The You Only Live Twice Theme

Veteran James Bond composer John Barry, whose biography can be found here, provided the music, with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, for the fifth 007 movie, You Only Live Twice.  Bricusse had also worked on a prior Bond picture and his profile is available here.  The song, a hit for singer Nancy Sinatra, is considered one of the best among the James Bond themes.  Numerous artists have covered the theme, from The Scientists and Bjork to Coldplay and Shirley Bassey, and it was also used in the closing montage of the season five finale of Mad Men.  Robbie Williams re-recorded the opening bars for his hit “Millennium.”

 

Julie Rogers was originally asked to sing “You Only Live Twice” and had even recorded it with a full orchestra.  It was a much different version of the single Sinatra would later sing, with a more Oriental sound to fit the locations of the film.  Ultimately, only two lines were carried over to the new work.  Frank Sinatra, a friend of Bond producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli, was asked to perform the new song, but he instead suggested his daughter, Nancy.  Barry wanted Aretha Franklin, but the producers opted for Nancy instead, as her signature hit “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” was at the height of its popularity.

 

Nancy Sandra Sinatra, born June 8, 1940, is the oldest child of Frank Sinatra and Sinatra’s first wife, Nancy.  Sinatra studied music, dancing, and voice at the University of California, Los Angeles, but when your father is Frank “Chairman of the Board” Sinatra, you don’t need education to break into music.

 

She began her career as a singer and actress in the early 1960s and it was her association with songwriter and producer Lee Hazlewood that jumpstarted her career.  Sinatra’s musical hits included “Sugar Town,” “Somethin’ Stupid,” which was a duet with her father, “Jackson,” and a cover of Cher’s “Bang Bang.”  Her filmography included starring opposite Elvis Presley, Peter Fonda, and her father.

 

Sinatra was so nervous during the recording process of “You Only Live Twice” it took 30 takes to acquire enough material to use and Barry later manufactured the final product by incorporating 25 different takes.  The familiar opening string melody is originally from Alexander Tcherepnin’s “First Piano Concerto (op. 12),” composed in 1919.  “You Only Live Twice” reached number three on the US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks Chart and number 10 in Australia.

 

Sinatra has written a book about her father, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars, and currently hosts a weekly Sirius Satellite Radio show for Siriusly Sinatra.

 

Married twice, Sinatra has two children and a granddaughter.