James Bond: Ranking The Theme Songs From Worst To Best

3. You Know My Name (From "Casino Royale") - Chris Cornell

Casino Royale

Description: The last three songs are purely about Bond and his relationships to people he cares about the most, as well as himself. When the series rebooted in 2006, the creative team decided to shake things up again and bring in Soundgarden front-man Chris Cornell. "You Know My Name" is a song that serves as a re-introduction to the character of James Bond, who by the time they decided to revamp things was little more than a joke. Much like their treatment of the character, the films and the themes hit an all time low when Die Another Day was released for Bond's 40th anniversary. Lumps taken, and lessons learned, EON Productions restarted the clock on the original super spy and brought in Daniel Craig, a post 9/11 attitude of danger and serious thrills, and binned the CGI para-sailing. If you had to put all of that into a 4 minute + song, and used Rock and Roll to do it, then you'd have "You Know My Name". Choice Lyrics: "Arm yourself because no one else here will save you. The odds will betray you, and I will replace you." I'd have run with the full Chorus if I didn't think it was so time consuming, but even with just those two lines you get the idea of what's at stake here. Bond is going to get hit and he's going to get hit bad, as he's still green in the field. He's going to be challenged in every way possible, and his heart is going to get broken perhaps in the worst way ever. We know he'll deal with it in his own way, but this introduction to his character also serves as a warning to himself: don't get too carried away, it's all ready to collapse at the first sign of trouble.
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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.