You Only Live Twice Title Sequence
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Title sequence created by Maurice Binder
'You Only Live Twice' performed by Nancy Sinatra, written by Leslie Bricusse and John Barry
Featured in You Only Live Twice (1967)
Visuals
After the colourful titles of Thunderball, Maurice Binder uses a much more restricted palette for the titles of You Only Live Twice. Firmly establishing the oriental feel, images of crashing waves, exploding volcanoes, lava flows and traditional silhouetted geisha girls feature. For the first time photographic backgrounds are seen, which all help to produce an atmosphere, a hint of danger, and while not particularly exciting, fit perfectly with the theme.
Theme
Nancy Sinatra's singing of the You Only Live Twice title theme » is very popular amongst Bond fans. With an instantly recognisable strings opening, the elegant and dreamy lyrics are simple, yet very effective. While the smooth and calm tones of Nancy Sinatra are quite bewitching, she apparently was very nervous during recording. In an interview with John Barry, the final version of the song contains recordings from over 25 different takes. However this doesn't take anything away from the serene melodies and enchanting strings which all come together nicely to provide one of the more memorable themes.
The song also proved very popular for other artists as well. Artists such as Coldplay », Icelandic Björk, and more famously by Robbie Williams in 'Millennium' », have all covered parts of the song to create their own distinctive cues.
Unusually the single of You Only Live Twice fared much better in the UK rather than the USA, reaching a peak of number 11 at home, compared to that of number 44 in the States.
Lyrics
You only live twice, or so it seems. One life for yourself, and one for your dreams. You drift through the years and life seems tame, till one dream appears and love is its name.
And love is a stranger who'll beckon you on, don't think of the danger or the stranger is gone. This dream is for you, so pay the price, make one dream come true, you only live twice.
And love is a stranger who'll beckon you on, don't think of the danger or the stranger is gone. This dream is for you, so pay the price, make one dream come true, you only live twice. §
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