20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Living Daylights (1987)
2. “I Swear My Nerves Are Showing.”
The Pet Shop Boys submitted a song for The Living Daylights, but never received a response from the filmmakers, so they reworked it into their song, “This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave”.
Record executive, Ray Still (who had united Eon Productions with Duran Duran for A View to a Kill) recommended Norwegian pop group a-ha to Barbara Broccoli and, initially, there was much synergy between a-ha and John Barry. However, when Barry edited one of songwriter, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy’s synth lines, the group adamantly changed it back, leaving Barry miffed.
Barry described his collaboration with a-ha in largely negative terms, finding them difficult to work with and likely offended by their cavalier attitude towards actually seeing the finished film. However, the group praised John Barry’s contribution to the song, particularly his strong arrangement of it.
Sadly, whilst the song reached number one in Norway and peaked at number five in Britain, it failed to chart in America.
John Barry was officially unable to provide the soundtrack score for Licence To Kill due to illness, but it is rumoured that the producers replaced him following the incident with a-ha.