It's was not long before we thought we would be enjoying the 25th outing of James Bond at the cinema, but things changed with the COVID 19 pandemic and the film might just take a little while.

While the famous James Bond theme from the movie franchise is epic and evergreen, it’s the theme song that creates the splash before a new Bond movie is released, like Billie Eilish’s No Time to Die did recently for the upcoming movie of the same title.

Starting in 1964 with ‘Goldfinger’, the theme song by Shirley Bassey (that appears in the opening credit), along with the cars, gadgets and girls has become a pivotal part of the brand 007. Some of the biggest names in the music industry have given their voices to it and it’s a very sought after job. So, what then are the ingredients of a Bond theme song?

It has to have a certain grandiose and scale. The song has to have a larger than life persona which the legendary agent represents. Take any song; Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger or Adele’s Skyfall or even Paul McCartney & the Wings’ Live and Let Die. All have them have that large cinema hall experience woven into it, with rich orchestration and big singing thrown in.

It also needs to add to the storyline as well as have the ability to stand alone as an individual track. Take the recent No Time to Die or Carly Simons’ Nobody Does It Better from ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’. They are good pop songs on their own.

The other interesting ingredient is a booming female voice. Well, of course, Sam Smiths’ Writing’s on the Wall from ‘Spectre’ became huge and got a Grammy as well. But the most unforgettable tunes have been sung by the ladies…From Shirley Bassey to Carly Simon to Nancy Sinatra to Adele and now Billie Eilish.

Personally, I’m not a fan of Bond theme songs. Carly Simons’ song from ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ is perhaps the only one I like...and maybe Skyfall. But what really intrigues me is how they write the lyrics with the absurd names of the movies thrown in and still try and make some sense. It must be a challenging task.

So why did I write this piece? Well, the finest on screen 007 Sean Connery left us last month, and since this whole thing of theme songs started with his Goldfinger, it set me thinking.

Here is a list of every James Bond film and its theme tune and where they charted :

Reviewed by Meraj Hasan

Meraj Hasan is a Mumbai / Hyderabad based communication professional (and an amateur poet/musician) with a passion for listening to music the vinyl way. His 31 year old Technics turntable along with a humble collection of LPs across genres like Classic rock, Classical, Blues and Jazz (amongst others) are his prized possessions.

He can be reached at +91 9833410791 or email: meraj.hasan@gmail.com