"Writing's on the Wall" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Sam Smith | ||||
Released | 25 September 2015 | |||
Recorded | 2015 | |||
Studio | RAK, Abbey Road, and the Pierce Rooms (London) | |||
Genre | Orchestral pop | |||
Length | 4:38 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Songwriter(s) |
| |||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Sam Smith singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
James Bond theme singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Writing's on the Wall" on YouTube |
"Writing's on the Wall" is a song by English singer Sam Smith,written for the release of the 2015 James Bond film Spectre . The song was released as a digital download on 25 September 2015. [1] The song was written by Smith and Jimmy Napes,and produced by the latter alongside Steve Fitzmaurice and Disclosure.
"Writing's on the Wall" received mixed reviews from critics,some comparing it unfavourably to previous Bond theme songs. [2] [3] [4] [5] The mixed reception to the song led to Shirley Bassey trending on Twitter on the day it was released. [6] [7] Despite this,the single became the first Bond movie theme to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart. It also reached the top 10 in a few other European countries,but unlike other James Bond film themes,it was not as successful outside Europe,only peaking at number 43 in Canada and Australia and number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100. Only the instrumental version of the song appeared on the film's official soundtrack album. The song won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards [8] and the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards,making it the second consecutive Bond theme to win (after "Skyfall" by Adele in 2012).
"Writing's on the Wall" was co-written by Smith and Jimmy Napes [9] in a single session: they wrote it in under half an hour and quickly recorded a demo. They were so pleased with Smith's vocal performance that they used it on the final release. [10] On 8 September 2015, Sam Smith announced that they were singing the song for the James Bond film Spectre . They described performing the theme as "one of the highlights of my career". [11] The English band Radiohead also composed a song for the film, "Spectre", which went unused. [12]
The song is written in the key of F minor with a tempo of 66 beats per minute (Larghetto). Smith's vocals range from A ♭3 to D♭5. [13] Smith said it was "horrible to sing" as the notes are "just so high". [14]
"Writing's on the Wall" received a mixed response from critics.
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote that the song attempted to capture the mood of Adele's "Skyfall", but "doesn't feel anywhere near as striking [...] the chances of it joining the pantheon of Bond themes that anyone with even a passing interest in pop music can hum seem pretty slender". [15] Chris Willman of Variety similarly noted the song was "unbecoming of a Bond movie", comparing it negatively to "Skyfall" and "No Time to Die". He ranked the song as the worst James Bond theme song. [16]
Lewis Corner of Digital Spy rated it three out of five stars. [17]
Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph called the song a "monster Bond ballad", stating, "(The song) is very, very slow and surprisingly restrained, at times floating by on resonant piano notes, the faintest brush stroke of orchestra, with all the focus on Smith's intense, tremulous vocal, rising with controlled pace and tension to an audacious chorus pay-off". [18]
Chris DeVille of Stereogum felt it was inferior to Radiohead's rejected song. [19]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(February 2024) |
In the United Kingdom, "Writing's on the Wall" became the first James Bond theme to reach number one, on the issue dated 8 October 2015. [20] [21] The previous highest-charting Bond themes were Adele's "Skyfall" and Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill", which both reached number two. [22] [23] It also became Smith's fifth UK number-one single within two years. The song spent a total of 16 consecutive weeks in the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, "Writing's on the Wall" debuted and peaked at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100, compared to the previous Bond song, "Skyfall", which debuted at number 8 in October 2012. In Canada, the song debuted at and peaked number 43. In Australia, the song performed moderately, debuting at number 44, and later peaking at number 43, but in Ireland, the song was a much bigger hit, debuting and peaking at number 9. The song has also charted in several other European countries though to a far lesser degree than its predecessor.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Writing's on the Wall" | 4:38 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
Certifications
|
Region | Date | Format | Label |
---|---|---|---|
Worldwide | 25 September 2015 | Digital download | Capitol |
United Kingdom | 23 October 2015 | CD single | |
6 November 2015 | 7" vinyl |
Since its inception in 1962, the James Bond film series from Eon Productions has featured many musical compositions, many of which are now considered classic pieces of British film music. The best known piece is the "James Bond Theme" composed by Monty Norman. Other instrumentals, such as "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and various songs performed by British or American artists such as Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger", Nancy Sinatra's "You Only Live Twice", Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die", Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better", Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only", Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill", Tina Turner's "GoldenEye" also become identified with the series.
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics. In 2007, ASCAP ranked it the third most performed Christmas song during the preceding five years that had been written by ASCAP members. In 2004 it finished at No. 76 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs rankings of the top tunes in North American cinema.
"Set Fire to the Rain" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, 21 (2011). The song was written by Adele and Fraser T. Smith while the production was handled by the latter. It became Adele's third consecutive US number-one single from 21 and reached the top ten in most of other foreign markets. It is a pop power ballad with lush instrumentation and a swelling string arrangement, in contrast to the understated production of most songs on the album. The song has received acclaim from various critics with many complimenting on Adele's vocals. "Set Fire to the Rain" was voted by readers of Billboard as their favorite number one hit of 2012. Though no official music video was released for the song, a live performance from the DVD Live at the Royal Albert Hall was uploaded to video-sharing website YouTube. This rendition won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.
"Skyfall" is a song recorded by English singer Adele for the James Bond film of the same name. It was written by Adele and producer Paul Epworth and features orchestration by J. A. C. Redford. British film production company Eon Productions invited the singer to work on the theme song in early 2011, a task that Adele accepted after reading the film's script. While composing the song, Adele and Epworth aimed to capture the mood and style of the other Bond themes, including dark and moody lyrics descriptive of the film's plot. "Skyfall" was released at 0:07 BST on 5 October 2012 as part of the Global James Bond Day, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of Dr. No, the first James Bond film.
"Latch" is a song by English electronic music duo Disclosure, featuring vocals from English singer Sam Smith. It was released as a digital download on 8 October 2012, by PMR Records. The lead single from their debut studio album, Settle (2013), the song debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 26 and peaked at number 11. In the United States, "Latch" was a sleeper hit, peaking at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 in August 2014. It also reached the top 10 in Canada and France.
Samuel Frederick Smith is an English singer and songwriter. In 2012, they rose to prominence when they featured on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart. The following year, they featured on Naughty Boy's single "La La La", which became a number one single in the UK.
English singer and songwriter Sam Smith has released four studio albums, one independent album, three live albums, one remix album, one soundtrack, thirteen extended plays, thirty-seven singles, and six promotional singles.
"Lay Me Down" is a song by English singer Sam Smith, released on 15 February 2013 as the lead single from their debut studio album In the Lonely Hour (2014). It originally peaked at number 46 on the UK Singles Chart and at number 25 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart in 2014.
"Stay with Me" is a song by English singer Sam Smith from their debut studio album In the Lonely Hour (2014). It was released in the United States on 14 April 2014 and in the United Kingdom on 18 May 2014. "Stay with Me" is a gospel-inspired ballad that details the protagonist pleading with their one-night stand not to leave them. The song was written by Smith, James Napier, and William Phillips, with Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne later receiving co-writer credits due to the song's noted melodic similarity to Petty's single "I Won't Back Down".
"I'm Not the Only One" is a song recorded by English singer Sam Smith from their debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour (2014). It was written by Smith with Jimmy Napes, who also produced the song along with Steve Fitzmaurice. Capitol Records released it to digital download on 31 August 2014 as the album's third single in the United Kingdom and on 24 September 2014 as the album's second single in the United States; an alternative version with American rapper A$AP Rocky was also released.
"Dangerous" is a song by French music producer David Guetta released as the second single from his sixth studio album, Listen. It features vocals by American singer and songwriter Sam Martin, who had also appeared on Guetta's previous single "Lovers on the Sun". It was released as a digital download on 6 October 2014 and reached number one in fourteen countries. Both artists co-wrote and co-produced the song with Giorgio Tuinfort and Jason Evigan, with additional writing from Lindy Robbins. A remix featuring Trey Songz, Chris Brown, and Martin was released on 9 January 2015.
"Like I Can" is a song by English singer Sam Smith. It was released as a digital download on 5 December 2014 as the fifth single from their debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour (2014). The song was written by Smith and Matt Prime and produced by Steve Fitzmaurice, Jimmy Napes and Mojam. It debuted and peaked at number 9 in the United Kingdom, becoming Smith's fifth UK top 10 single.
Spectre is a 2015 spy film and the twenty-fourth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. Directed by Sam Mendes and written by John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Jez Butterworth from a story conceived by Logan, Purvis, and Wade, it stars Daniel Craig as Bond, alongside Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, and Ralph Fiennes. It was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. In the film, Bond battles Spectre, an international crime organisation led by Franz Oberhauser (Waltz).
"Omen" is a song by English electronic music duo Disclosure. It features vocals from English singer Sam Smith. It was released as a digital download on 27 July 2015, by Island Records. It is the second single from Disclosure's second studio album, Caracal (2015), following "Holding On". It was written by Guy Lawrence, Howard Lawrence and Smith and co-written by Jimmy Napes. It is the second collaboration between Smith and Disclosure, following "Latch" in 2012. The song charted in multiple countries and is featured on the soundtrack for the video game, FIFA 16.
"Lay It All on Me" is a song by British drum and bass band Rudimental, featuring guest vocals from British singer Ed Sheeran. The song was released as a single for Rudimental's second album, We the Generation (2015). On 24 September 2015, the band debuted the song on BBC Radio 1. It became available on streaming and downloading services the following day.
Spectre: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 24th James Bond film of the same name. Released by Universal Music Classics on 23 October 2015 in the United Kingdom and on 6 November 2015 in the United States, the music was composed by Thomas Newman, who previously composed the soundtrack of the 23rd Bond film Skyfall, making him the third composer after John Barry and David Arnold to score more than one film in the series. The film's theme song "Writing's on the Wall" performed by Sam Smith is the fourth theme song that doesn't feature the title of its film in the lyrics. It is also the third song after "You Know My Name" (2006) and "Skyfall" (2012) that did not appear on the film's official soundtrack album.
"Too Good at Goodbyes" is a song by English singer Sam Smith. It was released on 8 September 2017 through Capitol Records, as the lead single from their second studio album, The Thrill of It All (2017).
"Promises" is a song by Scottish DJ and record producer Calvin Harris and English singer-songwriter Sam Smith. It was released by Columbia Records and Sony Music on 17 August 2018, and included on Smith's third studio album Love Goes (2020), and Harris' seventh studio album, 96 Months (2024). Both artists co-wrote the song with Canadian singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez, who also provided additional vocals to the song, while the song's production was handled solely by Harris. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on 7 September 2018, having debuted at number four two weeks earlier. It became Harris' tenth British chart-topper and Smith's seventh. In the United States, the single became Harris' twelfth and Smith's first number-one on Billboard's Dance/Mix Show Airplay Chart in its 6 October 2018 issue.
"No Time to Die" is the theme song for the James Bond film of the same name. Performed by American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and written by Eilish and her brother and collaborator, Finneas O'Connell, the song features orchestration by Hans Zimmer and was produced by Finneas O'Connell and Stephen Lipson. It was released through Darkroom and Interscope Records on February 13, 2020. Only 17 years old at the time of recording, Eilish is the youngest artist to have recorded a James Bond theme in the history of the franchise.
"Diamonds" is a song by English singer Sam Smith, released through Capitol Records on 18 September 2020 as the second single from their third studio album, Love Goes (2020). The song was written by Smith with its producers Shellback and Oscar Görres. A remix of the song by English DJ Joel Corry and an acoustic version were released on 9 October 2020.