James Bond: Ranking The Theme Songs From Worst To Best

8. A View To A Kill - Duran Duran

A View To A Kill

Description: By this point in the franchise, an aging Roger Moore realized he was pushing his luck playing the dynamic James Bond and took his leave. But not without leaving behind A View To A Kill, which was one of the sillier, if not all together unmemorable Bond experiences. However the complete opposite can be said for its theme tune, performed by Pop superstars Duran Duran. At the height of their power, and somehow within John Barry's professional threshold, Simon LeBon and company scored the (so far) only Bond theme to hit number 1 on Billboard's Top 100 charts. The song was heavy on 80's sound and synth, but was balanced by the group's equal parts charming and threatening nature. After all, these were the boys that were "Hungry Like The Wolf", so why wouldn't they transfer some of that lupine energy into this gig? Choice Lyrics: "Until we dance into the fire, that fatal kiss is all we need. / Dance into the fire, to fatal sounds of broken dreams". Now is probably a good time to mention the theory that most Bond title songs are written from the viewpoint of the villain. Case in point, the lyrics to this song detail a Hellish vision of reckless abandon that leads to the crashing down of the world around the protagonist. The way this song is presented, it's as if whomever is singing not only wants this all to happen, but they feel it's the only way things can go down. It's not "If we dance into the fire" or "That fatal kiss is a good suggestion", it's promising that we will dance into the fire, partake in that fatal kiss, and all that will be left is a front row seat to the destruction of Silicon Valley's dreams. This is what Bond has to fight against, and this is Max Zorin's mission statement in song form.
In this post: 
James Bond
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Mike Reyes may or may not be a Time Lord, but he's definitely the Doctor Who editor here at What Culture. In addition to his work at What Culture, Mr. Reyes writes for Cocktails and Movies, as well as his own personal blogs Mr. Controversy and The Bookish Kind. On top of that, he's also got a couple Short Stories and Novels in various states of completion, like any good writer worth their salt. He resides in New Jersey, and compiles his work from all publications on his Facebook page.