Under the Covers with James Bond - "You Only Live Twice"
Good evening. Tonight, we are listening to the title song of my absolute favourite James Bond film, You Only Live Twice. Bear with me if I wax a bit more poetical about this particular piece of music, as quite frankly, I consider it to be among the top three James Bond title songs, if not the best.
Let's begin by listening to what I consider Nancy Sinatra's quintessential performance, as she sings the beautiful lyrics of Leslie Bricusse.
This piece is a return to the style of the first James Bond title vocal, "From Russia with Love" in the way that the interpretation of the lyrics is left open to the listener, and are not directly tied to the plot of the film the way "Goldfinger" and "Thunderball" are.
"You Only Live Twice" is quite possibly the definitive Bond title song because of the way it captures all of the essential Bondian elements. There are subtle references to (or at least the spirit of) the "James Bond Theme" buried within the bass line. Just listen carefully and you will hear them if you haven't before. The melody is all at once beautiful and memorable. The song effectively captures the flavor of the film's Japanese setting with a perfect blend of Western elements and ethnic instrumentation. The lyrics are timeless and when sung by Sinatra are stunning. Over all, the song is James Bond in the musical sense.
As such, it is among the most frequently covered James Bond title songs, which, as can be expected, has yielded some mixed results, but also some very entertaining versions as well. Groups including 80's synthpop pioneers Soft Cell, avant-garde singer Björk and worldwide superstars Coldplay have all had a go at "You Only Live Twice". Some of the more interesting variations however come from more obscure artists.
Continuing the theme from our listen to "Thunderball", we begin with an instrumental interpretation of this classic, performed by The Quiets.
That is some quite good vintage surf rock there wouldn't you agree? Much like one of Q's inventions, it's what isn't obvious that is most interesting. Hailing from Finland, The Quiets are in fact a modern band, with this song appearing on their 2001 release, Take a Flight with The Quiets. So yes, you have in fact just listened to a James Bond title song, done as vintage style surf rock, recorded in the 21st century by a group from Finland. The springy reverb of the lead guitar further reveals the essence of the "James Bond Theme" hidden within the song's structure.
For another way out cover of "You Only Live Twice", we jet set across The Pond to Florida, and the Dream Pop of The Postmarks.
This version stays relatively close to the original arrangement, but is delivered with dreamy aplomb that borders on Trip Hop without a sequenced beat. This track comes from The Postmarks' 2008 set of cover tunes, By the Numbers, which also features their renditions of songs by Bob Marley, The Jesus & Mary Chain and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
I had very much wanted to feature Soft Cell's slightly sinister version of "You Only Live Twice" here, but alas, I was not able to find a full length streaming version of it. You can get a sense of Marc Almond and David Ball's creation, here. It is well worth a listen, or even to seek out a pricey import album containing it. After all, you only live twice.
The music of James Bond will return in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
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