"You Only Live Twice" is the theme song to the 1967 James Bondfilm of the same name from its accompanying soundtrack album. It was written by Leslie Bricusse with music by veteran Bond film composer John Barry,and performed by Nancy Sinatra. It is widely recognised for its striking opening bars,featuring a simple 2-bar theme in the high octaves of the violins and lush harmonies from French horns (featuring a melody originally from Alexander Tcherepnin’s “First Piano Concerto (op. 12)"),and is considered by some among the best Bond film songs.[1] Shortly after Barry's production,Sinatra's producer Lee Hazlewood released a more guitar-based single version.
An initial version of the song was performed by Julie Rogers and recorded with a 50 or 60 piece orchestra at CTS Studios. However,this version was not used since Barry decided to re-write and re-record the song:"It was usually the producers that said 'this isn't working,there's a certain something that it needed'. If that energy wasn't there,if that mysterioso kind of thing wasn't there,then it wasn't going to work for the movie."[2] The Rogers song shares only two lines with the final version,"You only live twice",and "you’ll pay the price". Although there are many similarities in the harmony and orchestration with the final version,it is essentially a different song,with a less lush and more ethnic character.
The final version (2:44) featured in the film's opening title sequence and on the soundtrack LP is in the key of B and has a single vocal track. The song was recorded with a 60 piece orchestra on 2 May 1967 at the CTS Studios in Bayswater,London.[4] Sinatra later recalled that she was incredibly nervous during the recording,and it took around 30 takes to acquire enough material.[5] Producer John Barry eventually created the final version by incorporating vocals from 25 takes.[6] A longer mix (3:28) was used for the end titles,and incorporates different vocal takes in places.
In UK the soundtrack had been released,but while soundtracks such as Doctor Zhivago and Fiddler on the Roof hit the Top 20 of the UK Albums Chart,You Only Live Twice was less successful. Nancy Sinatra's single version squeezed into the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart for two weeks only. Barry also released an instrumental version but this failed to chart.
In Japan,the soundtrack was released in a gatefold with images from the film and a plot summary.[7]
The recognizable opening string melody of the song originates from Alexander Tcherepnin's First Piano Concerto (op.12),composed in 1919,although in his version the initial motif is succeeded by a falling octave pattern instead of transposing and repeating the motif in a different key,as is characteristic to "You Only Live Twice".
Single version
As compared to the soundtrack versions,the single version was constructed from a different set of takes at about the same tempo,but with all instruments and vocals performed a full semitone sharper,in the key of C. It has double-tracked lead vocals,plus backing wordless vocals by an unnamed singer,and occasional backing vocals by Sinatra herself. The iconic lead guitar harmony was replaced by a more subdued guitar at a lower pitch,playing throughout the song. This version also has rock drums gently playing throughout.
The vinyl single was only released in mono. An electronically processed stereo mix (made from a mono source) was eventually released on the circa 1968 Japanese compilation LP Golden Nancy Sinatra,which was reissued on CD and digitally in 2018. A proper stereo mix appeared more widely in 1970 on the Nancy's Greatest Hits LP. In 1986,a new stereo remix of the single version was released on the Nancy Sinatra compilation CD The Hit Years. As compared to the original stereo mix,this version has narrower stereo and centered vocals. It has appeared on many compilations since then. The song was also included on a 1995 reissue of Sinatra's 1966 album Nancy in London. The 1970 stereo mix was eventually reissued on Sinatra's 2021 Start Walkin' 1965–1976 compilation.
Critical reception
Roy Wood described Barry's string introduction to his song "You Only Live Twice" as "absolute perfection". Mark Monahan of The Daily Telegraph described the lyrics as "mysterious,romantically carpe diem ... at once velvety,brittle and quite bewitching".[8] David Ehrlich of Rolling Stone ranked "You Only Live Twice" the third best James Bond theme song,calling it "a classic."[9]
Australian band the Scientists released a heavy guitar version of the song as a single in 1985 which was included on their 1986 album Weird Love.
German post-punk band Abwärts recorded a cover version for their 1987 album Abwärts.[12]
Björk recorded a version for the 1997 album Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project but it was not included on the album. Although no official reason was given for its removal at the time, Björk later explained, on being asked about her cover of the song; "I learned the hard way that you should never cover your favorite tunes because they are good already. Cover bad tunes and make them good."[13]
Bill Frisell covered the song on his 2016 album When You Wish Upon a Star, an album devoted to covers of songs from films and television. This version is sung by Petra Haden, the daughter of Frisell's frequent collaborator bassist Charlie Haden.
In 2014, Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter Joanna Wang covered the song on her album Midnight Cinema.
The duo Beulahbelle (Kaitlyn Dever and Mady Dever) performed a cover of the song on the soundtrack to the 2018 film Tully.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
