Worst Bond song

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  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,108
    There is honestly only one single Bond song I actively dislike: Sam Smith whining all over Spectre’s title sequence. It baffles me how it won anything at all, but an Oscar is really stretching it. Still though, that’s just my taste and as we all know, you can’t argue about taste.
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    edited October 2019 Posts: 3,157
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    There is honestly only one single Bond song I actively dislike: Sam Smith whining all over Spectre’s title sequence. It baffles me how it won anything at all, but an Oscar is really stretching it. Still though, that’s just my taste and as we all know, you can’t argue about taste.

    I love WOTW but let's be honest, Oscars are never given to the best.

    To quote a character from Bojack, "Awards aren't about who's best".

    I think my least favourite Bond song is Die Another Day, unless we're including secondary themes as well, in that case I think Experience of love is the one I like the least. NSNA if we're counting unofficial Bond themes as well.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,108
    Walecs wrote: »

    To quote a character from Bojack, "Awards aren't about who's best".

    That is very true, my friend. Very true.
  • Last_Rat_StandingLast_Rat_Standing Long Neck Ice Cold Beer Never Broke My Heart
    Posts: 4,575
    I don't "mind" WOTW but it doesn't fit a Bond theme
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 814
    For your eyes only

    I like that one, a lot, surprisingly. I might even prefer it to ‘Nobody Does It Better’, though both are vastly inferior to ‘Live and Let Die’.

    For me, my least favorites are ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’, ‘Die Another Day’, ‘Another Way To Die’ and ‘All Time High’.

    ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ I don’t entirely hate, I like the melody and the times that melody is used in the score in SP (like when Bond and Madeline are kissing in their room on the train), it works then. What ends up sinking the song is the painfully overwrought singing. In the hands of someone else it might’ve been pretty good.
  • Posts: 7,407
    It's DAD, there is nothing comes close to it for awfulness!
    WOTW is bad when Smyth is whining, but the music is good!
  • Fire_and_Ice_ReturnsFire_and_Ice_Returns I am trying to get away from this mountan!
    Posts: 25,046
    WOTW I fast forward SP title sequence every time bloody awful
  • Posts: 1,916
    The more I think about it, DAD is really down there. So, Sigmund Freud, analyze this: It's basically a dance track with Bond lyrics. Its like Eon was so excited to have Madonna involved they would go with whatever she wanted. It's I'm just surprised they didn't give her Halle Berry's role. Then again, how bad would that've turned out given an Oscar-winner couldn't do much with it.
  • DrunkIrishPoetDrunkIrishPoet The Amber Coast
    Posts: 156
    Not the worst, but SKYFALL is way over-rated. Adele's voice is fine but the rhymey-dimey lyric is barely better than "is it right/that we fight/every night" and the tune could have been composed by an A.I. algorithm tuned into the "Bond" frequency. I was disappointed, and quite surprised by all the praise the song received.
  • Posts: 17,740
    With WOTW I can enjoy the instrumentals. With DAD I like nothing, so DAD is the worst Bond song for me.
  • Posts: 1,916
    Not the worst, but SKYFALL is way over-rated. Adele's voice is fine but the rhymey-dimey lyric is barely better than "is it right/that we fight/every night" and the tune could have been composed by an A.I. algorithm tuned into the "Bond" frequency. I was disappointed, and quite surprised by all the praise the song received.

    I agree and made a similar post before. I believe it was because Adele was the hottest singer on the planet at the time that got it the attention it did. When I went to my first screening of SF there was a teen girl there who was singing it waiting for the film to start and I'd be surprised if she had any idea about James Bond or anything about the film but just came because she knew the song.
  • DrClatterhandDrClatterhand United Kingdom
    Posts: 349
    It's Die Another Day for me. That said, Madonna's Beautiful Stranger would have made a great Bond song.
  • Last_Rat_StandingLast_Rat_Standing Long Neck Ice Cold Beer Never Broke My Heart
    Posts: 4,575
    It's a good topic that was refreshed considering i was listening to a-ha's TLD unplugged and realized how great of a theme it is and the acoustic version by them, although much older, Mortan Harket can still hit the high notes at 60.
  • Posts: 11,425
    While the quality of songs has deteriorated markedly in the last couple of decades, there are some real stinkers from back in the day. Perhaps controversially I've always found Thunderball one of the worst. It sounds like a bad pastiche of Barry/Black Bond song. Can never listen the whole way through. TMWTGG is also pretty weak but is good in parts. The lyrics are at least amusing. From Gun onwards I think they pretty a fairly solid streak until the Brosnan era. GE is passable but with TND the series was entering a wilderness phase from which it is arguably yet to emerge. TWINE is a real disappointment as I expected a lot more from Arnold. DAD is bad but not perhaps as awful as some make out. YKMN marked a remarkable return to form, not least because Arnold also works the theme into the score.

    AWTD is pretty lame but serviceable. SF decent but may be not as brilliant as some make out. TWOTW is again underwhelming.

    For worst I might actually go for TB though. Really can't stand it.
  • edited October 2019 Posts: 572
    My top 3:
    1. Another Way to Die - I really want to like this one - I absolutely love the intro and the use of drums, guitar, and brass are on point. I find it rather inventive that they used a different part of the Bond theme than the other title songs to make it Bond sounding. But it goes oh so wrong with its torturous chorus. The screechy dissonant singing that just ruins any potential it has. Then there's the absolutely unforgivable "bang bang" lyric - the straw that breaks the camel's back for me.
    2. Writing's on the Wall - I so despise this song for its post-millenial drawn out narcissism and want put it as my leading loser, but I can't only in that the song itself is okay. Put in a different singer and it's satisfactory. The whining and crybaby lyric is hardly Bond though... 😳😳😳
    3. All Time High - Completely a cheap copy of a recent previous success, not unlike the two above. Each time it's mentioned I have to re-listen to it to remember how it goes and then I'm reminded about grating the song is. Kind of like WOTW - Weak lyric, not particularly memorable or likable melody, but has the instrumentation that makes it feel like Bond, at least enough.

    Now I also see the following on here, and while not great (except TWINE), I dont know agree with people rating them at the worst with the above in existence:

    The Man with the Golden Gun - Weak melody, weak lyrics, a LALD 2.0 wannabe, but it passes. As cheesy as the lyrics are, I feel like it works for this one. Certainly not nails on a chalkboard like the above 3.
    Moonraker - Yes, I agree, it's boring and its lyrics are questionable (granted how else do you fit "Moonraker" into a lyric), but there's nothing really grating about it.
    Die Another Day - I personally like what it tries to do (mash Bond with techno dance track) and honestly it fits well with the movie's OTT style and its techno soundtrack (probably a genius thing Arnold did to make it all fit). I can see why it is grating to people with its unintelligent, repetitive lyric, but as a song on its own, it's certainly passable. Not particularly Bondian, but I'd argue LALD probably didnt sound very Bondian when it first came out either. Not going to die on the sword with this one, but I feel like it's getting more hate than warranted. Definitely bottom tier though.
    The World is Not Enough - What the hell is this even being mentioned here? Yes it's pastiche, but what Bond song isn't? I like the perspective of the song. It's one of the few coming from the villain's perspective (and probably the one that most directly does it). Plus that guitar riff...simple, but unmistakably Bond and very memorable.
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 814
    Man, ‘Thunderball’ is a favorite. Up there with ‘Live And Let Die’, ‘You Know My Name’ and ‘Goldfinger’. And I guess OHMSS’s opening theme, which is totally different.
  • JamesCraigJamesCraig Ancient Rome
    edited October 2019 Posts: 3,497
    Hmm...

    Writing's on the wall
    Die another day
    Another way to die
    All time high
    The man with the golden gun
    Tomorrow never dies

    About TND: why they didn't choose KD Lang's Surrender is something I'll never understand.
  • Posts: 7,407
    I see All Time High getting a bashing. Am I the only one who likes that song? I think it's great, and it's one of the few Bond songs that seems to get a lot of radio play.
    Agree re SKYFALL, never liked it, moany and boring!
  • JamesCraigJamesCraig Ancient Rome
    Posts: 3,497
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    I see All Time High getting a bashing. Am I the only one who likes that song? I think it's great, and it's one of the few Bond songs that seems to get a lot of radio play.
    Agree re SKYFALL, never liked it, moany and boring!

    Skyfall is an okay Adele track, nothing great, nothing bad.

    As a fan of hers I can say this: she has much better songs.

    :-?? :\">
  • Posts: 11,425
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    I see All Time High getting a bashing. Am I the only one who likes that song? I think it's great, and it's one of the few Bond songs that seems to get a lot of radio play.
    Agree re SKYFALL, never liked it, moany and boring!

    I like it too.
    JamesCraig wrote: »
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    I see All Time High getting a bashing. Am I the only one who likes that song? I think it's great, and it's one of the few Bond songs that seems to get a lot of radio play.
    Agree re SKYFALL, never liked it, moany and boring!

    Skyfall is an okay Adele track, nothing great, nothing bad.

    As a fan of hers I can say this: she has much better songs.

    :-?? :\">

    It's grown on me a little over time but it's definitley not as good as some make out.
  • edited October 2019 Posts: 3,333
    JamesStock wrote: »
    Die Another Day - Not particularly Bondian, but I'd argue LALD probably didnt sound very Bondian when it first came out either. Not going to die on the sword with this one, but I feel like it's getting more hate than warranted. Definitely bottom tier though.

    The Man with the Golden Gun - Weak melody, weak lyrics, a LALD 2.0 wannabe, but it passes. As cheesy as the lyrics are, I feel like it works for this one. Certainly not nails on a chalkboard like the above 3.

    The World is Not Enough - What the hell is this even being mentioned here?
    You can argue that but it wouldn’t be true. I can still recall the very first time I heard LALD back in 73 and I can assure you, myself and everyone else thought it sounded very Bondian. I even bought the LP soundtrack before seeing the movie. It was the Carly Simon song that didn’t sound at all Bondian on its initial release, not LALD.

    I agree with the majority of what you say bar the three paragraphs above. TMWTGG doesn’t sound remotely anything like a LALD 2.0 wannabe, nor does it pretend to be. Sure, Barry only had one shot at writing the song rather than his customary 3 attempts due to him being completely committed to Day of the Locust, but there’s no echoes of McCartney in his jazzy composition.

    TWINE certainly has its fans, but it does deserve to be on this list as it wasn’t a particularly memorable song. It’s a slight improvement over Sheryl Crow‘s dreary number, but only just.
  • JamesCraigJamesCraig Ancient Rome
    Posts: 3,497
    Getafix wrote: »
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    I see All Time High getting a bashing. Am I the only one who likes that song? I think it's great, and it's one of the few Bond songs that seems to get a lot of radio play.
    Agree re SKYFALL, never liked it, moany and boring!

    I like it too.
    JamesCraig wrote: »
    Mathis1 wrote: »
    I see All Time High getting a bashing. Am I the only one who likes that song? I think it's great, and it's one of the few Bond songs that seems to get a lot of radio play.
    Agree re SKYFALL, never liked it, moany and boring!

    Skyfall is an okay Adele track, nothing great, nothing bad.

    As a fan of hers I can say this: she has much better songs.

    :-?? :\">

    It's grown on me a little over time but it's definitley not as good as some make out.

    It's funny because I was listening to her a few days ago and I skipped Skyfall and most of her first album.

    It's at least a year since I last listened to it...

    About TWINE: It's of course not in their usual style and I love bands who dare to experiment so to speak. But her voice suits their "normal" material better.

    I never hated it though.



  • edited October 2019 Posts: 11,425
    TWINE is too bland to hate. Just a lame song all round.

    The kd Lang / Arnold collaboration is the best song of the Brosnan era by a long stretch.

    I remember hearing it at the end in the cinema and thinking "damn why wasn't this at the beginning"?
  • JamesCraigJamesCraig Ancient Rome
    Posts: 3,497
    Getafix wrote: »
    TWINE is too bland to hate. Just a lame song all round.

    The kd Lang / Arnold collaboration is the best song of the Brosnan era by a long stretch.

    I remember hearing it at the end in the cinema and thinking "damn why wasn't this at the beginning"?

    Indeed. The "Tomorrow never dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees" at the end is beyond incredible.
  • edited October 2019 Posts: 7,407
    Getafix wrote: »
    TWINE is too bland to hate. Just a lame song all round.

    The kd Lang / Arnold collaboration is the best song of the Brosnan era by a long stretch.

    I remember hearing it at the end in the cinema and thinking "damn why wasn't this at the beginning"?

    Regarding TWINE, I was a fan of the band Garbage at the time, and thought they were a great choice, but the song didn't really suit them, and I think they could of produced something better!
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    Posts: 3,157
    ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ I don’t entirely hate, I like the melody and the times that melody is used in the score in SP (like when Bond and Madeline are kissing in their room on the train).

    You mean the only instance?
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 814
    Huh? That was just as an example. I think it's used throughout the movie.
  • Posts: 11,425
    Nope. only used once by Newman.
    Same with SF.
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 814
    Um, the melody is used at the end of the PTS in SP if I remember right, piloting the helicopter
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    Um, the melody is used at the end of the PTS in SP if I remember right, piloting the helicopter

    That is when it segues into the titles, so that hardly counts. All title themes are in the title sequences.
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