How to Write the Next James Bond Song

Dum da-da dum dum dum | Understanding the James Bond Melody

In order to understand how Bond music became Bond music, we must look back to the origin of the series. The signature “James Bond Theme,” written by Monty Norman and arranged by John Barry for 1962’s Dr. No, is without a doubt one of the most instantly recognizable film tunes. And it’s no surprise; the theme has been musically quoted in every one of the Bond films.

The first few seconds of the piece hold the four ominously subdued notes forever associated with Mr. Bond: first B, then up a half-step to C, up another half step to C#, then back down to C. This simple chromatic rise and fall creates a sense of unsettling mystery, as if the music is pacing back and forth, frantically trying to decide where to go next.

Though the Vic Flick guitar riff enters and firmly roots us in the key of E minor, its melody is atypical. The high D# jumps up to stab like a knife. Though this note is still a member of the E melodic minor scale, in a traditional melody the D# would lift up to an E instead of sliding down to and hanging on the D natural. It’s another subtle way Norman and Barry have crafted surprise and mystery through melody.

Finally, after the blaring trumpets have entered and fully developed the theme, they bust into a swinging, ornamented variation of the opening guitar riff. But it’s not as straightforward as it seems. A careful ear will notice that the second trumpet seems to be playing in a different key. In fact, this “harmonized” melody, sandwiched between the top trumpet and the bass, would actually feel more at home in the key of C# minor than E minor. These breaks in musical “rules” are inherent in Bond melodies, but then again, since when have Bond films been about following the rules?

From Russia with Key Changes | Outlining the Chord Progressions

Once this melodic quirkiness and mystery had been established in Dr. No as the distinctive Bond sound, it was only natural for them to continue through into the following films. The numerous title theme songs draw from this chromatically unconventional sense of melody. From Matt Monro’s exotic augmented 2nd melody in the last line of “From Russia With Love” to Nancy Sinatra’s mysterious tritone leaps while singing “the stranger is gone” in “You Only Live Twice,” the title songs often subvert the listener’s sense of comfort by jumping unconventionally from note to note.

But the Bond way of surprising the listener through music is not simply a matter of throwing an odd note in here and there. Each note has been carefully planned to fit within the chord progression of the song. In fact, the chord progression often becomes the primary element of surprise in a Bond song. And as the “James Bond Theme” set the standard for melody, it was the following string of title songs that set the standard for modulation. Whereas the “James Bond Theme” remains in the key of E minor, Goldfinger’s theme song has around fourteen key changes in less than three minutes! Add to this the atypical chord transition of the opening (E major to C major) and the augmented 5th created by the “wah-waaah-wah” of the trumpets, and you have a song unlike any of its rivals on the pop charts. Voted as the UK’s favorite Bond theme in a 2006 MORI poll, the distinctively Bond-esque “Goldfinger,” has become a stick against which all Bond themes are measured.

So how do these unconventional chord progressions make a song Bond-esque? One technique commonly employed by Bond music is common-tone modulation, as in the “Goldfinger” E major to C major transition, where E is the common tone between the two chords. This technique is also employed from minor key to minor key. In the end of "Live and Let Die," Paul McCartney's bass line firmly plants the final orchestral section in G minor, but suddenly freezes on an E-flat minor chord. Another heart-stopping common-tone modulation occurs in "Thunderball." While Tom Jones sings the line "He looks at this world and wants it all," the violins hold the common tone of A until the key changes underneath from B-flat minor to D minor. In this haunting moment at the word "all," they sneak back into the chromatic James Bond theme.

The beauty of these common-tone modulations is that they pull the rug out from under listeners. When you expect major, you get minor, and vice-versa. This uncertain blending between the two is present through the entire series in different forms. In "Moonraker," major and minor elements are simply combined. The piano, playing a line with a minor 6th, is in direct competition with the strings and horns, which pull the song into a major key. These ironic juxtapositions in Bond music parallel the mysterious juxtapositions in Bond films; an island that looks pleasant enough for the next holiday trip may secretly house a sinister den of villains determined to take over the world.

Bond's Band | Listening to the Instrumentation

So now that we have the basic recipe for an authentic Bond song, we can examine the instrumentation that gives it flavor. Just as there are unwritten rules against, say, baking a cake using chili sauce, there are “rules” to arranging songs in the classic Bond style. Of course, there are instrumental variations over the four decades of music, mostly due to new digital production techniques. Indeed, the series of Bond music can be studied as a microcosm of the progression of pop music in the last half-century. However, there are clearly consistent elements that say to the listener, “Now this is Bond music.”

• Raw brass – Established early on by Dr. No, Goldfinger, and Thunderball, the overblown trumpets and brass have punched out stinger notes through many of the title songs. Amidst the icily restrained backdrop of the “Goldeneye” intro, the trumpets cut through the dreamy world of harps and strings and bring us back into a harsh reality.

• Expressive strings – From the free-flowing opening of “From Russia with Love” to the seductive opening of “The World is Not Enough,” the use of strings adds emotional depth to the songs. Even in Madonna’s heavily digitized “Die Another Day,” the strings put meat on the bones of the electronic beats.

• Distinct percussion – Although some of the more recent songs have scaled back to just a standard drum set, the “classic” Bond songs draw from the orchestral percussion instruments. The congas in “Live and Let Die,” the jingle bells in “Goldfinger,” the triangle in “Moonraker,” and the marimba in “You Only Live Twice” are just a few of the ways Bond songs get their rhythmical legs.

• Vic-style guitar – Vic Flick’s vintage guitar sound from the original James Bond theme has been brought back more recently in Sheryl Crow’s “Tomorrow Never Dies” and Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name.” Though the electric guitar has not been featured in very many of the theme songs, its appearance in the original theme is so distinctive that these newer title tracks are instantly recognizable as Bond-esque.

• Female Diva or Male Superstar – Perhaps for their musical experience, perhaps for their recognizable voices, or perhaps for their star power in winning hit singles, these celebrity singers are recruited to follow in the footsteps of the early Bond singers Matt Monro and Shirley Bassey. The Bond style requires versatility as a singer, from the seductively quiet introductions to the powerfully epic climaxes.

Did Cornell Play His Cards Right? | A New Sound for a New Bond

In an interview with tbe BBC, Chris Cornell discussed why he was chosen to perform the Casino Royale theme song, and what the Bond gurus were looking for. In Cornell’s words, they “didn't want to echo any recent Bond theme songs...their attitude was that they wanted somebody who vocally would be unapologetically masculine. David Arnold's quote was that they didn't want the ‘bird with the broken wing' type of singing.” It’s no secret that the Brosnan-era theme songs have been received with mixed reviews. Though Madonna’s “Die Another Day” reached number three in the UK charts, it was only the ninth favorite Bond song out of twenty-two, according to the 2006 MORI poll. The other three Brosnan-era songs were ranked lower. Perhaps in seeking a hit single, the writers of these songs strayed too far from the James Bond path.

We all know that James can survive driving his motorcycle off a cliff by skydiving towards a falling plane and piloting it to safety. But when it comes to the branding of the James Bond series, the producers must be very careful. Bond’s essence is firmly established, and McDonald’s would abandon the golden arches before the James Bond team would consciously destroy the gun-toting, woman-seducing, world-saving aura of James Bond. But Casino Royale was under the microscope by audiences for its bold move away from some things seen as inherently Bond. The uproar created by Daniel Craig’s blonde hair alone shows how picky these fans can be about un-Bond behaviour. So, of course thousands upon thousands of scrutinizing ears listened in on Chris Cornell and David Arnold’s new theme song to see if it, too, took Bond in a new direction.

In terms of orchestration, “You Know My Name” does seem to be a departure from the “classic” Bond sound. The trumpets and strings are present, but only as a sparse backdrop to Cornell’s mountain of guitar. Like several of the more recent songs, the percussion is limited to a standard drum kit, with a bland backbeat indistinguishable from a typical pop song. And the choice of the raw-sounding Cornell as a vocalist is a clear departure from the smooth Matt Monro or Tom Jones. But this was likely a conscious decision to alter the flavor of the Bond sound for the “new” James Bond.

On the surface, “You Know My Name” doesn’t seem to musically quote any of the “classic” themes, as done very directly in “Goldeneye” and “License to Kill.” However, a close listen reveals a few subtle elements we’ve found in many “classic” Bond songs. Remember the common-chord modulations used to surprise the audience in “Thunderball” and “Live and Let Die”? Cornell uses this technique multiple times in the track. During the verses, a B minor chord changes to a G minor chord. During the chorus, G major becomes E major. Both of these atypical chord changes keep listeners on the edges of their seats. Remember the oddly harmonized trumpets in the original James Bond theme that seemed to be playing in two different keys? This technique is back in Cornell’s voice doubling; one voice sings in the key of B minor while the other would typically be found in D minor. Although listeners may not hear a classic Bond melody in the song, these sly musical references subtly stamp the song as Bond music.

White Keys Played Together | Analysing the Quantum of Solace Theme Song

Now that Casino Royale has defined the raw look, feel, and sound of the new Bond, will the second Daniel-Craig-era film follow suit? Indeed, the music directors have made their gritty intentions clear by choosing musician Jack White to match this rough-around-the-edges Bond persona. White wrote and produced the theme for Quantum of Solace, “Another Way to Die.” Alicia Keys sings with White, the first vocal collaboration in any Bond theme. The track features Keys on piano, with White on guitar and drums.

The song itself is a far cry from the soft Bond ballads like Rita Coolidge’s “All Time High” or Sheena Easton’s “For Your Eyes Only.” But Bond fans might argue that these pop themes were overly sentimental blunders, and that the true Bond sound is more edgy and mysterious. “Another Way to Die” delivers the edginess expected by fans of Casino Royale, through abrasive electric guitar, darkly mysterious piano, and slicing vocals from both White and Keys. In addition, the track relies on some of the classic Bond orchestration; sharp brass lines punch holes through the crunchy guitar melodies, while strings fill out and smooth the shadowy strokes painted by the piano.

Like Cornell’s “You Know My Name,” upon first listen “Another Way to Die” doesn’t seem to return to any previous Bond theme directly. But some clever classically-Bond moments lie just below the surface. Jack White pays homage to Vic Flick through the first two notes from his guitar – they’re the exact same pitches as the original James Bond riff! Next, forty seconds into the song, Keys’ piano riff continues this very familiar melodic structure, with the mystery-invoking leaps and half-step drops found throughout the original theme from Dr. No. In fact, “Another Way to Die” is in the same key as the original James Bond theme, E minor, and probably by no mere coincidence on Jack White’s part. Though only the most astute listener with perfect pitch could consciously recognize this, at some subconscious level listeners may feel a sense of familiarity, of pure Bond nostalgia.

Though Quantum of Solace’s theme hints at the earlier theme songs, some musical elements that defined the Bond sound are notably absent. Remember all the exciting key changes of “Goldfinger”? “Another Way to Die” has…well, no key changes. It remains in the key of E minor for its entirety. The sweeping, dynamic quality of past themes, like Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die” has been sacrificed for a repetitive verse, chorus, verse, chorus structure. The song has already hit the charts, but only time will tell if its Bond elements are strong enough to place it on the “Favorite Bond Themes” list ten years from now.

To Whom It May Concern | Looking Forward

Of course “Another Way To Die” is a product of its time, just as each and every Bond song has been since the original theme forty-six years ago. This raises an important question: can a brand’s music stay true to its roots while still being fresh and current? Some argue that Bond’s coolness was established by the original theme in 1962, and shouldn’t be tinkered with. Others argue that each era should have their own Bond music, never mind the past. Clearly, the classic sound has been tinkered with, sometimes successfully, sometimes unsuccessfully. Only through musical ingenuity and unique orchestration can a song become timeless, which poses a challenge to Bond composers. They must delicately balance the need to create an original piece of music with the need to retain its Bond flavor. So to whomever wants to write the next James Bond theme song, a few words of advice: remember that a classic Bond song is more than a pop hit, remember the giants on whose shoulders you’re standing, and remember to make it Bond…James Bond.

Charlie McCarron - Soundlounge Creative Assistant, soundlounge