It was just a few days ago that Fiona Apple took to her roommate’s Instagram account to lament about the difficulty of writing songs in this dispiriting era. The release of the new Apple TV show Lucky offers compelling evidence that Apple still puts together music and lyrics with an astonishing inventiveness rivaled by precious few working today. Apple wrote and recorded the theme song for the show, and it’s a wonder. In just about ninety seconds, she deploys more ingenious turns of phrase (“My daddy put my crib under Damocles’ sword”) and simple, riveting sonic flourishes (that roar that she unleashes right in the middle) than most artists can get into a whole batch of songs. I’m reminded of Emily Nussbaum’s tweeted assessment of Apple’s opening credits contribution to the Showtime series The Affair: “Fiona Apple theme song is a better TV show than most TV shows, including The Affair.”

Lucky is currently streaming on Apple TV. Anyone who opts for the Skip Credits option is committing a crime.