Billie Eilish on the Pressure of Writing No Time to Die's Theme
Billie Eilish talks about the pressure she felt when writing a theme song for Daniel Craig's James Bond movie No Time To Die. Eilish joins a long list of musical talents that have tried their hand at a James Bond theme song, including Adele, Jack White, Alicia Keys, Tina Turner, Wings, Chris Cornell and the pioneer Shirley Bassey. This is the 25th movie in the James Bond franchise and Craig's last work as Britain's most famous M16 agent.
Eilish's song, the aptly-titled "No Time to Die," was released back in February 2020 (well before the movie's many pandemic-related delays). It's gone on to achieve a tremendous amount of success, winning a Grammy Award and Golden Globe, in addition to being nominated for an Oscar. Crafting a James Bond theme has long been a dream of the singer's, as Eilish practiced writing Bond songs years before she landed the No Time to Die job. Considering that, she definitely felt a strong amount of pressure when it was time to write the tune.
In an interview on Deadline’s Crew Call podcast (via METRO), Eilish and her brother and co-writer Finneas O’Connell discuss their work on the theme song, Eilish admitting that she felt the pressure to nail the recording. The main reason for the pressure, says Eilish, was knowing that Daniel Craig, James Bond himself, had to sign off on the song before it was included in the film. She knew that it would be a particularly important moment in Craig's career since he was approving the theme song for his last performance as Bond. Once the main melody and hook was written, Eilish says the rest of the composition came together naturally. Read Eilish's full quote below.
"Daniel had to be the one to sign off on it and it’s a really big deal to him, it’s his entire last 17 years or something, and that’s a lot for him ... It was his last film, it’s something that has taken over his life for as long as he’s done it and been incredibly important ... Of course this movie is going to be the most important because it’s the last one. The song needs to be good. I didn’t know if it was going to be good enough for him. But then it went into the movie and when we met Daniel Craig he was just the most charming, kind, amazing person and he was so complimentary and it meant so much to me ... We didn’t have a feeling (of) “we’re the perfect people to do this" ... It was like, “oh no, somebody else should do this”. We were dying to do it but we definitely didn’t feel worthy at all. I hate the word easy because it wasn’t easy, but it just flowed naturally."
The resulting song that Eilish created along with Finneas for No Time To Die does a marvelous job of evoking the Bond vibe everyone learned from watching Shirley Bassey set the tone in the 60s and 70s. Adele might be Bassey's only true competitor. Bassey's 1971 song "Diamonds Are Forever" took on a life of its own after getting sampled in other songs through the 2000s. Another standout track from the Bond archives is "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney and Wings, which also became a classic that McCartney still uses in his live shows.
Eilish was a good choice for the No Time To Die theme song, as the smoky lounge aesthetic allowed her to tap into her ability to brood in decadence. With a dark edge always lurking through her songs, if not sitting at the center, she has plenty of range that could be explored in a small jazz club. Many Bond theme songs choose the orchestral or big-dynamic route, like "Live and Let Die" or "Another Way To Die" by Jack White and Alicia Keys. Billie Eilish's musical comfort zone is on the opposite end of the dynamic spectrum, so she naturally focuses her song on the delicate, breath-soft lyrics and melodies that her song features for the 25th installment in the James Bond franchise.
Source: Deadline (via METRO)