# Monty Norman, composer of the James Bond theme, has died **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 17, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089 "2022-07-17T15:01:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089/1 "2022-07-17T15:01:51Z")
The James Bond theme is one of the coolest themes ever. > **[Monty Norman, the composer of the James Bond theme, dies at 94](https://www.npr.org/2022/07/12/1110988857/monty-norman-the-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-dies-at-94)** > > To produce the iconic theme song, the late composer drew on a piece he had written for a proposed musical adaptation of V.S. Naipaul's "A House for Mr. Biswas." ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089/2 "2022-07-17T15:39:37Z")
I’m not what you’d call a gamer but Goldeneye for Nintendo 64 was a huge hit during my formative years and I was awakened many times to the opening chords by my first college roommate. That horn hook really grabs ya. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/w4cUuJpc7b8/maxresdefault.jpg "GoldenEye 64 Full SoundTrack") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4cUuJpc7b8) Pause music is far more chill and also very good. I still hum it to myself when slinking around, doing something sneaky: > **[r/videos - Goldeneye 007 Pause Menu Music](https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/w0jkw6/goldeneye_007_pause_menu_music/)** > > 424 votes and 85 comments so far on Reddit ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089/3 "2022-07-17T19:44:51Z")
I’ve always said the James Bond theme is the theme music with the most recognizable parts ever. Almost every part of the Bond theme is different but instantly recognizable. Compare that to something modern like the theme to Marvels Avengers which really only has a single “part” anyone recognizes. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089/4 "2022-07-17T21:58:29Z")
He was trying to snipe someone, but got shot before he could pull the trigger. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089/5 "2022-07-18T11:33:50Z")
Damn, but his music is fun. Sorry he’s gone. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089/6 "2022-07-18T12:21:51Z")
Let’s all take five moments of silence. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089/7 "2022-07-18T12:57:38Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Damn, but his music is fun. > Sorry he’s gone You could set that to the theme! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089/8 "2022-07-18T16:30:50Z")
I was surprised to learn that the author had originally composed the James Bond Theme for the _sitar_. Is there a version of this somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089/9 "2022-07-18T17:06:44Z")
[This might be the closest we’ll get.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAN7Z3iiEqE&ab_channel=softladification) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089/10 "2022-07-18T20:18:45Z")
This is his song that he adapted. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ElFRXFKgGZo/hqdefault.jpg "Bad Sign, Good Sign") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElFRXFKgGZo) John Barry is responsible for expanding and orchestrating it into the iconically spectacular music that resonated. But Monty started with a decent tune. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monty-norman-composer-of-the-james-bond-theme-has-died/968089/11 "2022-07-18T23:08:25Z")
Well, at least it wasn’t the bagpipes. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…