Rank the Bond theme songs

Films
21

I quite agree about Die Another Day. I actually like the melody of that song. It would have benefited to be more part of Arnold’s score.

I will concentrate on the original list from Doucle-oh-agent, otherwise there would be too many songs to be sorted (not even counting all the great alternative songs!)

The absolute best:

  1. Live and Let Die - the most iconic
  2. You Only Live Twice - the most beautiful
  3. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
  4. A View to a Kill
  5. Nobody Does it Better
  6. You Know My Name

These are all great songs:
7. Goldeneye
8. Goldfinger
9. Skyfall
10. James Bond theme from Dr No - it seems always weird to say this is the “main theme from the movie Dr No”. We are so familiar with this theme that it sounds more like the theme of a tv show like The Persuaders, Mission Impossible or The Avengers. Anyway there are so many versions in the series that sound much better than the original one, that I cannot rank it higher.
11. Tomorrow Never Dies
12. From Russia with Love
13. Diamonds are Forever
14. Thunderball
15. No Time To Die
16. The Man With The Golden Gun
17. The Living Daylights
18. Die Another Day
19. Spectre - Writing’s on the Wall
20. Moonraker
21. The World Is Not Enough
22. For Your Eyes Only

Not so great:
23. Licence to Kill
24. Another way to die

Those I cannot listen to:
25. All time high
26. Never say never again

5 Likes
23

Corrected and it was the lower one. Good eye on your part and thanks for catching it.

2 Likes
24

Well, here are the results from the seven people who fully ranked the James Bond Main Theme Songs:

  1. LIVE AND LET DIE – (Paul McCartney & Wings) – with a cumulative score of 28 for a 4.0 average.

  2. Nobody Does It Better – from THE SPY WHO LOVED ME – (Carly Simon) – with a 45 score for a 6.4 avg.

  3. James Bond Theme – from DR. NO – (John Barry & Orchestra) – with only two entrants citing it for a 14 score and a 7.0 avg.

  4. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (5 mentions) / We Have All The Time In The World (2 mentions) – from ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE – (The John Barry Orchestra / Louis Armstrong) – with a 50 score for a 7.1 avg.

  5. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE – (Nancy Sinatra) – with a 53 score for a 7.6 avg.

  6. GOLDFINGER – (Shirley Bassey) – with a 55 score for a 7.9 avg.

t7. THUNDERBALL – (Tom Jones) – with a 61 score for an 8.7 avg.

t7. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER – (Shirley Bassey) – with a 61 score for an 8.7 avg.

  1. A VIEW TO A KILL – (Duran Duran) – with a 68 score for a 9.7 avg.

  2. You Know My Name – from CASINO ROYALE – (Chris Cornell) – with a 70 score for a 10.0 avg.

  3. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE – (Matt Monro) – with a 74 score for a 10.6 avg.

  4. FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – (Sheena Easton) – with a 79 score for an 11.3 avg.

  5. MOONRAKER – (Shirley Bassey) – with an 86 score for a 12.3 avg.

  6. GOLDENEYE – (Tina Turner) – with an 87 score for a 12.4 avg.

  7. SKYFALL – (Adele) – with an 88 score for a 12.6 avg.

  8. THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN – (Lulu) – with a 104 score for a 14.9 avg.

t17. All Time High – from OCTOPUSSY – (Rita Coolidge) – with a 107 score for a 15.3 avg.

t17. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH – (Garbage) – with a 107 score for a 15.3 avg.

  1. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS – (a-ha) – with a 108 score for a 15.4 avg.

  2. TOMORROW NEVER DIES – (Sheryl Crow) – with a 109 score for a 15.6 avg.

  3. LICENCE TO KILL – (Gladys Knight) – with a 126 score for an 18.0 avg.

  4. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (6 mentions) – (Lani Hall) – with a 132 score for an 18.9 avg.

  5. NO TIME TO DIE – (Billie Eilish) – with a 134 score for a 19.1 avg.

  6. Writing’s On The Wall – from SPECTRE – (Sam Smith) – with a 148 score for a 21.1 avg.

  7. Another Way To Die – from QUANTUM OF SOLACE – (Jack White & Alicia Keys) – with a 150 score for a 21.4 avg.

  8. DIE ANOTHER DAY – (Madonna) – with a 158 score for a 22.6 avg.

Although not a huge sample size, this one got a little more response from people and I find it interesting, if not overly surprising, that the top of this list are mostly songs from the older films. It isn’t until #9 that we get a song from after the '70s. I am surprised at how high Thunderball and From Russia With Love turned out and how low Skyfall ended up. Meanwhile, I am pleasantly surprised that from what little praise I hear about them or the negative comments I do hear that The Man With The Golden Gun and All Time High are actually around the middle of the pack and not towards the bottom. I’m also a little surprised (and disappointed) that The World Is Not Enough and The Living Daylights are not very high on this list. Oh well, c’est la vie. One thing that is not a surprise I suppose, is that Another Way To Die and Die Another Day came in at the bottom of the list. I’m sure Jim would have something to say about that. :smiley:

Anyway, much thanks to those that participated.

Next up: Main Titles Sequences

4 Likes
25

Live and Let Die and You Know My Name are my top two. Male vocalists are my preference as they express the emotion of my own perspective. All four Beatles, Elvis, Roy Orbison, Bono, Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain…that’s where I’m at. I’d love to see another rock song for Amazon’s debut. It’s certainly time.

4 Likes
26

I agree, and yes it is. Also, aside from Sean Connery’s debut with the James Bond Theme for Dr. No and George Lazenby’s solo effort with the instrumental On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Theme (which are both very upbeat in their own way), every other 007 debut was a rock song–Roger Moore with Live And Let Die, Timothy Dalton with The Living Daylights, Pierce Brosnan with GoldenEye, and Daniel Craig with You Know My Name. The rock song style introduces the new Bonds really well–seemingly much better than a ballad does, which is better utilized for more established 007s down the road.

5 Likes
27

TLD and GE are in no way rock songs, but pop songs. Aha is no rockband at all.

2 Likes