I have been listening to Bond theme songs for as long as I can remember. My mother was a fan of Shirley Bassey and so "Gold Finger" and "Diamonds are Forever" were constantly playing on the record player. From the opening bars of Monty Norman's theme, the Bond franchise has always benefitted from an evocative soundtrack. Of course there have been some low moments: Aha's "The Living Daylights", Madonna's "Die Another Day" and somehow the formidable combined musical talents of Alicia Keys and James White managed to produce one of the worst songs ever to accompany a movie "Another way to die". But with fantastic songs such as "Sky Fall", "A View to a Kill", "Nobody does it better" and of course the irresistible "Live and Let Die" in the back catalogue I was shocked to discover that Sam Smith's "The writing's on the Wall" was the very first Bond theme song to reach number one in the UK charts.
It's a fine song, despite the rumor of it only taking Sam Smith 20 minutes to write. It brings the cinematic scale of a Shirley Bassey number together with Sam Smith's delicate yet powerful voice. It also, along with many other great songs, took a while to grow on me. Part of the process of learning to love the song was engaging with the lyrics, which seem to connect with interesting complications to Bond's past. In Spectre we discover that Bond's parents were killed when he was 12 and he was brought up in foster care. Sam Smith explains that through the song, he hoped to bring out "a touch of vulnerability from Bond, where you see into his heart a little bit." Smith definitely achieves this and indeed this seems to have been part of the way that Daniel Craig has played the role of Bond. We have a more three dimensional character who seems to have more emotional depth than some of the cardboard cut out Bond's of the past.
I've been here before
But always hit the floor
I've spent a lifetime running
And I always get away
But with you I'm feeling something
That makes me want to stay
I'm prepared for this
I never shoot to miss
But I feel like a storm is coming
If I'm gonna make it through the day
Then there's no more use in running
This is something I gotta face
If I risk it all
Could you break my fall?
How do I live? How do I breathe?
When you're not here I'm suffocating
I want to feel love, run through my blood
Tell me is this where I give it all up?
For you I have to risk it all
Cause the writing's on the wall
The only disappointment for me with the song is that the title of the song seems to bear little connection with the rest of the song or indeed with the phrase's heritage.
Maybe that is just a "sign of the times" that in our biblical illiterate culture sometimes people borrow phrases from scripture without realizing this is where they have come from. It was through the biblical Book of Daniel that this phrase came into parlance. It describes a decisive moment when the wicked king Beltzeshazzar, who has just committed a heineous act of blasphemy, encounters a dismembered hand that writes words on the wall "Mene Mene Tekel Parshim." No one was able to read the writing on the wall except Daniel; a Jewish captive God had spoken through to two previous monarchs who ruled over Babylon. Daniel deciphers the words and delivers a message from God along the lines of: God is holding you to account, and since he has found you lacking, things are not looking good for you.
In Bond's universe; James Bond is often judge, jury and executioner, with no need for long-term relationships at all. But in this song there is a hint of a change of heart. This change of heart is what God is all about. In the written message God leaves on the wall we discover that God alone is judge and no matter how rich or powerful we are we will all have to answer to him. And yet he gives us due warning - there may yet be time and opportunity to put things right.
This could be a powerful message to our generation - Christian or otherwise, it is a huge temptation to want to be in control, to make our decisions to suit ourselves, to protect ourselves so much that we can live independently of God and others. Whatever Smith means by the lyrics, let them be a challenge to us that we are accountable to the judge of all the earth, God Almighty.
