# Best James Bond Theme? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676 "2003-08-12T16:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/21 "2003-08-13T04:34:25Z")
_ **Diamonds Are Forever** _ by the incomparable Shirley Bassey (like the song she did with the Propellerheads, too, though it’s not a Bond theme). ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/22 "2003-08-13T04:43:40Z")
The best is the original Bond theme by Barry. May Moby be stricken of every dollar he made for that awful electronic thing that tries to take its place. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/23 "2003-08-13T05:15:02Z")
**BraheSilver,** that is the best thing about **Golfinger!** As the theme plays thru the movie, it is still essentially the original Bond theme. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/24 "2003-08-13T05:59:07Z")
_Live and Let Die, Octopussy_ and _Diamonds are Forever_ ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/25 "2003-08-13T06:11:56Z")
1. A view to a kill 2. The world is not enough 3. The spy who loved me (Nobody does it better) 4. Live and let die 5. You only live twice Last by a mile: Madonna. ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/26 "2003-08-13T06:32:22Z")
I like the theme that said, “The hero always nails a good looking broad.” 😉 Oh, you meant _musical_ theme… ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/27 "2003-08-13T11:39:57Z")
Live and Let Die Goldfinger The Living Daylights (only because I’m an 80’s A-ha fan) The calypso theme from Dr No. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/28 "2003-08-13T12:52:36Z")
_We have all the time in the world_, sung by Satchmo. I kinda like Tina Turner’s _Goldeneye_, since it works as a pastisch on the Shirley Bassey tunes. It helped putting Bond back on track ()even though it’s derailing again). And yes, the Bassey songs - _Goldfinger + Diamonds are forever_ are the best, followed by the bullhorn from Wales in _Thunderball_, Sir Paul w. Wings _Live and Let Die_ with honorable mentions to _For your eyes only + Nobody does it better_. Worst: _Bond '77_, the disco version of the original theme. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/29 "2003-08-13T12:56:44Z")
My top six:[list=1] [li]OHMSS[/li][li]Goldfinger[/li][li]Live and Let Die[/li][li]Nobody Does It Better (TSWLM)[/li][li]Moonraker[/li][li]For Your Eyes Only[/li][/list=1] Least favorite: All Time High ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/30 "2003-08-13T13:46:40Z")
I love James Bond movie music. If I had to choose a top 6, they’d be: _Goldfinger View to A Kill Live and Let Die Nobody Does It Better Living Daylights Goldeneye_ But it’s a tough call. Can’t stand _All Time High_ and _For Your Eyes Only_ ---
**Author:** ![MusicJunkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@MusicJunkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MusicJunkie)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/31 "2003-08-13T13:55:09Z")
What about License to Kill? ---
**Author:** ![GrandfatherTrout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@GrandfatherTrout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandfatherTrout)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/32 "2003-08-13T14:20:34Z")
_Goldfinger._ I also have a soft spot for _Goldeneye._ I think technically it’s out of the running, but we should also mention k.d. lang’s _Surrender,_ used for the end credits of _Tomorrow Never Dies._ Big show-stopping brassiness in the best Shirley Bassey tradition. Why it wasn’t at the other end of the movie I’ll never understand, unless it was because they couldn’t handle the idea of a Known Lesbian singing a song during the traditional naked-ladies-on-trampolines sequence. They used that insipid Sheryl Crow tune instead. Fie! Criminal, I tell you! _The World is Not Enough_ could have been great if they’d had a stronger singer handling the vocals. In my mind, the true Bond tradition pretty much demands some real pipes: Shirley Manson can rock, but in my mind she just wasn’t right for the part. k.d. lang, now. _There’s_ somebody with the chops. _A View to a Kill_ was the song that killed my fandom for Duran Duran. Why on earth didn’t they write a song that was comfortably in Simon LeBon’s range? Whiny, whiny, whiny. Eeugh. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/33 "2003-08-13T14:40:52Z")
Actually, on Saturday they had a show on CBC radio dealing with Bond music. They played “never released” them songs… such as: For Your Eyes Only - By **Blondie** Goldfinger - By some guy that did some of the music for **Dr. Doolittle** (it was awful!) You Only Live Twice - Can’t remember the name, but it was OK. Various other newer versions. I thought the Blondie one was kind of interesting… it sounded just like a, well, **Blondie** song. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2003, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/34 "2003-08-13T14:42:36Z")
Hard to choose a single best song, actually. Here’s my top five as of today: _Goldfinger_, at number one with a bullet. 1. _Live and Let Die_ 2. _Diamonds are Forever_ 3. John Barry’s theme for OHMSS 4. _A View to a Kill_; one of the best things the Durans ever did, IMHO Honourable Mention: _Nobody Does it Better_ (than Carly Simon) ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/35 "2003-09-07T06:24:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mudshark \* > \*\*_Live and Let Die, Octopussy_ and _Diamonds are Forever_ \*\* I had to bump this to change my answer. 1. Tomorrow Never Dies 2. Diamonds are Forever 3. The World Is Not Enough 4. All Time High 5. From Russia With Love (with vocals) ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/36 "2003-09-07T10:43:56Z")
Sorry but I don’t rate ‘All time high’, Rita Struggles(and fails) to make the long high notes, she has to slide up to them and still misses by a mile, and the few times she does hit them, again she slide upward but arrives to late and the moment is lost. ‘Live & let die’, the changes of pace and feel make it perhaps the most innovative of Bond themes. The James Bond theme(John Barry), that riff is almost a signature for the Bond character. Goldfinger. ---
**Author:** ![Daylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@Daylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/37 "2003-09-07T11:23:08Z")
Definately the original James Bond Riff… (Is it John Barry? Whatever song that plays when he’s pulling a “macgyver-success-out-of-the-jaws-of-certain-defeat-armed-with-a-washcloth-and-a-pen-knife-saves-the-girl-and-still-orders-the-Dom-Perignon-'53” song… I liken it to the classic “Captain Kirk-fight-the-alien” Song… D. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/38 "2003-09-07T11:39:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MusicJunkie \* > \*\*What about License to Kill? \*\* That would be my pick as well! ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/39 "2003-09-07T12:53:25Z")
The original Bond theme was credited to Monty Norman, not John Barry. That said, it is widely believed that the tune is 90% Barry’s work, as he himself claims, although Norman did successfully sue the Sunday Times over the matter - [http://www.geocities.com/jaoll/barry/lawsuit.htm](http://www.geocities.com/jaoll/barry/lawsuit.htm). Anyway, I love John Barry’s film music, my favourite Bond theme being _You Only Live Twice_. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676/40 "2003-09-07T12:58:05Z")
I like it too. Except it’s _Licence to Kill_. My favorites are, in no real order: _Diamond are Forever All Time High Goldfinger Licence to Kill For Your Eyes Only Nobody Does it Better On Her Majesty’s Secret Service The Man with the Golden Gun_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-james-bond-theme/194676.md?page=3)