Tina Turner Ushered In Pierce Brosnan's James Bond With GoldenEye's Killer Theme Song
The news came in today that music icon Tina Turner has died at the age of 83. Fans all over the world are hitting music sites to listen to and remember this incredible singer who has given us decades of hits, from "What's Love Got to Do With It?" to "Proud Mary" and "The Best," just to name a few. But one of Turner's performances graced the soundtrack to the 1995 James Bond film "GoldenEye" starring Pierce Brosnan, kicking off an entirely new era for 007.
The song — also entitled "GoldenEye" — features Turner at her best, and the simplicity of the music video, helmed by prolific video director Jake Scott (son of Sir Ridley Scott), is powerful. The glamorous Turner appears in a stunning white dress and belts out the tune in her gorgeous voice, telling a pretty dark story as she does so. The whole thing is intercut with quick shots from the film, as well as several women, including model/designer Alek Wek.
What you might not know is that Turner almost didn't do the song in the first place. The reason has to do with U2 frontman Bono, according to a 2018 interview Turner did with host Graham Norton for BBC 2 Radio (via Irish Mirror).
But a bitter kiss will bring him to his knees
"GoldenEye" was written by U2's The Edge and Bono, and the lyrics for the film's iconic theme song are pretty disturbing if you read them. The singer is a person who has been watching and stalking someone since childhood. She's been haunted by him as he goes from woman to woman and ignores her. But now she has found a way to make him her's alone. The implication is that she's going to poison him with a kiss. Here is one verse as an example:
Goldeneye, I found his weakness.
Goldeneye, he'll do what I please.
Goldeneye, no time for sweetness,
But a bitter kiss will bring him to his knees.
While frenetic images from the film, other women, and Bond himself flash around her, Turner is quite still as she sings. It implies single-mindedness and focuses on revenge with lines like, "Revenge, it's a kiss, this time I won't miss." She stares at the camera directly, alternately sitting and standing, but never distracted from her purpose. It's pretty chilling if you think about it, her voice moving back and forth between a purr and a blast of sound when her emotions get the best of her. It's also a remarkably controlled performance, which fits the intense character she's playing in the song.
"GoldenEye" hit number two on the charts in France and Poland and number three on the European Top 100. It hit number ten on the US Hot 100. So why did this song almost not happen with Turner as the singer?
A near miss
In the BBC 2 Radio interview, Turner said that she almost didn't do the song because of a bad demo she received from one of the song's creators. She said:
"Bono sent me the worst demo. He kind of threw it together as if he thought I wasn't going to do it. This song, I [didn't] even know what key to practice it in ... It was unbelievable what I [was] sent here, but again, you know, you have to step into the shoes and learn it. And then I sung it how I would sing it, and even Bono was impressed."
She said in the same interview that Bono admitted to realizing it was bad after he sent it to her. That may be true, but it all worked out beautifully. "GoldenEye" was released, not only on the 1995 original motion picture soundtrack but on Turner's own 1996 album "Wildest Dreams."
To think we could have missed out on the glory of her voice on this one. Tina Turner may be gone, but we have decades of amazing performances to remember her by.