Every James Bond Theme Song, Ranked

For a secret agent, James Bond is hard to miss. Throughout 24 (going on 25) onscreen appearances, he’s always introduced himself by name, he’s always wearing a wildly expensive suit, and he’s always been a white guy (so far, at least). Even if you didn’t recognize the world’s most famous spy, you’d certainly hear him coming, announced by his thundering, iconic theme music. Those recognizable notes, which composer John Barry recorded for Bond’s first film outing in 1962, Dr. No, make up what is only one of many iconic Bond themes. Subsequent movies in the franchise had their own distinct (for better or for worse) musical offerings; the most recent comes to us from Grammy winner Billie Eilish, who recently released the theme for No Time to Die.

Eilish’s “No Time to Die” begs the question: What is the best James Bond theme in existence? It’s as heated a debate as the question of who the best Bond was (our money’s on Daniel Craig, who rounds out his run in the series this April). The franchise has managed to score some incredible musicians who, in turn, have offered up some of music’s most incredible, deservedly memorable theme songs—although those two categories don’t always overlap the way you think they might. Some Bond themes are perfectly suited for the movies they’re introducing, deftly capturing the spirit of the adventure. Others would be great songs even if they had nothing to do with 007. A couple are both (they have, you might say, The Range).

In honor of Eilish’s new contribution, here are all the James Bond themes, ranked. Note: We’re only counting the official Bond films, so no Never Say Never Again or the 1967 version of Casino Royale, which weren’t made by Bond’s normal studio. It also means we’re omitting any Bond themes that didn’t make the final cut, including Radiohead’s unused Spectre theme, which is a shame.

NOT RANKED: “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” John Barry Orchestra (1969)

The sixth Bond movie opens with an all-instrumental song, rather than a traditional Bond theme with lyrics. Composed by longtime film composer John Barry, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” adds some serious funk to the art of spycraft, and while it’s a lot of fun, it feels weird to compare what really feels more like a standard (high-quality!) score to the rest of these songs. Plus, this movie had a secondary theme from Louis Armstrong that, for all intents and purposes, is the more traditional Bond song.

24. “Writing’s on the Wall,” Sam Smith (Spectre, 2015)

There are upbeat, poppy Bond themes, and there are ballads. There are pros and cons to both approaches, but Sam Smith’s Spectre theme goes wrong in pretty much all the ways the “slow and sad” approach can. Their high notes often approach whining instead of crooning, and the relative sparseness of the strings and piano don’t do their self-pitying lyrics any favors. It’s a bad vibe for Bond, and not an interesting enough song to stand on its own. It also won an Academy Award, so make of that what you will.

23. “All Time High,” Rita Coolidge (Octopussy, 1983)

“All Time High” is bland and uninspired, a song that could easily be mistaken for the theme to a forgotten sitcom about a nontraditional family making it work with laughter and love. It’s profoundly boring (sample lyrics: "Funny how it always goes with love, when you don't look, you find”), and it really makes you wish they’d had the guts to actually record a song with “Octopussy” in the chorus—if only to satisfy some deranged sense of curiosity.

22. “For Your Eyes Only,” Sheena Easton (1981)

“For Your Eyes Only” sounds like it should be playing over a school gymnasium’s loudspeaker as two love interests finally kiss during prom at the climax of an ’80s rom-com. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but “For Your Eyes Only” feels both out of place for Bond and too sappy and trite on its own.

21. “Moonraker,” Shirley Bassey (1979)

Shirley Bassey sang not just one but three Bond themes (legends only), and in many ways, she embodies the quintessential sound of the franchise, with a powerful voice that could reach melodic heights and project an urgent, piercing intensity. “Moonraker,” however, is entirely too restrained—shocking, considering this is the movie where Bond goes to space. It’s a waste of Bassey’s myriad talents.

20. “From Russia with Love,” John Barry Orchestra (1963)

The sophomore Bond outing introduced the idea of a Bond Theme Song as we know it (though it plays in full with lyrics during the end credits instead of right off the bat), so it’s understandable that “From Russia with Love” plays things pretty safe. Here, Bond’s longtime composer, John Barry—who had a hand in creating many of the Bond songs, including "A View to a Kill" and "Goldfinger," among others—just wrote some music that hews pretty close to the rest of the score, and then English crooner Matt Monro sang lyrics, lounge-style. In the history of Bond themes, “From Russia with Love” is somehow both groundbreaking and pretty unexciting at the same time.

19. “Another Way to Die,” Jack White and Alicia Keys (Quantum of Solace, 2008)

Separately, Jack White and Alicia Keys each would probably have delivered a great James Bond theme. However, their team-up for Quantum of Solace is a good reminder of why 007 typically works alone (apologies to Felix Leiter). “Another Way to Die” is fuzzy, disjointed, and jarring. It feels both off-kilter and pandering all at once, making it both an unsatisfying lead-in to a movie and also too scattershot to really get a grasp of as a standalone song.

18. “Licence to Kill,” Gladys Knight (1989)

James Bond isn’t the most covert secret agent, and he’s quick to turn to violence to get out of a bad situation. He’s not subtle, is the point, and neither is Gladys Knight’s song, which bluntly reworks 007’s “Licence to Kill” into a fairly threatening love song. It’s blunt, which is luckily more feature than bug.

17. “We Have All the Time in the World,” Louis Armstrong (On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1969)

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’s secondary theme would almost seem out of place for Bond—on a casual listen, it’s just lovely and optimistic. Then you realize that Louis Armstrong’s distinctive voice injects just enough sorrow into the lyrics, and remember that the song’s title comes from the last thing Bond says to his wife, Tracy, before she’s murdered at the end of the movie. That ironic melancholy adds some serious depth to this one.

16. “Thunderball,” Tom Jones (1965)

“Thunderball” might be the platonic ideal of a James Bond theme: It’s got hints of the iconic 007 motif, blaring horns, extremely literal lyrics that give you a weirdly conceptual impression of the movie’s plot, and somebody crooning the titular MacGuffin phrase without a shred of irony. It’s “Goldfinger,” again, but not as good. “Thunderball” already sounds like a parody of itself, which, frankly, is admirable.

15. “The Living Daylights,” A-ha (1987)

The Living Daylights is one of the spookier-sounding Bond titles, and A-ha’s ghostly way of singing, combined with unnatural sounding synth effects, inspires a sense of gradual dread. Granted, you never forget that this is the same band who did “Take On Me,” an all-time-classic guilty pleasure song if ever there was one, but the theme works, mostly. Boy, the Timothy Dalton Bond era sure was something.

14. “A View to a Kill,” Duran Duran (1985)

Some Bond themes sound timeless. Duran Duran’s “A View to a Kill” most decidedly does not. It sounds like a Duran Duran song, and it boasts extremely ’80s-core synth effects and lyrics like “Dance into the fire.” It’s an okay Bond theme, but an incredible time capsule of a song.

13. “You Only Live Twice,” Nancy Sinatra (1967)

The opening notes of “You Only Live Twice,” composed by John Barry, are unquestionably iconic. With just a two-bar theme of French horns and violins, “You Only Live Twice” transports you into a comforting paradise that feels just ever so subtly false in nature. That prelude has surpassed the movie and the song itself to become a timeless musical cue. The rest of the song, charmingly sung by the great Nancy Sinatra, is almost (politely) irrelevant.

12. “Tomorrow Never Dies,” Sheryl Crow (1997)

“Tomorrow Never Dies” sucks you in, its opening moments distorting and dropping out like Salvador Dalí had conducted the orchestra for a moment. Sheryl Crow’s vocals are much more stable, but the song maintains that captivating energy throughout. Bond themes have a habit of making gung-ho phrases like “Tomorrow never dies” sound dire and fatalistic rather than explosive, and this is a prime example.

11. “You Know My Name,” Chris Cornell (Casino Royale, 2006)

“You Know My Name” is both confidently boisterous and ominous, which makes it a fitting introduction to Daniel Craig as a rookie James Bond. It’s a lot more visceral than a lot of other themes, and as the title suggests, “You Know My Name” banks on listeners’ familiarity with 007, while also subverting that familiarity. This isn’t what Bond sounds like—these shredding guitars sound dangerous in the way that most other themes just sound clean and produced.

10. “Nobody Does It Better,” Carly Simon (The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977)

There’s an effortless confidence to Carly Simon’s power ballad. Sweeping and glorious, it’s an ode to feeling comforted and secure, which is not necessarily an emotion one might associate with James Bond and his predilection for collateral damage. That’s fine, though. “Nobody Does It Better,” which was notably the first Bond song to have a different name than the title of the movie it was made for, feels especially evergreen and universal—never mind that it does shout out a certain “spy who loved me.”

9. “Skyfall,” Adele (2012)

Is there another artist in recent memory who was, right out of the gate, a more natural fit to sing a Bond theme? Adele’s voice has that mixture of powerful gravitas and popular appeal (you know, like James Bond himself), and she’s able to reach levels of intensity while still letting “Skyfall” have a bit of genre fun—at no point during the song’s most dramatic moments do you forget that it’s the lead-in to a movie about a kickass super-spy. Adele can sing “This is the end” at the very beginning of a movie and make you believe her.

8. “The World Is Not Enough,” Garbage (1999)

For all his glamour, women, and martinis, James Bond is a deeply sad character. Shirley Manson conveys that longing for fulfillment that 007 can’t quite ever reach with this mournful descriptor title track. “The world is not enough / But it is such a perfect place to start, my love” is the sort of lyric that could be ambitious and romantic, but Manson gives it a haunting, tragic twist—one made all the more stark by the orchestration, with strings that seem to keep reaching for greater and greater heights without satisfaction.

7. “The Man with the Golden Gun,” Lulu (1974)

By far the most ridiculous (and, for that reason, polarizing) Bond theme, “The Man with the Golden Gun” is unrestrained sonic kitsch. It’s literally a song about the titular assassin and his iconic weapon, punctuated by over-the-top boasts that “love is required whenever he’s hired.” This is the most unabashedly campy Bond theme, and if you can’t get at least a little joy out of that, lighten up.

6. “No Time to Die,” Billie Eilish (2020)

If there’s a trap that slower Bond themes often fall into, it’s being boring, as—the argument goes—there’s not always much to the tunes beneath their surfaces. What you hear, whether it’s about love or the villain, is what you get. That’s not at all the case with Billie Eilish’s brand new entry to the Bond canon, which is one of the better themes despite its new-car smell. The Grammy sweeper’s voice is haunting and, importantly, full of mystery. Every lyric is steeped in intrigue, ominous and enticing at the same time. Her somewhat leisurely pace—despite her supposedly being too busy to have “time to die”—only adds to the disconcerting sense that there’s more to the story.

5. “Die Another Day,” Madonna (2002)

Madge was really going for broke with “Die Another Day,” which features stirring, slashing violin, retro sci-fi synths and vocal distortions, and an inexplicable challenge to Sigmund Freud. With perhaps the exception of “Analyze this,” it all somehow works—this is a Madonna pop hit that’s both a banging theme song and a radio-friendly classic, and, most importantly, it ushered in a new wave of Bond themes that really shot for the fences.

4. “Diamonds Are Forever,” Shirley Bassey (1971)

Diamonds are shiny and pure, but Shirley Bassey sure casts a shadow on them in her second Bond theme. “Diamonds Are Forever” is a materialist anthem, because who needs people when you have a gem that can never hurt or desert you? Bassey, though, hints at the sad darkness of such a lifestyle, even as the music—which goes from eerie to upbeat—obscures its subject of glamour and worship in shadows. Plus, it made for a killer Kanye sample.

3. “Goldeneye,” Tina Turner (1995)

If there’s a moment when “Goldeneye” cements itself as a top-tier Bond song, it’s when Tina Turner pauses as she sings, “Time… time is not on my side.” In that pause, amidst the suspenseful instrumentation, Turner relishes her power and potential for cruelty. “Goldeneye” is voyeuristic and thrilling, seducing and empowering us even if it makes us complicit in whatever foul retribution is coming.

2. “Live and Let Die,” Paul McCartney and Wings (1973)

There’s nothing more sneakily comforting than Paul McCartney luring you into a false sense of security with the opening of this song, a gentle, nostalgic reminder of times when you used to optimistically let bygones be bygones. Live and let live, right? Then, twist: It’s all a fake-out. When the legendary Beatle rips his guitar while flipping the saying on its head, you can almost hear the pyrotechnics explode behind him. Each time the song pulls away from the intensity of its chorus—like in the middle, when it gets briefly beachy—the respites let Wings hit you with full force again. “Live and Let Die” is a fist-pumping bit of devil-may-care cynicism, and it’s almost certainly the best song to emerge from the Bond franchise if you strip it away from any cinematic context. You don’t need to be a secret agent to rock to McCartney’s encouragement to let ’em burn.

1. “Goldfinger,” Shirley Bassey (1964)

You can hear “Live and Let Die” or “Nobody Does It Better” in the wild and not instantly think of 007. That’s decidedly not the case with “Goldfinger,” whose crowning as the greatest Bond theme of all is as set as a deadly coating of gold body paint. Shirley Bassey is both boasting about the titular villain’s opulence and exploits and warning us listeners not to waltz right into his sticky web of sin. The blaring, warbling horns are a jolt to the system and an additional warning siren you just have to ignore. “Goldfinger” hypes up the villain and makes us feel like we have some part to play in the coming adventure. It’s the entire movie series compressed into a tight, three-minute song, the gold standard for Bond themes.

Billie Eilish goes James Bond.

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Originally Appeared on GQ