Sing with me
So, Madonna did the theme song for Bond 20. "Die Another Day." I nice little techno offering, following in the Brosnan tradition of being alright, but nothing special. Tina Turner's "GoldenEye" was cute, and very appropriate for the film, but standalone was kind of odd; Sheryl Crow's "Tomorrow Never Dies" was too lowkey; Garbage's "The World is Not Enough" was too...un-Garbage, I guess. Unlike her tolerable three predecessors, though, Madonna leaves out the small homages to John Barry and the original 007 theme. It doesn't sound Bond enough.
That being said...why didn't they just use the Bond theme she recorded 15 years ago? I know Live to Tell (.mp3 | 5 MB | 5:13) is rather old, so it wouldn't chart, plus it was already used in a Sean Penn movie whose title escapes me. But it's PERFECT. It'd be the best theme since "The Living Daylights" easily. The music is low and secretive, without the normal John Barry cues but with moments sounding like they were inspired by him; the beginning fade-in reminds me of a slower version of "For Your Eyes Only." It has the name thing down: a Bond title almost always has to have one of three words (or variation thereof,) live, die or gold (combinations are welcome.) "Live to Tell" would be a GREAT Bond title. And the lyrics work as well:
I have a tale to tell
Sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well
I was not ready for the fall
Too blind to see the writing on the wall
A man can tell a thousand lies
I've learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell the secrets I have learned
'Til then it will burn inside of me
I know where beauty lives
I've seen it once, I know the warm she gives
The light that you could never see
It shines inside, you can't take that from me
A man can tell a thousand lies
I've learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell the secrets I have learned
'Til then it will burn inside of me
The truth is never far behind
You kept it hidden well
If I live to tell the secret I knew then
Will I ever have the chance again
If I ran away
I'd never have the strength to go very far
How would they hear the beating of my heart
Will it grow cold
The secrets that I hide
Will I grow old
How will they hear
When will they learn
How will they know
Maybe when I go see Die Another Day I'll bring my iPod and just play "Live to Tell" over the opening credits. I love it when a plan comes together.