20 Things You Didn't Know About SPECTRE (2015)
3. Spectre Has Come For Me
Numerous Bond films have had potential theme songs submitted to front them that, for better or worse, have been rejected. Sam Smith’s song for SPECTRE, "Writing's On The Wall" divided Bond fans and critics alike, even though it went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Radiohead also submitted a song entitled “Spectre” to headline the film - a ballad that explored the twisting plot and the trust issues that lie at the core of Daniel Craig’s James Bond. The production team liked the song, but disliked its melancholy tone and the fact that it could not be submitted for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Radiohead were so keen to provide the film’s main theme that they put off production on their 2016 song, “A Moon Shaped Pool” to work on a new one for the Bond producers, but Sam Mendes chose Smith’s song instead. Even though Mendes tried to use Spectre elsewhere in the film, he found the lyrics to be distracting, but described the song as “beautiful”.
Rather than discard it, Radiohead tweaked Spectre to suit their style and released it digitally, as a B-side to their vinyl single “Burn the Witch”, and in the special edition of A Moon Shaped Pool.