Writing's on the Wall - Official Appreciation Thread

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  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,274
    Found a youtube link to the song


    Thank you so much for that!
  • Posts: 418
    Thanks for posting the youtube link Crazysoul95. I've lost count how many times I've listened to the song, and the more i listen to it, the more i love it. I keep seeing romantic love scene's between Bond and Madeline every time i hear it. I think its such a beautiful song, and I've got a gut feeling that after seeing the film, and relating the it even more, WotW will end up being one of my favourite Bond songs
  • Totally on board with this now. Once I burned it onto CD and played it on my tv. I got it. Very Bondian! The ending should have been more grand and bombastic though.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    I believe the end of the song will be grander and have a high point when it's edited for the titles of the movie!
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I've gone from liking it to Loving it. ;) can't wait to see the titles
    with this playing.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    FRWL
    YOLT
    TWINE

    they are all in my Top 10 (the songs of course)

    as WOTW is in the same category of songs I think it will end up in my Top 10 as well.

    People who are analysing that song to death and puzzle over WOTW having deeper meaning or being not man enough to be a Bond song have a screw loose somewhere!

    It's a song for Heaven's sake.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited September 2015 Posts: 7,551
    I love the ending! Cut quite short which works for two reasons, one it accurately represents what happens to you when the 'writings on the wall' for you, and two it's going to be a great lead in to the post-titles-sequence film :)
  • I gather the song took Sam Smith 20 minutes to write.
    20 minutes?
    THAT long??
    Sorry, in my opinion the 'Writing's on the Wall' for this latest and hugely disappointing Bond title song.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    I gather the song took Sam Smith 20 minutes to write.
    20 minutes?
    THAT long??
    Sorry, in my opinion the 'Writing's on the Wall' for this latest and hugely disappointing Bond title song.

    Great. Post your thoughts next time in the appropriate thread. In case you missed it, this is an appreciation thread.
  • dominicgreenedominicgreene The Eternal QOS Defender
    Posts: 1,756
    I gather the song took Sam Smith 20 minutes to write.
    20 minutes?
    THAT long??
    Sorry, in my opinion the 'Writing's on the Wall' for this latest and hugely disappointing Bond title song.

    1) This is an appreciation thread.

    2) He wrote THE FIRST DRAFT in 20 minutes. You really think they spent millions recording this song out of a 20 minute thought process?
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    That 20 minute remark of Sam Smith was ill-advised. He should have known that the haters would have a field day with that.

    My mother (65) loves that song, she even bought it on iTunes. Something she rarely does with new music, usually she only buys older stuff (or Helene Fisher for Christ's sake :)) ).

    Sam Smith reminds her of Monro. I fell almost out of my seat when she told me that!
    Matt Monro was one of her favourite singers along with Tom Jones and...hold on to your seats....Julio Iglesias :-&
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,274
    That 20 minute remark of Sam Smith was ill-advised. He should have known that the haters would have a field day with that.

    My thoughts exactly - people take you at your own estimation but I suppose he had the stimulus of the script or something to know what to sing about as it were! ;)
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    That 20 minute remark of Sam Smith was ill-advised. He should have known that the haters would have a field day with that.

    It doesn't mean much anyway. i wonder how many Bond songs were written in less than that. Some of the most famous songs of all time were famously written in just a couple minutes, like Paranoid from Black Sabbath for example.
    People don't know how long it takes to write a good song. Sam Smith is young and he didn't think this would create such a controversy... theres a first time for everything i guess

    As for the ending, i think it fits perfect cause it leaves you guessing and wondering "what's next". so it will lead perfectly into the movie.
    I am sure this was done on purpose
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,551
    Exactly my thoughts on the ending, @00Agent.
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    Exactly my thoughts on the ending, @00Agent.

    Yes, that were my thoughts on your comment actually, next time i'll quote you :)

    As a songwriter i have to say, the first time i heard the song i did't even see the need for a more dramatic, bigger ending. it fits the song so much more to end on a haunting note like that... it fits the theme of the lyrics. it is not self contained, it is waiting for a continuation... thats why it is also not really Charts material like smith said himself. It sounds more like part of the movie score with a singer on top.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,551
    00Agent wrote: »
    Exactly my thoughts on the ending, @00Agent.

    Yes, that were my thoughts on your comment actually, next time i'll quote you :)

    As a songwriter i have to say, the first time i heard the song i did't even see the need for a more dramatic, bigger ending. it fits the song so much more to end on a haunting note like that... it fits the theme of the lyrics. it is not self contained, it is waiting for a continuation... thats why it is also not really Charts material like smith said himself. It sounds more like part of the movie score with a singer on top.

    Totally agree again. To me, the ending is one of the best and most chilling parts of the song.
  • Posts: 12,526
    It is going to take a few listens but the song is growing on me slowly. The first time i heard it i could make out some of the lyrics due to how high pitched he was singing the song.

    I look forward to hearing it when sitting in the cinema watching the credits to the movie itself.
  • imranbecksimranbecks Singapore
    Posts: 984
    Another Way To Die went really well with the opening credits of the movie and that song too had a bad response when it was first released.

    I like Writing's. We've all heard worse ones than this. It'll for sure go well with the opening credits. You can feel that the movie probably has a mystery and dark theme to it, which is where the song was going for.
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,591
    I'm trying to upload a Spectre related video to YT, but it appears anyone who dares to post anything with "Writing's on the Wall" gets their video muted due to copyright.
  • The ending of the song is so different than most (perhaps all?) other Bond songs, which is why people are griping. But why can't it be? Is there a rule that every Bond song has to have a big, bombastic climax? I like the fact that it sounds like a Bond song but isn't a cut-and-paste formula piece.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,274
    I thought Madonna's Die Another Day was pretty experimental in nature too, so this is not something new here.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    In many ways they did go for the best, Sam is hot property. He's won big
    At the Grammy's and is one of the few British acts to have broken in To
    America. From the looks of things he's delivered a #1 hit song to the producers.
    It may not be to everyone's musical taste, but the boys done good, I can't see
    how he could have delivered more,
    ( I posted this in another thread but thought it suited to be here) ;)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,274
    DrGorner wrote: »
    In many ways they did go for the best, Sam is hot property. He's won big
    At the Grammy's and is one of the few British acts to have broken in To
    America. From the looks of things he's delivered a #1 hit song to the producers.
    It may not be to everyone's musical taste, but the boys done good, I can't see
    how he could have delivered more,
    ( I posted this in another thread but thought it suited to be here) ;)

    Very much agreed. I like the song!
  • When are they releasing the video????
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,274
    When are they releasing the video????

    Hopefully soon.
  • WalecsWalecs On Her Majesty's Secret Service
    edited September 2015 Posts: 3,157
    I've just realised that the "I never shoot to miss" line means "I never take risks", hence the "For you I have to risk it all" line.

    The more I listen to WOTW, the more I love it (and I already did on my first listen).
    When are they releasing the video????
    October 5th
  • RC7 wrote: »
    AceHole wrote: »
    Although having read all the comments since the song came out I am not in the slightest surprised - it was always going to be a relatively safe & mediocre song that played to Sam Smith's vocal strengths (the falsetto's people seem to dislike).
    Some like it, some don't. I wasn't a big fan of Adele's SF, thought YKMN and even FYEO were better to be honest... so I'll reserve judgement.

    I wouldn't call it safe, or mediocre. I think you could argue that case for SF, potentially, but I don't think there would be such a polarising view if that were the case for WOTW. It was always going to sound like a Sam Smith song. The key is whether you take to his voice, the lyrics and the overall style. It's somewhat different to what you might expect, outside his voice imo.

    I understand your reasoning perfectly @RC7. "Writing's On The Wall" isn't the typical, safe Bond song. "SkyFall" in that sense was way more 'typical'. Regarding his voice, that is actually not even the problem I have with the song (the fact that it's a 'grower' initially irritated me a bit). I actually think Sam Smith has a crisp, clear voice. He doesn't sing out of tune at all. It's merely a matter of liking his high voice. That's it. If people say he sounds like a male-to-female transsexual is ridiculous, disrespectful and even discriminating. No need to use faul language. Just saying "I like it!" or "I don't like it!" is enough!

    Perhaps we should also point out that back in the 1960's every Bond song was more or less........'very new to ears'. "Goldfinger" hit the people with a bang! "You Only Live Twice" was a radical change from "GF" and "TB", in that it was a very slow-tempo, loungy, exotic ballad. Teen-star Nancy Sinatra didn't even like singing it ("I was nervous during the recording!"). Then there was "Nobody Does It Better", which was an equally radical song choice. Until that time Bond songs sounded slightly 'mysterious', something that only belongs to a Bond universe. But "Nobody Does It Better" and even "For Your Eyes Only", though very good romantic songs, didn't sound 'Bond-esque' at all. They were perhaps more suitable to drama films like "On Golden Pond"!

    And then there was Madonna's "Die Another Day". Hated by many, but certainly something that we haven't heard before in a Bond film. It was the 'sound of that time'. An extension of the safe and worry-less 1990's. To a lesser extend you could say the same of "Another Way To Die". You know, I firmly dislike the song, but it WAS unique and perhaps one of the most a-melodical, hard-rock entries ever in a Bond film. "AVTAK" and "LALD" sound rather sweet and whimpy next to "AWTD".

    I do however think that "Writing's On The Wall" is more 'Bond-esque' than "DAD", "AWTD" and even "YKMN". It's soft, very slow-tempo, has mysterious strings in it, and a chorus that is more romantic. In a way it reminds me of Nancy Sinatra's "You Only Live Twice", Julie Rogers' "You Only Live Twice", Matt Munro's "From Russia With Love" and Rita Coolidge's "All Time High". Songs I really like. They really de-stress me after work. They are loungy, romantic, but mysterious at the same time.

    And at the same time it has this typical Sam Smith sound. There's one thing however I disagree with @RC7. I never expected a song like "SkyFall" from Adele. In the weeks leading up to the premiere of that Bond song, I made myself acquinted with Adele's discography. And that was far less 'Bond-esque' and experimental. So "SkyFall" was a more radical change for Adele. And I don't know about how she thinks of the song, but I still think as of today she isn't very comfortable in singing "SkyFall".

    Sam Smith however, stays with "Writing's On The Wall" more loyal to his discography so far. And in a way, like Smith already said, the song is also linked to Smith's own experiences in life.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    WOTW is very much like FRWL or YOLT, two of the very best Bond songs imo.

    I can't believe the hate, ridicule and downright primitive bashing that goes on in the Spectre theme song thread.

    And I was once accused of making bold and simple statements about the Craig-era.
    Well here goes to show how hypocrite some people are on this site.
  • WOTW is very much like FRWL or YOLT, two of the very best Bond songs imo.

    I can't believe the hate, ridicule and downright primitive bashing that goes on in the Spectre theme song thread.

    And I was once accused of making bold and simple statements about the Craig-era.
    Well here goes to show how hypocrite some people are on this site.

    I think it's always best to point your finger at yourself first. I don't want to sound 'holy' really, because I also did some 'bad' things on here. But that was really out of anger. Usually.....I try to be a nice boy Jason :-).
  • Posts: 3,164
    Teaser for the official music video.
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