Live and Let Die — Paul McCartney’s song helped take Bond into a new era
What makes a classic James Bond song? A sense of the epic, surely. Flaring brass, rippling strings. A melody-driven framework, an irresistible hook. Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die”, written for the eighth instalment of the film franchise, certainly ticks the right boxes. And yet when it was released ahead of the 1973 premiere, it must have puzzled. In the first 90 seconds alone we hear three disparate sound-worlds, each in a different tempo, juxtaposed with all the subtlety of a Walther PPK.
This mirrors, in part, the contributions of its three creators: McCartney, his wife Linda and former Beatles producer George Martin. In his book The Lyrics, McCartney recalls how it came together. He’d read Ian Fleming’s novel — the basis for the screenplay — in one afternoon and written the song the following day. The opening passage is pure McCartney: a searching tune over piano, wistfully sweet, reminiscent of his great ballad “Let It Be”.
Source: Timmy Fisher/ig.ft.com
