and it has this wholesome ending, which was a bit troubling for me,” Chaney tells Variety. “I could throw all the emotion into singing it, because one part of me wanted the fairy tale of the song to be real for me, but I also kicked against it.”
Chaney’s story with “Dark Eyed Sailor” first began in the late 2000’s, when Irish musician-turned-lecturer Matthew Ord introduced her to the song while performing a gig together. Drawn to the storytelling within it, Chaney modeled the ballad in her own voice when she began performing it.“When I’m singing a folk song, there’s quite a lot of creativity and artistic license that comes in. You’ve got to be informed, but you also want to sort of interpret it in your own way,” says Chaney, who used only the harmonium as an accompaniment for her BBC performance of “Dark Eyed Sailor.”That fateful session marked Chaney’s first solo appearance under her own name; she’d been labeled a collaborator on previous radio and live performances.
“It felt like the beginning of me being me,” adds Chaney, who was a frequent performer in London’s folk music scene at the time. “I just remember lugging my harmonium to the session and being nervous, but also really enjoying it. You can actually hear a few bum notes on the outro [of the cover], and they still used the recording.”
When Fennell and the “Wuthering Heights” team approached her about the song, Chaney offered to record it again. “Let me do a new version,” she’d said. “[But] Emerald was like, ‘I need this version. We’ve had this from the beginning of making the film. We need this.’”In truth, Chaney knew that they would refuse, considering the re-recordings hadn’t made it onto her own albums either. “All of the [proposed album] versions were essentially more produced,” she explains. “There’s something about the way that recording was captured — that moment in my life, the emotion that I was feeling, and probably the vulnerability of my first [solo] session. I think the recording has an edge to it that I imagine Emerald is drawn to, having met her and having seen the film.”
The final cut for the film adds minimal orchestral accompaniment towards the end of the song, keeping the spotlight on Chaney’s voice.
On Feb. 13, Chaney released an official version of her cover of “Dark Eyed Sailor,” available to stream and purchase, distributed by the Kartel Music Group. Arguably the most popular song in her repertoire, Chaney will perform the ballad and others during her residency at the London art center, Kings Place, joined by her new electric folk-rock band, News from Nowhere, beginning Feb. 27. Also in the works is a new album inspired by the English baroque composer, Henry Purcell, tentatively set to be released this November.
While Cathy might not have gotten her happy ending, Chaney believes she has hers — 13 years after that BBC performance. Now living in Yorkshire county, where “Wuthering Heights” is set, Chaney finds her contribution to the film “really serendipitous and slightly strange.”
The singer wrote her second album tucked away in a cottage that she describes as “very Cathy and Heathcliff,” adding that her friends would jokingly tell her she’d gone “full Cathy” due to her seclusion. A fan of Emily Brontë’s original novel, Chaney also met her husband in Yorkshire, and the couple are raising two children there.
“It’s very full circle,” says Chaney. “I think some artists panic, and they think, ‘Oh, I’m not going to have anything left to say because I’m happy.’ I’ve realized I don’t feel like that at all. I think there’s still plenty to say. And my upcoming album, like ‘Dark Eyed Sailor,’ is music that’s lived with me all my life.”
The 19th-century British ballad about a lost love returning was on her proposed track list for three separate albums, including her Grammy-nominated record “The Queen of Hearts”; each eventually ended up on the cutting floor despite being mastered. Chaney sang it at numerous gigs in London and around the world, delivering an especially haunting rendition for a BBC Radio set in 2013. Over a decade later, that specific cover found its way into Emerald Fennell’s sultry adaptation of “Wuthering Heights.”The film, now playing in theaters, primarily features an angst-ridden original soundtrack from pop superstar Charli xcx, including “House” and “Chains of Love.” Chaney’s is the only other singing voice to appear in the film, performing the soul-stirring melody as Cathy (Margot Robbie) crosses the moors to wed her future husband, Edgar (Shazad Latif), all while pining for her best friend and true love, Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). “Dark Eyed Sailor” is near-Odyssean in context, telling the story of a woman mourning her lost-at-sea sailor lover, only for him to return in disguise to test her faithfulness before revealing his identity and marrying her. It’s only fitting that it plays while a distraught Cathy promises herself to another, and later, when she finally reunites with Heathcliff.It also seems apt that the version Chaney recorded during her own period of heartbreak was the one that made the film.“It was always an interesting challenge singing that song, particularly at that time in my life. I was going through a lot of turmoil, and it has this wholesome ending, which was a bit troubling for me,” Chaney tells Variety. “I could throw all the emotion into singing it, because one part of me wanted the fairy tale of the song to be real for me, but I also kicked against it.”
Chaney’s story with “Dark Eyed Sailor” first began in the late 2000’s, when Irish musician-turned-lecturer Matthew Ord introduced her to the song while performing a gig together. Drawn to the storytelling within it, Chaney modeled the ballad in her own voice when she began performing it.“When I’m singing a folk song, there’s quite a lot of creativity and artistic license that comes in. You’ve got to be informed, but you also want to sort of interpret it in your own way,” says Chaney, who used only the harmonium as an accompaniment for her BBC performance of “Dark Eyed Sailor.”That fateful session marked Chaney’s first solo appearance under her own name; she’d been labeled a collaborator on previous radio and live performances.
“It felt like the beginning of me being me,” adds Chaney, who was a frequent performer in London’s folk music scene at the time. “I just remember lugging my harmonium to the session and being nervous, but also really enjoying it. You can actually hear a few bum notes on the outro [of the cover], and they still used the recording.”
When Fennell and the “Wuthering Heights” team approached her about the song, Chaney offered to record it again. “Let me do a new version,” she’d said. “[But] Emerald was like, ‘I need this version. We’ve had this from the beginning of making the film. We need this.’”In truth, Chaney knew that they would refuse, considering the re-recordings hadn’t made it onto her own albums either. “All of the [proposed album] versions were essentially more produced,” she explains. “There’s something about the way that recording was captured — that moment in my life, the emotion that I was feeling, and probably the vulnerability of my first [solo] session. I think the recording has an edge to it that I imagine Emerald is drawn to, having met her and having seen the film.”
The final cut for the film adds minimal orchestral accompaniment towards the end of the song, keeping the spotlight on Chaney’s voice.
On Feb. 13, Chaney released an official version of her cover of “Dark Eyed Sailor,” available to stream and purchase, distributed by the Kartel Music Group. Arguably the most popular song in her repertoire, Chaney will perform the ballad and others during her residency at the London art center, Kings Place, joined by her new electric folk-rock band, News from Nowhere, beginning Feb. 27. Also in the works is a new album inspired by the English baroque composer, Henry Purcell, tentatively set to be released this November.
While Cathy might not have gotten her happy ending, Chaney believes she has hers — 13 years after that BBC performance. Now living in Yorkshire county, where “Wuthering Heights” is set, Chaney finds her contribution to the film “really serendipitous and slightly strange.”
The singer wrote her second album tucked away in a cottage that she describes as “very Cathy and Heathcliff,” adding that her friends would jokingly tell her she’d gone “full Cathy” due to her seclusion. A fan of Emily Brontë’s original novel, Chaney also met her husband in Yorkshire, and the couple are raising two children there.
“It’s very full circle,” says Chaney. “I think some artists panic, and they think, ‘Oh, I’m not going to have anything left to say because I’m happy.’ I’ve realized I don’t feel like that at all. I think there’s still plenty to say. And my upcoming album, like ‘Dark Eyed Sailor,’ is music that’s lived with me all my life.”