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Just one odd thing stood out to you?
Yes this one is a bit of a classic continuity mistake- I remember it being mentioned in that ancient and venerated tome The Incredible World of 007 :)
You know, I have that book, but haven't read through it for probably 20 years. It's fantastic. I mostly remember it being very pro-OHMSS and pro-LTK perhaps a bit before that was fashionable.
No, he can't broadcast it but perhaps he can leak it through diplomatic channels that a large media broadcaster would be privy to, in order to further stir up tensions between the British and the Chinese.
I think parts of it could be seen as being about both Bond and the villain Largo depending on how the lyrics are couched. I have read from the lyricist that it's meant to be about Bond though but without that background information it's really up to the listener to decide who or what it is all about. I suppose it works on either level so it could be said that the lyrics have a kind of timeless open ended meaning and could be subject to several different modes of interpretation.
Aw, what would the lyricist know?! :))
But yeah, of course it's about Bond.
I just meant that without the context of what the lyricist said it's open to interpretation. If you read my post again you'll see that I already made that point. It seems three point has to be laboured though. Once a song is out in the ether it can mean anything to anyone and what the lyricist intended it to mean is in itself meaningless. I mean, how many people actually go to the trouble to look up what the lyricist intended? What the listener thinks the song means is what it means to them. They project (albeit subconsciously) their own thoughts and ideas on to it in order to interpret its meaning if they deign to listen to the lyrics at all and don't just concentrate on the tune.
And I wasn't trying to be aggressive there! I just thought "the lyricist says it's about Bond, but it could be about anyone" was funny somehow.
I see, and I agree of course. I just wanted to point out that without context or background information the song could have several interpretations. obviously the lyricist has said it's about Bond so that's who it is about. I was just thinking more about how lyrics to a song, poetry and sometimes even prose can be misinterpreted depending on the complexity or nuance of the writing and without any background detail provided by the author. Sorry if it appeared I was saying I knew better than the lyricist what his song was about.
Yes, a song you have to think about has more mileage and listenability than one where the meaning is all laid out for you already like a four course meal! Subtlety and nuance are admirable traits in song writing and indeed in other modes of writing, especially in poetry.
Absolutely. If I made a list of my 20 favorite songs, it's likely I don't know what any of them are about. Even within Bond: AVTAK is genius nonsense.
Yes, the lyrics are close to doggerel in places but they're interesting and set the scene for the film regardless. It must've had something going for it as it went to No. 1 in the United States, the only Bond song to date ever to do so.
Which begs the question; who does Tina sing about? "I've been watching you from the shadows as a child." Is she talking about Pierce looking up at Connery, quietly waiting for his turn? Or is that too meta?
Goldeneye is odd. It's from a female perspective ("other girls they gather around him/if I had him I wouldn't let him out" and feels like it's a generic femme fatale talking about Bond, though in occasionally odd ways.
"You'll never know how it feels to get so close and be denied" is almost certainly a sexual reference, though, ahem, not one I would expect to see applied to Bond...!
Good one! :D
James Bond, surely.
To be honest I used to think it was Largo but I've gotten used to hearing it's about Bond. As I said above, it works both ways.
A Don Black: I was thinking about Bond, thinking ‘He always runs while others walk’. In my mind it was James Bond, but I guess it could work for Largo too.
https://www.007.com/david-arnold-and-don-black-interviews/