Cinematical (Double-O) Seven: Best Bond Theme Songs
Filed under: Action, Drama, Fandom, Cinematical Seven, James Bond, Lists
(In anticipation of Quantum of Solace, we're rerunning some of our favorite Bond posts alongside a few new ones. Enjoy!)
By: Jeffrey M. Anderson
One of the pleasures of anticipating a new James Bond film is considering which singer or band would be most appropriate to add themselves to the long and diverse list of James Bond themes. (Wouldn't a Radiohead theme song be just great? Or the Pixies?) It's almost like winning some kind of award. These songs will likely be revived and re-packaged for generations to come. Not all of the choices have been particularly timeless ("The Living Daylights" by A-ha), and many others are not without a cheeseball flavor (Tom Jones strutting through "Thunderball"). It's also obvious that a great song does not guarantee a good movie, and vice-versa. Hence, as terrific as Casino Royale was, the song by Chris Cornell was only so-so. But no matter what anyone thinks of Quantum of Solace, the new song "Another Way to Die" (by Jack White and Alicia Keys) rocks!
In choosing my seven, I decided to omit Monty Norman's original, instrumental theme, written for Dr. No (1962), but used again in various forms throughout the series.
1. "Goldfinger," by Shirley Bassey
Bassey and the Sean Connery era go together like "martini" and "shaken, not stirred." She had that bold, brassy voice that sounded not unlike the wah-wah horns or the twangy guitar that accompany all that 1960s music. It's the most instantly recognizable song, and the most closely associated with its specific film. Plus how can you not love those bizarre rhymes, like "Midas touch" with "spider's touch" and "Goldfinger" with "cold finger"? Pure genius! Bassey returned to record "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) and "Moonraker" (1979), the latter for an undeserving Roger Moore.
2. "Live and Let Die," by Paul McCartney
This is perhaps the best song of the set, but it has outgrown its corresponding movie, the first Roger Moore film and one of the bottom-scrapers in the series (aka "the one with the redneck sheriff"). McCartney was at his songwriting peak, incorporating all kinds of unexpected tone changes following that distinctive, unforgettable opening piano "plung." "When you were young, and your heart was an open book. ..."
3. "Nobody Does It Better," by Carly Simon
Just a lovely, lovely song and way less irritating than "You're So Vain." This one has more memorable lyrics as Carole Bayer Sager tried to shoehorn the movie's title in: "But like Heaven above me/The spy who loved me/Is keeping all my secrets safe tonight."
4. "For Your Eyes Only," by Sheena Easton
This breathy ballad has aged surprisingly well, considering its roots in the synthesizer-heavy 1980s, and it corresponds well with this film's sexy opening titles featuring nude swimmers in silhouette. (Many consider this the best of the Roger Moore films.) At the time, Easton was still a squeaky-clean Scottish warbler (her first big hit was "Morning Train"), but eventually Prince transformed her into a sex bomb with "Sugar Walls" and "Strut." (And, come to think of it, why hasn't Prince done a Bond theme?)
5. "A View to a Kill," by Duran Duran
One of the more infamous themes (and for one of the very worst movies), I like it because it actually sounds like a James Bond theme; it has an espionage feel to it with those short, chilling guitar bursts and horn blasts, and the sober, British vocals that could have come from one of the Bond villains. Trivia note: director Matthew Vaughn made incredible use of Duran Duran's "Ordinary World" in his film Layer Cake -- also starring he new Bond, Daniel Craig.
6. "Die Another Day," by Madonna
I'm not the world's biggest Madonna fan, not by a long shot, but I love the icy, digital production value on this song, with its eerie stops and starts, that matched perfectly with the darkest of the Pierce Brosnan films. If only she could have stayed out of the movie...
7. "We Have All the Time in the World," by Louis Armstrong
Just because it's the great Satchmo -- I generally prefer Armstrong's earliest stuff from the 1920s with the Hot Five and Hot Seven, but this is a very nice song, and from one of the very best films, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Many fans concur that it would have been the best film if not for the casting of the bland Bond George Lazenby. ...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-10-2008 @ 10:56PM
Erin said...
Madonna's? Really? I would've picked "The World is Not Enough" by Garbage. The music video for it played in front of the movie on the VHS, which I watched repeatedly when I was younger. Consequently, that song gets stuck in my head all the time, which is fine with me because I really like it.
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11-10-2008 @ 11:03PM
JimeneX said...
Seriously...
'The World is Not Enough' is my favorite Bond song. Why is it so underated?
11-11-2008 @ 2:30AM
Jen said...
The movie was terrible, but "The World is Not Enough" is my favorite of the modern Bond songs - aside from Goldeneye. Gotta give props to Tina Turner.
11-10-2008 @ 11:00PM
Marcos Kirsch said...
I usually really like James Bond themes, but the Madonna one I can't stand. It bothers me deeply.
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11-10-2008 @ 11:35PM
fuz said...
I know I will be alone on this one, but I LOVED "Tomorrow Never Dies" by Sheryl Crow. I'm a Crow fan anyways, but I thought it had that "Bond"-sound too.
And I concur with the other posts...Garbage's "The World Is Not Enough" should be high on the list. Wonderful!
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11-10-2008 @ 11:33PM
Thunderbuck said...
Nobody seems to remember "You Only Live Twice". Not the best Bond, maybe, but rather cool in its way (I always loved that white Toyota 2000GT Sean Connery drove in that one).
Likewise, Nancy Sinatra's theme might not have been an obvious pick, but its haunting melody holds up better than anything on the bottom half of this list.
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11-10-2008 @ 11:51PM
Saavik said...
I'm also on board with this list except for Die Another Day. In fact, apart from Another Way to Die (which I can't stand at all), Die Another Day is probably my least favorite James Bond song ever. I'd replace it with any of the following (in chronological order, since I'm not sure I have a preference): The Living Daylights, Goldeneye, The World is not Enough, or You Know My Name.
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11-11-2008 @ 12:24AM
destroyearth said...
Chris Cornell's theme song rocks.
Dumbass.
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11-11-2008 @ 12:48AM
bongmasta said...
Agree about Madonna, disagree about QoS. Terribhle song.
DAD has its fair share of haters, but the song is cool and much better than, say, the last two themes.
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11-11-2008 @ 10:45PM
Peter said...
A pretty good list, except for Goldeneye missing. A real classic sounding theme song that had an addicting and unforgettable hook.
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11-11-2008 @ 8:48AM
Jim said...
Chris Cornell's song was easily the BEST Bond song, and you guys refer to it as 'so-so' and rate a Madonna song higher?!?! That's pretty funny. It's just like those top ten albums of all time that Yahoo lists that invariably include some gay band/album that totally sucks and that only people under 15 have even heard of.
And speaking of bands that only people under 15 have heard of, it's obviously all subjective anyway, made clear by your desire to hear a Bond song by either Radiohead or the Pixies, two bands that TOTALLY suck and only appeal to a small percentage of Bond fans. The subjectiveness continues when you say the latest Bond song is great, when in reality, it is clearly not - at all.
You want a great Bond song? Have Bruce Dickinson do it. Or maybe Rush. Or maybe Aerosmith. Or how about Metallica? Or maybe any of a dozen other acts that would make it rock like Chris Cornell did. 'So-so' my ass.
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11-11-2008 @ 8:41AM
Eric said...
I have two major problems with this list.
1. The Madonna song is crap. "Sigmund Freud"? Really? Absolute junk. The theme from Goldeneye, written by Bono, was far better and more in sync with Bond traditions.
2. "We Have All the Time in the World" is not only my favorite song from a Bond movie, but the song I want played at my funeral. That said, it was not the theme during the opening credits and shouldn't count.
P.S. Where's the Nancy Sinatra love?
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11-11-2008 @ 9:35AM
Ian said...
"From Russia With Love" is definitely my go-to Bond theme.
Perfect for singing in the shower, in the car, or in the boat while shooting gas tanks with a lovely blond Russian defector.
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11-11-2008 @ 9:38AM
Ezequiel said...
The Madonna song has no place on this list. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Die another Day the only "Bond song" that has not received an orchestral version to fit into the movie soundtrack?
David Arnold (current Bond composer) refused to include that hideous song on his score because it was crap.
The World is not Enough by Garbage is a better Bond song.
Shame on you Cinematical staff...shame on you....
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11-11-2008 @ 11:15AM
Lloyd said...
I'm with the Nancy Sinatra fans and let's not forget the original Bond theme introduced in Dr. No. I would argue it's more recognizeable than any other Bond theme.
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11-11-2008 @ 1:31PM
Anthony said...
The Living Daylights by Aha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUGsSBaLrVw&feature=related
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11-11-2008 @ 3:56PM
Nathaniel Teager said...
Garbage-The World is not Enough
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11-11-2008 @ 6:42PM
Jormanks said...
Die Another Day is, without doubth, the worst Bond song evar. And that's official.
Now, You Know My Name is not a great song either, but it fits with the movie's atmosphere .
Where's Goldeneye, You Only Live Twice, and Tomorrow Never Dies?
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11-12-2008 @ 9:40AM
lw said...
Gotta go w/ The Living Daylights and View To A Kill. Also some love for All Time High from Octopussy. I agree though that Madonna should be nowhere near a Bond movie, theme song or otherwise. Die Another Day was sub par enough without her contributions.
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11-12-2008 @ 12:12PM
Wendy said...
I liked the Madonna song for the same reasons, it was poppy, but the Bond films are a huge pop culture phenomenon so why not get another to make the theme?
As a side note - there is this awesome pre-made proposed theme that someone made up on youtube which I think is hilarious and which sounds awesome enough to actually be a Bond theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMoJRLStD9c.
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