BOND SONG.

a pick six

by Hunter Jon

Theme songs for James Bond movies are tough to judge. Some are great songs, but not the most fitting for 007. Others work wonderfully in the context of their respective title sequences, but don’t quite hold up when they come on in the car. It’s also all too easy to dismiss one because you don’t like the movie it goes with. Regardless, I find a handful of them undeniably shine brighter than the rest.

Here are my six favourites, with apologies to Carly Simon.

Definitely leaning closer to ripe-for-radio than that traditional Bond sound, but somehow (don’t ask me how) it’s gotten better with age. What was once most people’s ‘guilty pleasure’ one is now just flat-out one of the best.

It just screams James Bond and fits better than a glove. If it didn’t belong to him, everyone would wish it did. But it impressively doesn’t directly steal the style/sound of any classics that came before, as I find too many do. A fine example of inspiration at work instead of imitation. Yet it’s not afraid to be the good ol’ grand, theatrical theme we’d all been waiting for the return of. And, c’mon - it’s Adele. She’s the best.

A fresh Bond’s first impression can make or break him, and they really, really needed Craig to win us over immediately. So they threw the gauntlet down with not one but three opening sequences designed to blow audiences away, the second being the credits. These easily could have slowed down the momentum and caused the whole grand plan to sag in the middle. But that’s far from the case and I believe everyone has this track to thank. Plus, Cornell practically screaming “you know my name” over and over was exactly what we all needed to get our blood pumping in the theatre on opening night.

Rightfully definitive to so many fans for so many reasons. When you think Bond music, after his infamous theme from the score, you’ll quickly hear this in your head. Well, at least I do. It’s the one everyone sets out to top. The music alone is sublime. Then bring on Bassey and, cinematically speaking, you’ve pretty much got a perfect song.

It’s the best song song. No one is going to argue that. But is it the best Bond song? I personally don’t think so. Despite the obvious John Barry homages throughout, it works too well on its own to be the quintessential theme.

Perhaps I’m biased because it’s my favourite movie in the franchise. Or perhaps it’s really just that good. There’s a cleanness to it, and Monro’s voice, that, in my opinion, makes it flawless. It has an ethereal flow, sounding like syrup. It’s also one of the few straight-up love songs in the catalog, suggesting that the relationship in the movie is about romance as much as it is about sex, which, as you know, is very rare for Bond. Therefore, it might be the one and only theme that becomes necessary to the narrative by managing to improve it.