Fiona Apple has contributed an intense and emotional vocal performance to a new song by The Waterboys. The tune, “Letter from an Unknown Girlfriend,” is the fourth and latest advance track to be made available from the veteran British group’s upcoming concept album, Life, Death and Dennis Hopper.
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A companion lyric video for the song has been posted on The Waterboys’ official YouTube channel.
As previously reported, Life, Death and Dennis Hopper is a 25-track song cycle that delves into the turbulent and fascinating life of late actor and maverick filmmaker Dennis Hopper. The album is due out on April 4.
“Letter from an Unknown Girlfriend” was written by Waterboys frontman Mike Scott. It was inspired by biographical accounts that Hopper had been physically abusive with some of his romantic partners. The song features only Apple’s raw, edgy vocals and her sparse piano lines. The tune is sung from the perspective of a fictionalized girlfriend of Hopper’s who’d been treated badly by him.
“I used to say, no man would ever strike me / And no man ever did, ’til I met you,” Apple sings in the first verse. “Until I met you, sweet you / Yeah, you had the charm, charm enough to sweep me / Took me in your arms, swore you’d satisfy and keep me / Too late I knew, that it was all only about you / All about you, sweet you.”
Mike Scott Discusses Asking Fiona Apple to Sing the Song
In a recent interview with American Songwriter, Scott explained how the collaboration with Apple came about.
“I wanted a woman’s voice on the record … so I wrote a song specifically for a woman to sing,” he noted. “[It was] about a darker side of Dennis’s life. And we asked Fiona Apple to sing it, because she’d done a cover of [the 1985 Waterboys song] ‘The Whole of the Moon.’ And her cover of [that tune] was really magnificent.”
Appel had recorded a version “The Whole of the Moon” in 2019 that was used in the final episode of the Showtime drama series The Affair.
“She sang it with a real … emotive edge in her voice. So I knew she could deliver [‘Letter from an Unknown Girlfriend’] with a kind of combination of righteousness and anger that I was looking for,” Scott said. “And, my God, she did.”
Morre About the Life, Death and Dennis Hopper Album
Life, Death and Dennis Hopper also features contributions from several other guest artists. They include Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith, and Go-Go’s bassist Kathy Valentine.
In the press release, Scott mentioned some of the highlights of Hopper’s life, which served as inspiration for various tunes.
“[Hopper] was at the big bang of youth culture in Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean; and the beginnings of Pop Art with the young Andy Warhol,” Mike noted. “He was part of the counter-culture, hippie, civil rights, and psychedelic scenes of the ’60s. In the ’70s and ’80s he went on a wild 10-year rip, almost died, came back, got straight and became a five-movies-a-year character actor without losing the sparkle in his eye or the sense of danger or unpredictability that always gathered around him.”
The other advance tracks released from the album are “Hopper’s on Top (Genius),” “Andy (A Guy Like You),” and “I Don’t Know How I Made It.”
“Hopper’s on Top (Genius)” focuses on perhaps the high point of Dennis’ career, when he directed and co-starred in the enduring 1969 counterculture film Easy Rider. “Andy (A Guy Like You)” was inspired by Hopper’s role in promoting a young Warhol’s first solo pop-art exhibit. “I Don’t Know How I Made It” is sung from the perspective of Hopper after surviving years of substance-abuse issues and becoming an in-demand character actor in the 1980s. The latter song features guest vocals by Goldsmith.
Life, Death and Dennis Hopper can be pre-ordered now.
The Waterboys’ 2025 Tour Plans
The Waterboys have more than 40 concerts lined up in the U.K., Ireland, and mainland Europe in 2025. The band’s itinerary runs from a May 1 show in Basingstoke, U.K., through a November 1-2 engagement in Oslo, Norway.
[Buy Waterboys Concert Tickets]
Scott and company also are scheduled to play the 2025 Bourbon and Beyond Festival on September 14 in Louisville, Kentucky.
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