In 1962, Monty Norman created one of the most indelible movie theme tunes of the 20th century. With some help (whether he liked it or not) from John Barry, the James Bond Theme was born. With lightly intensifying horns and brushed drums, a guitar twangs out the now familiar melody. Ask anyone to sing the theme, and you’ll get the same response: “Dun du du dun dun, dun dun dun dun du du du dun…”
The song has permeated pop culture for the past 50 years that the film series has blasted onto our screens, and if the performance of Skyfall is any indication, it won’t be fading from our collective memories any time soon. But it wasn’t until the following film, 1963′s From Russia With Love, that the standard template for a Bond theme would be created.
With Matt Monro’s wistfully romantic title track closing the film out, audiences were treated to a new tradition: the Bond theme tune. If any reservation was had about where this newly minted tradition was going, Shirley Bassey put them to rest as she belted out the 1964 classic, Goldfinger. With reckless abandon, Dame Shirley told the tale of a man whose kiss of death sealed the fate of all he touched.
The music and film world would never be the same, as this fused together the James Bond film series with title ballads that, while varying in quality, took enough of a chance to promise the best time you could have in the cinema. Which brings us to why we’re here today: it’s time to rank, once and for all, the best of 21 eligible James Bond theme from the absolute worst to the best in show.
Before we get started, there’s obviously two big questions that are being asked. The first: why 21 themes out of 23 films? Well, there are two obvious exceptions made to keep things interesting: The James Bond Theme and Die Another Day are disqualified for obvious reasons. In the case of the first, it’s disqualified because it’s the James Bond theme. Its legacy takes it out of the equation, as it clearly is the best recognized (and arguably the best ever) theme from the series.
Similar disqualification is had with Die Another Day, except it’s the antithesis of the previous example. If your theme tune is so bad that Elton John, The Royals, and David Arnold (who was the in house Bond composer at the time) all hate it with a flaming passion, in addition to millions of Bond fans worldwide, you clearly don’t have any business being talked about in polite company. Though if anyone really wants to take the hit and defend the theme tune, for whatever insane reason you may have, strike fast and strike hard in the comments section.
The second question would be, hasn’t this author already covered similar ground in a previous list? Why yes, this author has already tackled the top 10 Bond themes in a previous article. However, this isn’t a mere rehash of that previous story. If anything, this is time to mess with rankings, shift the status quo, and re-evaluate the songs in a wider context with all of the other songs. In other words, it’s not going to be as simple as cut and paste – in fact, the previous article was only consulted to provide the hyperlink above. Besides that, this is a clean slate.
With that in mind, let’s rank the James Bond theme songs from worst to best…
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21 Comments
What?! Tomorrow Never Dies by Sheryl Crow is awesome! Definitely deserves top 10 status.
Also, why can’t Crow sing as a character wishing Bond was hers and hers alone?
She can do just that…it just doesn’t impress me when it sounds like she’s had a Vallum while doing so.
The White/Keys theme from Quantum was just awful, i’m amazing there’s ever been worse.
Was Madonna’s Die Another Day not worthy of recognition? Probably.
I kinda figured Madonna doesn’t even deserve to be in the conversation, really. The song was bad, and we all pretty much know it’s the bottom of the barrel. And the Quantum duet wasn’t the greatest, but I still enjoyed the Jack White half of the song making equation, with the title version being the best edit of a bad theme I can remember. Still, that’s merely an opinion of mine, and I thank everyone for reading it.
Hi Mike,
Do you think you could do a ‘worst-to-best’ feature on the Bond opening sequences?
Gotta agree with Noel and Chris on this one. Tomorrow Never Dies is one of my favorites simply because it does take the point-of-view of one of Bond’s many female conquests and turns the premise of the suave spy on its ear. And the Quantum of Solace theme was the worst. Truly a chore to sit through in the theater.
Also, while it wasn’t a “theme” technically, no love for “We Have All the Time in the World” by Louis Armstrong?
Daniel, I have LOADS of love for that song. While it’s not an official theme, I absolutely adore Louis Armstrong, and the song that he performed for the “courtship” portion of OHMSS.
As for TND’s theme, compared to Surrender I’m just kind of bored with that one. I mean I’ll still listen to it, but overall it’s Surrender that I’ll always remember as the “almost” hit. I give it points for being different though, but it’s something Carly Simon did before her and to a better degree.
Regardless, thanks for your feedback though. I’m glad I haven’t offended your sensibilities. :D
How can you think that blancmange Adele song is good, she is a poor mans Shirley Bassey…except Shirley has the depth that slob could never reach…….
Live and Let Die at #10 is just..well..head scratching.
you should be ashamed for not putting in Jack White/Alicia Keys in the top 10. it was energetic, modern, AMAZING lyrics, and really complimented both of the artist’s individual talents. and was definitely better than Duran Duran’s and a-Ha’s attempts.
Skyfall-Adele was OVERRATED. drop that puppy near the bottom of the top 10. overall it was good, but suffers from putting me to sleep for the first 2 minutes.
and seriously, do you really believe there were worse entries than The Man With The Golden Gun — LuLu??? it sounds worse than scratching a chalkboard
How is Goldfinger only number 4. Many of the Bond theme songs are brilliant but none can hold a candle to Goldfinger. The best theme song for the best Bond movie.
‘Another Way to Die’ is the worst James Bond theme song ever! along with Madonna’s ‘Die Another Day’. I agreed with the rest. There’s a song that sounds like a Bond song but it’s not. It’s called ‘No Good About Goodbye’ by Dame Shirley Bassey. There’s something specific about James Bond Theme Song but I can’t say what.
I’ve heard about that one myself, and I like it. Apparently, David Arnold liked it enough himself to quote the melody through the score to Quantum of Solace; which is funny. Funny because when they couldn’t secure an end title song for some reason, they hired FourTet to write “Crawl, End Crawl”…and yet, they had a perfectly good song here that could have been End Title fodder.
‘How is Goldfinger only number 4. Many of the Bond theme songs are brilliant but none can hold a candle to Goldfinger. The best theme song for the best Bond movie’.
This. It is THE Bond song. Also I like Chris Cornell but his song just felt like a rock song to me, without the Bond feel. Maybe it is just me but I always prefer the title of the movie to the song. NO way is it better than Goldfinger
Sorry to disagree, Luke, but ‘You Know My Name’ is kind of has similar feel with ‘The World Is Not Enough’, ‘Live and Let Die’ and ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’. Chris Cornell makes it very manly and tough, kind of like the look of Daniel Craig.
James Bond Theme Song is really really important to me, or than the gadgets or the girl, that’s why I was really pissed to listen to ‘Another Way To Die’ and ‘Die Another Day’.
Is it just me, or is “Skyfall” so overrated? I mean, it just doesn’t stand out as a song, let alone a Bond theme. There’s nothing to it, nothing from the music to the lyrics that makes it a piece that says “Wow”, more like “Meh”. The only recent one that’s stood out for me over the past few films is the Chris Cornell track – much more powerful, and has a lot more depth than the Adele single. And I agree with the poster above – Shirley Bassey wipes the floor with the Tottenham-born singer. Also, “Live And Let Die” and “Diamonds Are Forever” deserve to be higher placed. Both are iconic, and are more memorable than some of the others on the list (although, kudos for having Duran Duran and A-ha in the Top Ten).
Mike,
While your rankings are fairly close to my own, you made a major boo-boo with “Nobody Does It Better.” Carole King had nothing to do with that song–it was Carly Simon.
I love Adele, but Skyfall is weak. Really surprised its this high on the list. I put “Goldfinger” first. I also love “For Your Eyes Only” and “Live and Let Die.”
Correction: “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” didn’t “put a face to the now infamous name of Ernst Starvo(sic) Blofeld”. Donald Pleasance was revealed as the face of Blofeld in “You Only Live Twice”; Telly Savalas played the role one film later in OHMSS.
I think you got it all wrong but everyone has a right to their opinion! Rita Coolodges sultry and soulful voice did a wonderful job and does not deserve to be last. I have a feeling you were not around when that movie came out. I think to judge you needed to be a participant of those times and you probably were not there. Try a different list within your lifetime.
I just have two issues with your list:
1- While I do agree with your placement of Matt Munro’s rendition of From Russia With Love, the instrumental version (which is the one actually played at the beginning) is far superior and deserves a number two spot on any Bond themes list.
2- Actually, I guess I only have one issue. I was going to claim that, while OHMSS is definitely the best Bond film (Dr. No and Skyfall complete my top three), it doesn’t have the best theme, but upon listening to it (as I’m doing now), I have to take that back. The opening notes have a Bond-like flavor to them that almost carries one through the rest of the song, not that the rest of the song isn’t great, too, because it is.
Oh, and by the way, while the OHMSS theme song is the best Bond theme song, it’s not the best song ever written for a Bond film. That song, however, also comes from OHMSS: Louis Armstrong’s beautiful “We Have All The Time in the World.”