The James Bond Theme is the main signature theme of the James Bond films, being featured in every on of the “official” films since Dr No in one form or another. The piece is used in conjunction with the James Bond gun barrel sequence as the film’s initial introduction.

Monty Norman has been credited with writing “The James Bond Theme”, one of the signature themes for the James Bond films.

Monty Norman has been credited with writing the “James Bond Theme”, and has received royalties since 1962. For Dr No, the song was orchestrated by John Barry who would later go on to compose the soundtrack for 11 future Bond films. Courts have ruled twice that the theme was written by Monty Norman despite claims and testimony by Barry that he had actually written the theme. Norman has consequently won two libel actions against publishers for claiming that Barry wrote the theme, most recently against The Sunday Times in 2001. It is generally acknowledged that Barry came up with the arrangement used in Dr No.

Norman describes the distinctive rhythm in the first few bars of the “James Bond Theme” as “Dum di-di dum dum”. He claims that it was inspired by the song “Good Sign Bad Sign” sung by Indian characters in A House for Mr Biswas, a musical he composed based on a novel by VS Naipaul set in the Indian community in Trinidad. In 2005, Norman released an album called Completing the Circle that features “Good Sign Bad Sign”, the “James Bond Theme,” and a similar sounding song titled “Dum Di-Di Dum Dum.” For these songs Norman added lyrics that explains the origin and history of the “James Bond Theme.”

The distinctive guitar riff heard in the original recording of the theme was played by Vic Flick, who would later play guitar on the original recording of Ron Grainer’s famous theme music from the 1967 television series, The Prisoner.

The theme has been used or adapted in a number of non-Bond films including The Beatles’ film Help!, and Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can. It has also been remixed by Moby for Tomorrow Never Dies, by Paul Oakenfold for Die Another Day, and by The Art of Noise, among many others. It is also the signature tune of the all-female pop-influenced classical string quartet, Bond.

Within the Bond films themselves, many different arrangements of the theme have been used, often reflecting musical tastes of the times. The electric guitar version of the theme is most associated with the Sean Connery era although it was also used in some Roger Moore films. Most mid-to-late period Moore films as well as Timothy Dalton’s first, Barry-scored film The Living Daylights, used a symphonic version with the melody played on strings. The George Lazenby film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service used a unique high-pitched arrangement with the melody played on a Moog synthesiser.

The gun barrel sequence of the Pierce Brosnan film GoldenEye opened with a synthesised arrangement by Éric Serra (a more traditional rendition by John Altman is heard in the film during the tank chase in St Petersburg; this version of the “James Bond Theme” is not included in the GoldenEye soundtrack). David Arnold’s gun barrel arrangements in Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough dropped the melody line jumping straight from the tune’s opening to its concluding bars. The The World Is Not Enough gun barrel has an electonical rhythm. The Die Another Day gun barrel sounds like the version in From Russia with Love but with more techno-influenced rhythm. It also contains the typical “James Bond guitar”.

A second piece of music called “The James Bond Theme” was written by Monty Norman for use in Dr No prior to the composition of the more famous piece of music. A blues melody, this earlier version was not used but was included in the soundtrack album, as was a fast-paced variation called “Twisting with James” which is one of the best-known James Bond melodies never to have been used.

Composers:

1. Dr No: Monty Norman, John Barry
2. From Russia with Love: John Barry, Monty Norman
3. Goldfinger: John Barry
4. Thunderball: John Barry
5. You Only Live Twice: John Barry
6. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: John Barry
7. Diamonds Are Forever: John Barry
8. Live and Let Die: George Martin
9. The Man with the Golden Gun: John Barry
10. The Spy Who Loved Me: Marvin Hamlisch
11. Moonraker: John Barry
12. For Your Eyes Only: Bill Conti
13. Octopussy: John Barry
14. A View to a Kill: John Barry
15. The Living Daylights: John Barry
16. Licence to Kill: Michael Kamen
17. GoldenEye: Éric Serra, John Altman (arrangement)
18. Tomorrow Never Dies: David Arnold
19. The World Is Not Enough: David Arnold
20. Die Another Day: David Arnold
21. Casino Royale: David Arnold
22. Quantum of Solace: David Arnold

See also:

• 007 Theme, The
• Bond films: Soundtrack
• Bond films: Suspense motif
• Bond films: Title themes