(Disclaimer: The majority
of this post was written before the release of the main theme song for
‘Spectre’, ‘Writing’s on the Wall’, performed by Sam Smith. To keep things
fair, and to enforce the main ground-rule that I set of not having anything
related to the newest Bond film included in these Bond Month posts, this new
song will not be featured anywhere in this forthcoming Top 10. But before I get
on with the main list, here’s a quick little sum-up on my thoughts towards the
new Bond theme. Ultimately it seems that, contrary to popular opinion, I really
like this song. While I’ll admit that I’m not completely onboard with Smith’s
falsetto vocals, the song does still have that classic Bond aura, with a
romanticized feel that mirrors that of classic Bond songs like ‘For Your Eyes
Only’ and ‘The World is Not Enough’. Do I like this better than, say,
‘Skyfall’? No not really but it certainly isn’t as bad as some people on the
internet are putting it out to be. Ultimately I will say this; kudos to you Sam
Smith for doing a solid job with this new song and I am very much looking
forward to see it paired with Daniel Kleinman’s sure-to-be-amazing opening
titles for ‘Spectre’. Now on to the main event…)
Aside from the Bond girls, the villains, their henchmen, and
of course Bond himself, one of the most important parts of any James Bond film,
well to be specific almost every Bond film since ‘Goldfinger’, is the main
title song that plays over the opening credits. And for the most part, a lot of
the main title songs for the Bond films have been really, really good as they do
a great job in enveloping you in the world of 007 with their grandiose
compositions that can either be slow and idyllic or fast and bombastic. Yeah
there have been a few stinkers over the years but I do think that the good has
outweighed the bad so far. So today, as part of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s
second annual Bond Month, I will be listing my Top 10 personal favorite Bond
title songs of all-time. For the record, that only accounts for the songs that
were performed by artists and not the themes that were solely instrumental
scores. So as a result, that means that you won’t be seeing ‘Dr. No’, ‘From
Russia with Love’, and ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ on this list. Though I
do want to note that I absolutely love the music for all three of those title
sequences. Of course ‘Dr. No’ debuted the iconic Bond theme by Monty Norman (which,
let’s be honest, would’ve been Number 1 on this list) but then there’s also
‘James Bond is Back’ in ‘From Russia With Love’ as well as John Barry’s
excellent main motif for ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’, which was even
featured in the most recent trailer for ‘Spectre’. But first, before we get to the
Top 10 best, here are my Top 5 ‘least favorite’ Bond title songs… I say least
favorite because I don’t really ‘hate’ any of these songs but still these are
my picks for the weakest Bond themes.
5. TOMORROW NEVER DIES- SHERYL CROW
Now my main issue with ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ isn’t really
with the song itself. I like the melody and music for the song and I do feel
that it definitely sounds like a Bond theme in that regard. My main issue with
it is actually in regards to who they chose to perform the song, Sheryl Crow. Quite
simply I think that she was the wrong choice to be the main artist for the
song. This song features quite a few high notes, primarily during the main
chorus, and whenever Crow does those notes, I feel that she comes off a bit too
whiny. Then there’s also the fact that this wasn’t even originally the main
theme for the film. At first, it was going to be the song ‘Surrender’
(previously named ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’), written by composer David Arnold and
performed by k.d. lang, that would open the film. Heck, it was even implemented into Arnold's score. But apparently the studio
wanted a more ‘popular’ artist to perform the song and so ‘Surrender’, which to
be perfectly frank is a much better song, was relegated to the end credits. But
like I said earlier, I’m fine with the song for the most part. Ultimately it’s
just due to the choice of singer that prevents me from listing this as one of
my favorite Bond themes.
4. MOONRAKER- SHIRLEY BASSEY
As much as I hate to do it, unfortunately I have to list a
Bond theme song from the legendary Shirley Bassey amongst the worst in the
series and it’s no surprise then that it comes from one of the least popular
entries in the series, ‘Moonraker’. Though I will admit that upon re-watch, I’m
actually a lot more positive towards the film compared to the first time I
watch it. Hell, I think it’s a little underrated. But I’m getting off track
here… as for the title song, Bassey unfortunately can’t save this from being
the weakest of the three title songs that she performed for the Bond franchise,
the other two being ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Diamonds Are Forever’. I do like that the
song has a nice calm and soothing feel to it, which is a nice contrast to some
of the bolder Bond themes, and Bassey of course is great as always performance
wise. But this song’s biggest issue comes with its lyrics, which has to
implement the term ‘Moonraker’ into the song. Seriously, what is a ‘Moonraker’?
Now for the record, Bond theme songs have never really been known for having
‘great’ lyrics anyway but this is one of the rare cases where it’s really
noticeable. Shirley Bassey may have performed some of the most iconic themes in
Bond history but unfortunately she had to close out her tenure with the
franchise (at the moment) on a very weak note.
3. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN- LULU
This seems to be one of the more polarizing Bond themes as
I’ve heard quite a few people say that they either love it or hate it. For
those who do like it, I’ve heard them say that they’ll even go as far and say
that it’s one of the only good parts of the ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ aside
from Christopher Lee as Scaramanga. As for me, though, this one just isn’t a
Bond song that I’m particularly a big fan of. Heck, even John Barry didn’t like
it. He even went as far as to say that it was the ‘weakest’ of all of his
compositions. To be honest, there’s not much else I can say about this song. I
do kind of like the rock-style beat of the song, and it’s rather interesting to
note that is considered to be one of the more ‘risqué’ Bond songs in terms of
its lyrics, but it just didn’t stand out to me that much compared to other
theme songs from the series.
2. ANOTHER WAY TO DIE (QUANTUM OF SOLACE) - JACK WHITE/ALICIA KEYS
While this will always have a place in franchise history,
being the first major Bond theme song to be performed as a duet, it’s also one
of the weakest of the series. The main reason is quite simple; when you listen
to it, it doesn’t really feel like a ‘Bond theme’. It feels like a song that’s
more suitable for a different action film. I mean sure, in a way it does kind
of reflect the edgier style of Craig’s Bond but it still doesn’t really have
that grandiose feel to it like many other Bond themes do. And just like
‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, this song was selected at the expense of better songs. But
unlike that film, these particular songs didn’t get the honor of at least being
put in the end credits. There was the song ‘Forever, I Am All Yours’ by Eva
Almer, which even featured the quote from ‘Casino Royale’ in which Bond tells
Vesper that ‘he had no armor left’, which would have been a great way to
connect to the main plots of Craig’s first two Bond themes. And then, for the
second time in franchise history, there was also a song written by David Arnold
(following the aforementioned ‘Surrender’) that got ignored that was actually
performed by none other than Shirley Bassey. Seriously, wouldn’t it have been
cool to see Bassey come back for one last Bond theme song, especially if it
meant that her career with the franchise could’ve concluded on a better note
than ‘Moonraker’? But ultimately that was not the case and we got stuck with a
rather mediocre Bond theme for a very lackluster Bond film… hmm in that case it’s
kind of a perfect fit, actually. But ultimately the ‘worst’ Bond theme comes
from, fittingly enough, one of the series’ weakest installments…
1. DIE ANOTHER DAY- MADONNA
Well this one is a rather obvious pick, isn’t it? Usually
it’s either this or ‘Another Way to Die’ that dominates the conversation when
it comes to people listing their picks for the ‘worst’ Bond theme of all-time
though usually this gets brought up more. While I’ll admit that I don’t ‘hate’
this song as much as a lot of people do, to the point where I’ll embarrassingly
admit that I have it on my IPod (don’t ask…), at the same time it is by no
means a ‘Bond theme’. That’s ultimately the major issue with it in my opinion.
It doesn’t really have the right feel to it that would make it a proper Bond
theme. It sounds too much like a pop song, which is fitting in the sense that
it’s done by ‘the Queen of Pop’ but not fitting for a James Bond film. Where’s
the grandeur and class? Instead, all we get is a techno beat that, like
‘Another Way to Die’, seems better suited for a non-Bond action film. With no
disrespect towards Madonna, it’s clear that she wasn’t the best choice to be
the artist for a Bond theme. It was because of this song, and partially
‘Another Way to Die’ as well, that almost made me fearful that ‘Skyfall’ was
going to turn out the same way… thankfully that wouldn’t be the case.
And now… onto the Top
10…
10. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY- SHEENA EASTON
There are three types of Bond Themes; fast and upbeat, grand
and majestic, and slow and romantic. ‘For Your Eyes Only’ by Sheena Easton is
perhaps my favorite case of the ‘slow and romantic’ style of Bond themes. The
film ‘For Your Eyes Only’ did sort of have a rather romanticized feel to it so
the song does fit pretty nicely with it. If you recall last week, I listed this
film’s title sequence as one of the weakest in series history. Sure it did have
the distinction of actually featuring Easton within the sequence but ultimately
I feel that it came off a bit awkward in terms of its overall execution. But as
for the song itself, it’s great. Easton is solid in her performance and, as a
result, her song is easily one of the best parts, hell maybe even the absolute
best part, of Roger Moore’s 5th James Bond film.
9. GOLDENEYE- TINA TURNER
A lot of times, Bond composers like John Barry and David
Arnold have been able to implement the main title song into their scores. But
in the case of ‘GoldenEye’, composer Eric Serra was unable to use the film’s
title song in the score because the producers didn’t collaborate with the
songwriters, Bono and the Edge. Though ultimately I think it really would’ve
helped the score out if it was able to utilize the title song because unfortunately
Serra’s score is one of the weakest in the franchise; it’s probably the only
gripe that I have with the film as a whole. This is mostly due to the fact that
there are quite a few instances where it goes a bit too melancholy, feeling
rather unfitting for a Bond score. But as for the title song, ‘GoldenEye’ is
definitely a classic Bond theme. It’s very much reminiscent of ‘Goldfinger’ and
Tina Turner definitely has that Shirley Bassey vibe in her performance of the
song. Pair this with a classic opening titles sequence and you have one hell of
an opening for one of Bond’s best adventures.
8. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS- A-HA
Now it’s time to delve into some of the more upbeat Bond
themes and starting things off at #8 is A-ha’s ‘The Living Daylights’. To be
honest, there’s not actually that much that I can say about this song other
than that I just like the melody, the beat and its energy. ‘The Living
Daylights’ in general did have a pretty nice soundtrack to it, which included
this and the song ‘Where Has Everybody Gone?’ by the Pretenders, which the
character Necros constantly listens to on his Walkman. And as I noted a few
weeks ago, the latter song was even implemented into John Barry’s score,
resulting in probably one of his most energetic scores of the franchise. I do
like that when Bond composers implement a Bond film’s title song into the score
itself.
7. A VIEW TO A KILL- DURAN DURAN
So basically the origin of this song was a result of Duran
Duran’s bassist John Taylor, who for the record is a major Bond fan,
approaching series producer Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli at a party and asking him,
while fairly drunk, ‘when was he going to get someone decent to do one of his theme songs’. And ultimately that led to
Duran Duran collaborating with John Barry, resulting in one hell of a Bond
theme and another one of the great energetic themes of the franchise. Obviously
I’ve made it clear already that I really don’t like ‘A View to A Kill’. But to
its credit, it does at least benefit from not only a pair of memorable
villains, but one of the series’ best themes paired with an equally memorable
title sequence.
6. LIVE AND LET DIE- PAUL MCCARTNEY AND WINGS
This was arguably the first Bond theme that I ever heard and
that’s because it might just be the most popular theme in the entire franchise.
For the record, this is if we’re solely talking about how many times you’re
likely going to hear it on the radio compared to most of the other Bond themes.
After all, this was performed by one of the Beatles. This is easily the most
iconic ‘upbeat’ theme of the series. It starts off slow and then immediately
launches into its speedy and bombastic refrain. Like many other Bond themes, I
also liked that it was implemented into the film’s score, done here by ‘fifth
Beatle’ George Martin instead of John Barry, though part of me also feels that
perhaps the decision to primarily utilize the bombastic refrain wasn’t such a ‘good’
idea. Still you really can’t go wrong with this classic part of the Bond
franchise’s musical history. Speaking of iconic themes…
5. GOLDFINGER- SHIRLEY BASSEY
Really, what more can be said about this song that hasn’t
been said before? ‘Goldfinger’ is musical royalty as far Bond themes are
concerned. It was, after all, the very first Bond theme that was sung by a
musician after both ‘Dr. No’ and ‘From Russia with Love’ only featured
instrumental themes. So it’s no surprise then that it’s featured on this list.
It did a phenomenal job of evoking the grandeur of the franchise with its
orchestrated background score and of course Bassey’s amazing performance of the
song. It seems to me that when it comes to Bassey’s first two Bond themes, fans
of the franchise either prefer this or ‘Diamonds Are Forever’. For the record,
I do like ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ but ultimately when it comes to the one that I
think of more when it comes to definitive Bond themes, the honor always goes to
‘Goldfinger’.
4. NOBODY DOES IT BETTER- CARLY SIMON
Speaking of iconic franchise tunes, ‘Nobody Does it Better’
is another Bond theme song that definitely stands as one of the most iconic
themes in the entire franchise. After all, it was the second Bond theme (after
‘Live and Let Die’) to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. It may
not have won (that honor would end up going to the next film on this list) but
it’s still a classic song that pretty much sums up the character of James Bond
in a nutshell. And as noted last week, it led to one of the most perfect
combinations of themes and title sequences ever.
3. SKYFALL- ADELE
Like I said earlier, I’ll admit that I was initially a
little hesitant about this theme song because I thought that it would be like ‘Die
Another Day’ or ‘Another Way to Die’ and come off a bit too much like a pop
song and not like a real James Bond theme. Though with that said, I have liked
most of Adele’s music and I guess you could say that you wouldn’t really
classify her primarily as a ‘pop’ artist. But then when it was released, I was
glad to see that my fears were laid to rest because holy crap this song is
amazing. ‘Skyfall’ is what ‘Die Another Day’ should have been like. A soulful
tune that also perfectly captures the grandeur of the franchise and one that
more than deserved all of the praise that it got upon release, including an
Oscar for Best Song, a Golden Globe for Best Song, and a Grammy award for ‘Best
Song Written for Visual Media’.
2. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH- GARBAGE
Basically ‘The World is Not Enough’ was ‘Skyfall’ 13 years
before ‘Skyfall’ was ever conceived. Similar to both ‘Skyfall’ and another
Brosnan-era Bond film theme, ‘GoldenEye’, this perfectly captured the spirit of
the Bond franchise with its sweeping instrumentals and Garbage lead singer
Shirley Manson’s crooning vocals. And would you believe that, unlike with ‘Tomorrow
Never Dies’, this was a case in which the theme written by David Arnold was
actually used as the film’s title theme. It seems like Arnold’s contributions
as the series’ main composer from ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ to ‘Quantum of Solace’
have been rather polarizing amongst Bond fans but if you ask me, Arnold has
contributed some of the best music of the modern Bond era that I would argue
stands toe to toe with some of the series’ more classic melodies. And as this
title song proves, he can create one hell of a Bond theme. So it’s very much
fitting that for my #1 favorite Bond theme of all-time, I’ll be going with another
Bond theme that he helped create.
1. YOU KNOW MY NAME- CHRIS CORNELL
I have to admit that it was hard to pick what my favorite
Bond theme of all-time was. At first I thought that it would ‘Skyfall’ but
ultimately I decided to go with the first Bond theme of the Daniel Craig era; ‘You
Know My Name’, performed by Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell, from ‘Casino
Royale’. My personal favorite of the ‘fast and upbeat’ Bond themes, I particularly
loved how David Arnold implemented ‘You Know My Name’ into the score of ‘Casino
Royale’. It wasn’t until the end of the film when we finally heard the classic
Monty Norman Bond theme so until then, Arnold utilized the song into ten tracks
of the film’s score basically as a replacement theme and it works perfectly,
especially in the track ‘Aston Montenegro’. It’s sort of like with Michael
Giacchino’s amazing motif for the J.J. Abrams directed ‘Star Trek’ films. It
may not be like anything we’ve seen from the franchise but it just works so
well that we can ignore that. There’s sort of a swagger to the theme, which
does fit rather well with the edgier Bond that Daniel Craig portrayed. And that
is why ‘You Know My Name’ is, to date, my favorite Bond theme.
NEXT WEEK: I list my
Top 10 personal Best and Worst Moments in Franchise History
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