I do not keep up to date on the modern pop music charts. I could not tell you who is popular or what album is selling. I listen to show tunes, people. That is my life. I do, however, love the James Bond franchise. Whether the films take a gritty approach or a campy one, I am usually on board for whatever situation 007 finds himself in, despite the myriad of truly troubling philosophies the films can have.
One thing I have always liked about the Bond franchise is the opening title sequence. As I talked about in my Saul Bass article yesterday, the title sequence is a dying art I do not want to go away. Bond is one of the few places we still get inventive, dazzling title sequences. Some terrific songs accompany those sequences, like “Goldfinger“, “Live and Let Die“, and “Nobody Does it Better“.
Well, a selection for the next Bond title song may have been made, and reportedly Sam Smith will perform the opening title song for the as-yet-untitled Bond 24, which sees the return of Daniel Craig as Bond and Sam Mendes as director. Page Six is reporting he beat out Lana Del Rey for the position.
I have no idea who Sam Smith is, but I am told he is popular and I can look him up and see just one of his videos has over 48 million views on YouTube. This song is the only one of his I have listened to (just to prep for this article), and I can see how his voice could work for a Bond song. Whether I happened upon the song best suited for that tone and the rest are garbage remains to be seen. I just hope this is not a case of just getting someone popular and hoping for the best. We do not need another “Tomorrow Never Dies“, “Another Way to Die“, or especially “Die Another Day” on our hands. So much dying…
I do know who Lana Del Rey is, though I’m not a huge fan, but I can understand why she would be considered for a Bond theme. Her style is fairly smooth. I wish Sam Smith the best of luck with this, because if he has a bad song, Bond fans will hate him forever.
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