This is it! The final five for the James Bond title track songs. I feel real strong about these choices in this particular set. Some of, not only the most legendary Bond songs, but simply the most legendary in modern music history. Some of the most accomplished musicians are here: Paul McCartney, Carly Simon and of course, Shirley Bassey. These songs here are the hair raisers, the rockers, the originals and the tearjerkers. These tracks celebrate everything Bond. So kick back and enjoy the top five James Bond themes.
Live & Let Die – Paul McCartney and Wings
A red hot song for a red hot Bond! Paul and Linda McCartney really capture the spirit of Live and Let Die with their brilliant title track song. Yes, the art itself in the sequence isn’t particularly inspired but Wings make up for it in spades. Plus George Martin does the score for the film which sends it straight into the atmosphere. It’s one of the fastest paced Bond films with a truly epic villain. Absolutely one of the greats. And the hard rock drive and riff written on the instrumental chorus accompanies like a glove. True, the blaxploitation element of the movie dates it a bit and there certainly are racist moments. So watch the move consciously. But that doesn’t mean that McCartney and co didn’t nail this one on the head.
The Living Daylights – A-Ha
I just love this song. Live and Let Die is somewhat of a departure of the traditional Bond sound in a title track song. The Living Daylights on the the other hand keeps the rock element alive while retaining a very Bond like vibe. And the technical ability of the band is pretty excellent. Not to mention how great the movie is. It’s really a perfect Bond film. Timothy Dalton captures Ian Fleming’s creation better than any other interpretation. He also does the opening barrel swoop better than any other Bond. Like the film ranked above it’s a lightning fast Bond that rocks. And the title track here also accompanies the films pace and feeling. Also helping out is The Pretenders which really gives the movie a more modern energy. In fact, in many ways this is the first ‘modern’ Bond film. It’s first to feature a newly digitized Aston Martin. Dalton started a tradition of doing as many stunts as possible for Bond (something Moore never even considered). And the weaponry featured much more machine gun action. An element that’s very prevalent in the modern Bonds. Great song, great movie, great Bond!
Goldfinger – Shirley Bassey
“Geweldfingahhh!’ This is the first official title track sequence for James Bond. It created the entire idea and mood of what a James Bond song should be. By the time the third Bond film ‘Goldfinger’ came around the producers had their formula. And who better to sing than the soul of Shirley Bassey? Belting it out like no other. In fact she nearly passed out on the final high note because Guy Hamilton (the director) insisted she end the note when the title track sequence faded out. Go ahead try and hold ‘Gold’ on that high Eb for as long as she does. Actually, just try and hit the note first. That’s enough of a challenge. This song sets the standard of the title track sequence as the film set the standard for Bonds that followed.
The James Bond Theme – Monty Norman
When James Bond leaped into action in 1962 the producers needed a fresh and exciting song to go with their fresh, new action idea. That’s when film scorer John Barry’s assistant Monty Norman came up with a simple yet instantly infectious and recognizable tune: The James Bond theme. It’s the most famous theme song of all time and one of the most known songs ever written for that matter. At the end of the day this song doesn’t need much justification or explanation. We all know why it’s here, where it came from and how it seems to live on forever and ever.
Nobody Does It Better – Carly Simon
Nobody does it better than Bond and I believe that it’s universally agreed that Carly Simon’s ‘Nobody Does It Better’ is the greatest James Bond song. It’s Bond’s tribute song. It’s used for almost every montage about him or a recurring character. It’s actually the only song that’s directly about Bond. And it was a tough decision on the film makers part whether or not to go in that direction. At the end of the day it was agreed that for Bond’s tenth film he earned his own song. And it’s a perfect one. It’s a flawlessly crafted, timeless pop ballad. Beautifully orchestrated and it’s one of the only songs to get into the top ten in the United States and the U.K.. It’s just so romantic, epic and big in a classy way. Everything that a Bond title song should ideally have. And as time has gone on, it only gets more and more relevant. As each new Bond film breaks the previous ones record there can be no doubt that nobody does it better.
So that’s it. Those are all the songs ranked. What are some of your favorite Bond songs, movies, actors, women, sequences?
