My goal with this list is to separate the best from the worst. The criteria for inclusion is simple: the song must be a LYRICAL piece of music composed specifically for (and included in) a James Bond film. This eliminates a few songs, including the iconic instrumental Bond theme, the title track from From Russia With Love, and the excellent “We Have All the Time in the World” from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
21. “The Man With the Golden Gun” - Lulu (The Man With the Golden Gun, 1974):
One thing I figured out pretty quickly when trying to put this together is that if you force yourself to listen to a song over and over, you’ll probably like it eventually. Maybe it’s some sort of coping mechanism. Anyway, this is the exception. Out of every song on this list, this is the one that I genuinely do not like. I find it, to be blunt, unpleasant. Not much else to say. This song sucks.
20. “Writing’s on the Wall” - Sam Smith (Spectre, 2015):
So deep is my disdain for the bottom entry on this list that this one manages to edge ahead of it. As part of this process, I made myself listen to each and every one of these themes until I was able to hum them from memory. After about 10 playthroughs with this one, I gave up. Which is a shame, as Sam Smith has a perfect voice and style for this type of thing. At the same time, the rejected Radiohead song written for the film isn’t much better so maybe it’s just cursed.
19. “Another Way to Die” - Jack White & Alicia Keys (Quantum of Solace, 2008):
This song gets a lot of hate. If you Google “ranking Bond themes” (which I did, many times) this is the one that brings up the rear more often than not. I don’t get it myself, as I always kind of liked it. It’s not stellar by any means but it’s the best part of the (rather dull) film for which it was written.
18. “Thunderball” - Tom Jones (Thunderball, 1965):
Chronologically, only the second Bond theme, this one already feels a bit stale. It was very clearly attempting to copy the Goldfinger formula and, while not a bad tune by any stretch, it doesn’t make enough of an impact to rank any higher.
17. “For Your Eyes Only” - Sheena Easton (For Your Eyes Only, 1981):
This one comes smack in the middle of what I think of as Bond’s “adult contemporary” era. The songs in this time period were way more subdued and way less distinctive. That’s a nice way of saying they’re kinda boring. None of them are bad, per se, but this one is definitely the weakest of the bunch. Bonus points for Sheena Easton being the only singer to actually appear in the opening credits.
16. “Moonraker” - Shirley Bassey (Moonraker, 1979):
Shirley Bassey did three Bond themes and they’re all very special. This one is just less special than the other two, being the second song in the aforementioned adult contemporary era. It’s a pretty inoffensive, yet forgettable song. It doesn’t overstay its welcome but that’s just about all I can say for it, other than I enjoy saying “Wherrrrrre aaaaaarrre youuuuu?”
15. “The Living Daylights” - a-ha (The Living Daylights, 1987):
The Timothy Dalton Bond films are kind of a trip to watch because they feel so damn different from what came before. Nothing better encapsulates the departure from the Roger Moore era than this, the theme from Dalton’s first outing, which sounds as though it would be more at home in a John Hughes production of Donnie Darko. I do mean that in a good way, I promise.
14. “You Only Live Twice” - Nancy Sinatra (You Only Live Twice, 1967):
Very very very very very unique in context. Borderline psychedelic in tone, a style that somehow never really made its way into Bond themes. Definitely a product of its time and I would have liked to hear more tunes in the same vein.
13. “Die Another Day” - Madonna (Die Another Day, 2002)
I hated it. I hated it. I hated it. Then I liked it. Now I really like it. This one is polarizing, as it sees Madonna in the height of that post-Cher-”Believe”-comeback experimentation with autotune. A weird time for us all. Me, I was super into, like, Teletubbies or something at that time, probably. It’s certainly the most dance club-friendly tune on this list for what that’s worth (11th place). Bonus points for randomly whispering “Sigmund Freud” followed by (I guess) a dance break.
12. “Tomorrow Never Dies” - Sheryl Crow (Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997)
We’re in the middle of the list now, friends. I’m really tired. I don’t have much to say about this song. I just like it. Is that good enough for you? Sheryl Crow is a weird choice for a Bond theme but this song just works. I’ll go on record and say that the Brosnan films have the best average score for theme tunes.
11. “All-Time High” - Rita Coolidge (Octopussy, 1983)
Bond continued his adult contemporary era with the theme from this unfortunately titled entry in the series. For some reason, it always reminded me of the closing credits theme to the original Dragon Ball. I like that song. I like this song too!
10. “You Know My Name” - Chris Cornell (Casino Royale, 2006)
The most straightforward “rock” theme of all, from the best Bond film of all. I go back and forth on it, but this feels like the right placement. In all seriousness, it also gets some bonus points for having one of the coolest opening credit scenes of all time. Absolutely stellar introduction to the Daniel Craig era
9. “A View to a Kill” - Duran Duran (A View to a Kill, 1985)
I didn’t even know this was a Bond theme until recently. I just thought it was a New Wave banger. Loses points for sounding not like a Bond theme and sounding instead like a New Wave banger. Bonus points for not sounding like a Bond theme and sounding instead like a New Wave Banger. Really makes a fella want to dance into the fire, whatever that means.
8. “Live and Let Die” - Paul McCartney & Wings (Live and Let Die, 1973)
Probably the Bond theme that is most popular outside of the context of “being a Bond theme,” right? If you listen to it in the context of the other themes it is actually extremely daring, full of bombast and a Caribbean-tinged bridge. Bonus points for the sheer amount of pyro that went off during this song the time I saw Paul McCartney in concert.
7. “Diamonds Are Forever” - Shirley Bassey (Diamonds Are Forever, 1971)
If I’m being honest (and you know I would never lie to you), my enjoyment of this song comes almost entirely from my near Pavlovian response to hearing its intro, expecting Kanye West to pop in at any second. He never does… Just like in real life. (this joke was written during the release period for Donda. It’s kind of funny if you pretend it is still August, right?)
6. “The World Is Not Enough” - Garbage (The World Is Not Enough, 1999)
Most wouldn’t rank this quite so highly. I, however, am not most. This song feels big. The strings, the chorus that sounds designed for audience shout-alongs, everything about it just works. Another example of a song being the best part of its namesake film. More people need to like Garbage. They’re pretty great!
5. “License to Kill” - Gladys Knight (License to Kill, 1989)
Dude, the first time I heard this song (about a month ago) I was underwhelmed. I have grown so much during this time period. I regret my past opinions and promise to do better in the future. Straight up, I don’t even know what about it I love so much, but I would not at all be surprised if it tops my Spotify this year.
4. “Goldfinger” - Shirley Bassey (Goldfinger, 1964)
This is the O.G. as far as the “Bond theme” as we now recognize it is concerned. What’s wonderful about this song is the fact that, removed from the context of its film, it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. It’s just a song about a bad man who loves gold. Bonus points for closing the song by shouting “HE LOVES GOLD!” Just the silliest, campiest, best thing.
3. “Nobody Does It Better” - Carly Simon (The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977):
A great song, largely because it works about 300x better than it has any right to. The start of what I referred to earlier as the “adult contemporary” Bond theme era, Carly Simon’s crack at the franchise sounds like something that would be played during a slideshow at your parents’ anniversary party, but goddamn it in context it just fucking works. Bonus points for reminding you it’s a Bond theme by shoehorning in the title of the movie AND for the absolute majesty(‘s secret service) that is the line “the way that you hold me, whenever you hold me.” Powerful stuff.
2. “GoldenEye” - Tina Turner (GoldenEye, 1995)
Before it was the only first-person shooter game I’ve ever enjoyed, GoldenEye was actually a movie. Bet you didn’t know that. Don’t ever say channel.WAV never taught you anything. Anyway, this was the movie’s theme. U2 wrote what is effectively a U2 song and then they handed it to Tina Turner. And it worked. Like far better than it had any right to. If the brass from this song alone won’t get you hype to watch the misadventures of Britain’s greatest secret agent, nothing will.
1. “Skyfall” - Adele (Skyfall, 2012)
This is the platonic ideal of a Bond theme. Adele took influence from the classic Shirley Bassey type theme and made it her own. Immediately recognizable as a Bond theme, yet still capable of standing on its own as a great song and (in my opinion) one of the best things Adele has ever put out. Bonus points for winning a fucking Oscar. What have you done lately?
Do you agree with these rankings? Do you disagree? Do you want to be my friend? Do you want to be Dane’s friend? Let me know in the comments :)
- Slone
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