Bond Week, Day 1: Best Bond Theme Songs

    Countdown to Skyfall, Day 1...

    It’s one of the most prestigious honors a musician can receive: the opportunity to perform the song that plays over the main titles for a James Bond movie. Okay, so maybe not the most prestigious, but you can't deny that there’s something about the opportunity to contribute to the Bond mystique - it’s a tradition, an establishment. An invitation to one of the most exclusive clubs around. Bond themes also serve as a nice time capsule for the era in which they’re released (or a showcase for how behind the times some installments were). It’s to the credit of the series that so many quality songs have been composed over half a century of Bond pictures (indeed, compiling the “Worst of” list was a lot harder than I originally thought it would be).

    So, without further ado, I present to you my Five Best theme songs of the James Bond series…


BEST:

5: “James Bond Theme” by Monty Norman, Dr. No

   You can’t go wrong with a classic - one so ingrained in popular culture almost anyone could hum it without ever having seen a Bond movie. It’s used and overused and parodied to such an extent that it’s easy to forget just how revolutionary it was. From the surf-rock guitar riff at the beginning to the explosion of brass at the end, the original theme captures everything that James Bond is: exciting, dangerous and utterly cool.

4: “Nobody Does it Better” by Carly Simon, The Spy Who Loved Me


                                    


    After the hugeness of “Goldfinger,” it became commonplace to go for a certain type of bombastic, brassy sound for the Bond pictures - all the more reason “Nobody Does it Better” stands out from the pack. A soulful, somber tune (the exact opposite of the film it sits in front of) sung beautifully by Carly Simon. 

3: “You Only Live Twice” by Nancy Sinatra, You Only Live Twice

    A criminally-underrated song amongst the Bond pantheon, “You Only Live Twice” is hypnotizing in its simplicity. From the opening strings to Nancy Sinatra’s golden voice, the song casts a spell on the listener - one that’s very easy to get lost in.

2: “Live and Let Die” by Paul McCartney and Wings, Live and Let Die

   Leave it to Paul McCartney to completely change the format. Before “Live and Let Die,” the Bond themes all went for the crooning, lounge singer feel. McCartney shattered all of that, composing a catchy rock ballad which still had that larger-than-life feel you need in a Bond theme - and paving the way for future songwriters like Duran Duran and Jack White to come in and rock the 007 format. It’s to McCartney’s credit that he produced a song that feels at home equally as part of a rock concert and the main titles for a Bond movie.

1: “Goldfinger” by Shirley Bassey, Goldfinger

   The gold standard for all that followed, Shirley Bassey’s rendition of “Goldfinger” forevermore set the stage for all the acts to follow. From the opening horns, we know we’re in Bond territory, and the huge sound of the song meant that adjectives like “bombastic” were always going to be an integral part of the Bond sound. The first of three songs sung by Shirley Bassey throughout the series, and still unquestionably the best.