''You Only Live Twice'' is the soundtrack for the fifth

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film of the same name. It was composed by Bond veteran John Barry. At the time, this was his fourth credited Bond film. The theme song, " You Only Live Twice", was sung by

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'. Nancy Sinatra ...

, the first non-British vocalist of the series, with music by Barry and lyrics by

Leslie Bricusse Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films ''Do ...

. The soundtrack has previously been available in two versions on CD – the first, a straight reissue of the LP soundtrack, and the second, an expanded reissue including several previously unreleased tracks. The film soundtrack was recorded at CTS Studios, London. It debuted on the top 40

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

album chart on August 19, 1967, and went up to 27.

Alternative theme

An earlier version of the theme song with a similar arrangement and lyrics but different melody (and without the distinctive cascading strings), sung by an uncredited Julie Rogers, was included in the ''James Bond 30th Anniversary'' 2-CD boxed set, cited as a "demo". Rogers never thought it was a demo, but a finished version for the film. After this version was recorded, the producers sought out Nancy Sinatra for the vocal and Barry reorchestrated the song to suit her range. An alternative example of the

title song A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

(also called "You Only Live Twice" and sung by Lorraine Chandler) can be found on compilations such as ''Rare, Collectable, and Soulful Vol. 2''.

Track listing

# " You Only Live Twice (Main Title)" –

# "Capsule in Space" # "Fight at Kobe Dock – Helga" # "Tanaka's World" # "A Drop in the Ocean" # "The Death of Aki" # "Mountains and Sunsets" # "The Wedding" # "James Bond – Astronaut?" # "Countdown for Blofeld" # "Bond Averts World War Three" # "You Only Live Twice (End Title)" –

# "James Bond in Japan"contains the "

James Bond Theme The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions#James Bond series, Eon Productions Bond film since ''Dr. No (film), Dr. No'', released in 1962. Composed by Monty Norman ...

", originally composed for the ''Dr. No'' soundtrack # "Aki, Tiger and Osato" # " Little Nellie" # "Soviet Capsule" # "Spectre and Village" # "James Bond – Ninja" # "Twice Is the Only Way to Live" Tracks 13 to 19 were added later, as a bonus, to the complete version of the original soundtrack upon its digitally remastered CD rerelease. "Twice Is the Only Way to Live" was the final track on the soundtrack's original UK version. It was also included on the

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

soundtrack compilation ''Ten Golden Years'' (1968). On certain releases of the ''You Only Live Twice'' soundtrack album, the "

007 Theme The James Bond film series from Eon Productions has featured numerous musical compositions since its inception 1962, many of which are now considered classic pieces of British film music. The best known of these pieces is the "James Bond Theme" b ...

" is included. It is heard within the film when Little Nellie is being constructed and continues to play until three or four SPECTRE helicopters encounter Bond, at which point the music changes to the "

". Giving the score a Japanese flavour, John Leach played the

koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...

in the film,

Other Sinatra version

Nancy Sinatra recorded a

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often ...

version of "You Only Live Twice" for

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

that was arranged by guitarist

Billy Strange William Everett Strange (September 29, 1930 – February 22, 2012) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and an actor. He was a session musician with the famed Wrecking Crew, and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Mus ...

who released several records of

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of Bond musical themes.

Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...

felt Barry's lush instrumental backing was not suitable for a chart single. On the Reprise version Sinatra's voice is double tracked giving not only an unusual sound but a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

on the title. The record was released with a cover of

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

and

June Carter June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...

's "

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

" performed by Nancy Sinatra and

Hazlewood Hazlewood is a hamlet in the English county of North Yorkshire. Hazlewood lies to the east of the town of Skipton by and is located some two miles east of (across the River Wharfe from) Bolton Abbey Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, Nort ...

Appearances and cover versions

The theme "Kronos Unveiled" from the score of

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...

's 2004 film ''

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah V ...

'' bears a close resemblance to the track "Capsule in Space" (reprised in "Soviet Capsule"), while the film's trailer had used Barry's original ''

On Her Majesty's Secret Service On Her Majesty's Secret Service may refer to: * ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (novel), a 1963 novel by Ian Fleming * ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (film), a 1969 film adaptation of the novel ** ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (sou ...

'' theme.

Propellerheads Propellerheads were an English electronic music duo, formed in 1995 in Bath and consisting of Will White and Alex Gifford. History Their first release was an EP named ''Dive!'', released in 1996 through the independent label Wall of Sound. ...

' cover of Barry's ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' with

David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series '' Little Britain'' ...

also incorporates, in its full 9-minute version, "Capsule in Space" as a central segue. "You Only Live Twice" appeared at the end of ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its fict ...

'' episode "

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The charact ...

Little Anthony & The Imperials Little Anthony and the Imperials is an American rhythm and blues/soul vocal group from New York City founded by Clarence Collins in the 1950s and named in part for its lead singer, Jerome Anthony "Little Anthony" Gourdine, who was noted for his h ...

recorded a

of the song for United Artists Records. It appeared on their 1967 album, ''Movie Grabbers'' on the label's Veep Records subsidiary that year, and was released as a single from that album.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:You Only Live Twice (Soundtrack) 1967 soundtrack albums John Barry (composer) soundtracks Soundtrack albums from James Bond films United Artists Records soundtracks

Soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

Alternative theme

Track listing

Other Sinatra version

Appearances and cover versions

See also

References