On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is the soundtrack for the 6th James Bond film of the same name.

Once again, the soundtrack to this James Bond adventure was composed, arranged, and conducted by John Barry; it was his fifth successive Bond film.

The opening theme proved a challenge; the convention was to have a song and include the film’s title in the lyrics, and the film became the first in the series to deviate from this rule. Barry felt it would be difficult to compose a theme song containing the title “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” unless it was written operatically, in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan; director Peter R Hunt allowed an instrumental title theme. The track is notable for its incorporation of the Moog synthesiser in its recurring bassline – the first time this instrument had been heard in a film soundtrack. Its distinctive sound would become a mainstay of soundtracks in the 1970s.

The theme, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, is used in the film as an action theme alternative to Monty Norman’s James Bond Theme, as is the case with Barry’s previous 007 theme. “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” was remixed in 1997 by the Propellerheads for the Shaken and Stirred album. Barry-orchestrator Nic Raine recorded an arrangement of the escape from Piz Gloria sequence and it was featured as a theme in the trailers for the 2004 Pixar animated film The Incredibles.

The 1962 “James Bond Theme” by Norman, first played in Dr No, was heard for the last time in a Bond film to date. The 1962 version was used throughout Sean Connery’s tenure from 1962 to 1967. Since then, the Bond theme has been rearranged in many ways.

Barry also composed the love song, “We Have All the Time in the World”, sung by Louis Armstrong. With lyrics by Burt Bacharach’s regular lyricist Hal David, it is heard during the Bond–Tracy courtship montage, bridging Draco’s birthday party in Portugal and Bond’s burglary of the Gebrüder Gumbold law office in Bern, Switzerland. “We Have All the Time in the World” is often mistakenly referred to as the opening credits theme. It was Armstrong’s last recorded song (he died of a heart attack two years later). At the time, the song barely made an impact on the charts. Years later though, it became very well known, thanks largely to its use in a Guinness advertising campaign, and is now considered among the finest of Barry’s songs for the franchise.

Track listing

1. “We Have All the Time in the World” – Louis Armstrong
2. “This Never Happened to the Other Feller”
3. “Try”
4. “Ski Chase”
5. “Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?” – Nina
6. “Main Theme”—On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
7. “Journey to Blofeld’s Hideaway”
8. “We Have All the Time in the World”
9. “Over and Out”
10. “Battle at Piz Gloria”
11. “We Have All the Time in the World”—James Bond Theme
12. “Journey to Draco’s Hideaway” (contains previously unreleased music within cue)
13. “Bond and Draco”
14. “Gumbold’s Safe”
15. “Bond Settles In”
16. “Bond Meets The Girls”
17. “Dusk at Piz Gloria”
18. “Sir Hillary’s Night Out (Who Will Buy My Yesterdays?)”
19. “Blofeld’s Plot”
20. “Escape From Piz Gloria”
21. “Bobsled Chase”

Due to legal reasons, tracks 12 to 21 were later added at the end of the 2003 re-release of the soundtrack, rather than in film order.

See also:

• Bond films: Soundtrack
• On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Film