|
|
|
Jack White & Alicia Keys -
Another Way To Die
MI6 readers voted in their thousands during
2012 to rank all the James Bond title theme songs. Join us
as we count down the results... |
|
It was announced Jack White of The White
Stripes and Alicia Keys would collaborate on "Another
Way to Die", which is the first duet in Bond music
history, on 29
July 2008. According to White: "After a couple of years of wanting to collaborate with
Alicia, it took James Bond himself to finally make it happen."
The song
was recorded at Sputnik Sound Blackbird Studio in Nashville, Tennessee; White
played
the drums while Keys
performed on the piano.
The pair filmed a video
for the song in
Toronto on September 6, 2008, whilst Keys was at the Toronto
International Film Festival promoting her new film The Secret
Life of Bees while White was there with It Might Get Loud,
a documentary on the electric guitar. |
|
|
The core of the track was written and recorded
by White in his Nashville studio, with Keys adding piano and
vocals. "Alicia
put some electric energy into her breath that cemented itself
into the magnetic tape. Very inspiring to watch," explained
the film's composer Arnold. "You're
definitely taking on a responsibility. There's a tradition of
powerful music in all these films. But that's why I'm involved
creatively with music, for challenges like this."
Before the film had opened, Arnold acknowledged that the song
was far from typical Bond. "It's
not a big tune with the kind of long leading melody John Barry
used to write. But there's something about the duality of those
two voices that mirrors what's happening in the movie. Its dirty
and raw, and yet there's an element of sophistication with Alicia's
involvement, and that's kind of what you get with James Bond
in Quantum - he's sitting there waiting to explode and barely
keeping a lid on it. The way it drops in the film, it's
exactly the right temperament, exactly the right vibe, and it
means business."
A few tabloid reports claimed that it was far from harmonious
in the studio, with White and Keys going "toe-to-toe". One source
source at the recording said that "Keys was not happy
with a number of technical details and initially wasn't too crazy
about
the
song
itself. She also wasn't totally in sync with how the song was
being produced."
Many fans would voice their discontent with
the track when they finally got to hear it, but Jack
White
himself
also
found
a
reason for
his
blood
to
boil.
The
world
got their
first listen of the track when Coca Cola used it in the background
of a TV commercial to promote Coke Zero Zero 7 and plug the
tie-in with the film. White quickly denounced the ad, and his
management issued
a statement distancing The White Stripes
and Raconteurs man from the advert, claiming
that it was not his decision to license the song for use in the
promo. "Jack White was commissioned by Sony Pictures to
write a theme song for the James Bond film 'Quantum Of Solace',
not
for Coca Cola," read the statement. "Any other use
of the song is based on decisions made by others, not by Jack
White. We are disappointed that you first heard the song in a
co-promotion for Coke Zero, rather than in its entirety."
Whether they worked out their creative differences, or just
put on good game-faces for the publicity
push on the track, Keys herself
seemed excited about the film. "It just
starts BAM! with a crazy car chase. Things
are spinning out of control and then when it's all over he opens
the trunk and then the song starts! It's crazy! I did start screaming
in the theatre, I was personally excited."
Lyrics
Another blinger
With the slick
Trigger finger
For Her Majesty
Another one
With the
Golden tongue
Poisoning your fantasy
Another bill
From a killer
Turned a thrill
Into a tragedy
Chorus
A door left open
A woman walking by
A drop in the water
A look in the eye
A phone on the table
A man on your side
Someone that you think
That you can trust is just
Another way to die
Another tricky little gun
Giving solace to the one
That will never see
The sunshine
Another inch of your life
Sacrificed
For your brother
In the nick of time
Another dirty money,
Heaven sent honey
Turning on a dime
Chorus
A door left open
A woman walking by
A drop in the water
A look in the eye
A phone on the table
A man on your side
Someone that you think
That you can
Trust is just
Another way to die
Wo-oh-oh-oh-oh-oah!
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!
Another girl
With her finger
On the world singing
To you what
You want to hear
Another gun thrown down
And surrendered
Took away your fear
Hey!
Another man
That stands right
Behind you
Looking in the mirror
Chorus
Oh, a door left open
A woman walking by
A drop in the water
A look in the eye
A phone on the table
A man on your side
Oh,
Someone that you think
That you can trust
Is just another way to die
Suit him up
Bang bang...
Bang bang bang bang
