Spectre title song - Writing's on the Wall

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  • edited March 2016 Posts: 1,631
    Having popped into a few fan forums and seen the reaction over the months to Mr Smith and his Bond song (note I said "his" Bond song - it's his to do with what he wants), I find it quietly hilarious to read straight, often middle aged (though not always) men despairing of Smith's Bond song, being gently homophobic about it and him (and not even knowing they are) and then claiming that "we need to bring back Bassey" and that "Lady Gaga was robbed". It is irony personified. It seems straight male Bond fans have more Bassey on their music shelves than the gay fraternity of San Francisco and Vauxhall combined.

    And Gaga will get her Best Song Oscar... for her Bond song when the time comes.

    Well, as one of those that has been pretty anti-WOTW and Smith (although I've more or less stayed out of the discussion of it on this particular Bond forum), I would have to say that my dislike of the song in no way is derived from Smith's personal life.

    I must say, though, that I've never understood the continued desire to bring back Shirley Bassey for another title song. She's done three of them, the last one being 37 years ago. That's not to say that she couldn't do another one, but I feel like that ship has long since sailed.
  • Posts: 4,325
    And my dislike of the chorus isn't because he's ... gay. I'm straight and I think Freddie mercury was a great singer. My musical tastes are not informed by my views on homosexuality.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I can't believe people are still arguing over this. :)) still
    it makes fun reading.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    edited March 2016 Posts: 9,020
    Having popped into a few fan forums and seen the reaction over the months to Mr Smith and his Bond song (note I said "his" Bond song - it's his to do with what he wants), I find it quietly hilarious to read straight, often middle aged (though not always) men despairing of Smith's Bond song, being gently homophobic about it and him (and not even knowing they are) and then claiming that "we need to bring back Bassey" and that "Lady Gaga was robbed". It is irony personified. It seems straight male Bond fans have more Bassey on their music shelves than the gay fraternity of San Francisco and Vauxhall combined.

    And Gaga will get her Best Song Oscar... for her Bond song when the time comes.

    Priceless and so true!
    Best post yet on this topic, one to frame and put on the wall!
  • Posts: 4,325
    I can't believe people are still arguing over this. :)) still
    it makes fun reading.

    arguing?
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Ok, discussing, shooting the breeze, naval gazing....... Better ? ;)
  • suavejmfsuavejmf Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
    Posts: 5,131
    bondjames wrote: »
    I can live with him marketing about being gay, reluctantly, in the interests of spreading peace, goodwill and freedom for all, but thank EON and Sam Mendes as well then. That would have been the proper thing to have done. They gave him the damn gig and the platform after all. There's no excuse for that imho.

    True.
  • Posts: 4,325
    Ok, discussing, shooting the breeze, naval gazing....... Better ? ;)

    Yes - this is a forum after all -

    noun: forum; plural noun: forums; plural noun: fora

    1. a meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Ah! yes semantics :

    "the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning. The two main areas are logical semantics, concerned with matters such as sense and reference and presupposition and implication, and lexical semantics, concerned with the analysis of word meanings and relations between them."
  • Posts: 4,325
    Ah! yes semantics :

    "the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning. The two main areas are logical semantics, concerned with matters such as sense and reference and presupposition and implication, and lexical semantics, concerned with the analysis of word meanings and relations between them."

    This is hurting my brain.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    suavejmf wrote: »
    bondjames wrote: »
    I can live with him marketing about being gay, reluctantly, in the interests of spreading peace, goodwill and freedom for all, but thank EON and Sam Mendes as well then. That would have been the proper thing to have done. They gave him the damn gig and the platform after all. There's no excuse for that imho.

    True.

    Why not the other way around?
    EON should thank Smith for the marvelous job his done and bringing another well deserved Academy Award and Golden Globe for EON!!!
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    No problem mate, I actually meant Ceramics but spelled it wrong. :D
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    On this discussion....... I feel like a storm is coming
    If I'm gonna make it through the day
    Then there's no more use in running
    This is something I gotta face. ;)
  • Posts: 4,325
    On this discussion....... I feel like a storm is coming
    If I'm gonna make it through the day
    Then there's no more use in running
    This is something I gotta face. ;)

    If I risk it all [in this discussion] will you break my heart?
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    I find it quietly hilarious to read straight, often middle aged (though not always) men despairing of Smith's Bond song, being gently homophobic about it and him (and not even knowing they are) and then claiming that "we need to bring back Bassey" and that "Lady Gaga was robbed". It is irony personified. It seems straight male Bond fans have more Bassey on their music shelves than the gay fraternity of San Francisco and Vauxhall combined.

    Very good. Nothing screams straight more than wanting Kylie or Judy Garland to do a Bond song.

    tanaka123 wrote: »
    I was surprised by how much I really liked WOTW as I don't really like Sam Smith's singing style at all - it's just very X Factor fake emotion all the way. But he did a good job on this - except the chorus. Many YouTubers who are amateur singers can sing that chorus better than he does.

    I agree. Was very underwhelmed with the choice but he does a very capable job. My main gripe (and this is what prevents it being a classic) is that the lines 'For you I have to risk it all cos the writings on the wall' are extremely flat and lose all the momentum gained during the superb first 2 thirds of the song.

    A bit more polish on this section of the song and it could well have been an absolute corker rather than just half decent.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    I just saw Adele on the Ellen show and she looks frikkin amazing. She got thick curves in all the right areas. Bloody hell when did this happen?
  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    edited March 2016 Posts: 4,418
    I too, was slightly underwhelmed by the decision to have Smith sing a Bond song. But the song itself was good, not in the upper echelons of Bondian music, but decent nonetheless. Superb orchestration as well. I find Smith's voice not to my liking, rather high pitched, in the same vein as let's say the Bee Gees or Adam Levine. ( I wonder if I'll get called a homophobe with that comment! C'est la vie.) Still, it was most unusual to hear a Bond song, come from a place of vulnerability, a rarity in the Bondian oeuvre.

    Anywho, glad it received an oscar. I read, a few pages back, that Smith was involved with a bit of plagiarizing. "Stay With Me", the one that won him a Grammy, bears striking similarities to the Tom Petty classic, "I Won't Back Down". The courts thought that too, given Petty and Jeff Lynne songwriting credit to Smith's "Stand With Me". By all accounts the affair was most amiable, with Petty accepting Smith was not plagiarizing his work, and Smith said that he never listened to "I Wont Back Down", and when hearing that track, ceded the similarity.

  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    doubleoego wrote: »
    I just saw Adele on the Ellen show and she looks frikkin amazing. She got thick curves in all the right areas. Bloody hell when did this happen?
    Adele was always a little on the plump side imho. I would have been surprised if you said she'd slimmed down. Before I get into trouble with the PC crowd, I don't mind a little bit of curves on a gal, within reason.

    EDIT: Just saw the clip on youtube and I agree, she looks great. She has lost a bit.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    She has curves in all the right places. :)
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    I definitely would. Well certainly after a couple of pints.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I'm sure she'd join you with a couple of pints. :D
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    bondjames wrote: »
    doubleoego wrote: »
    I just saw Adele on the Ellen show and she looks frikkin amazing. She got thick curves in all the right areas. Bloody hell when did this happen?
    Adele was always a little on the plump side imho. I would have been surprised if you said she'd slimmed down. Before I get into trouble with the PC crowd, I don't mind a little bit of curves on a gal, within reason.

    EDIT: Just saw the clip on youtube and I agree, she looks great. She has lost a bit.

    Yeah she's lost a few lbs and looks good.
  • Didn't this piece just win an oscar for best original song?
  • Posts: 1,181
    I won't fault Sam for not thanking EON, Mendes, etc., as I'm sure he was told this would be on screen, but that live performance was a real clunker. To quote Randy, "It was pitchy dawg." I've watched other live performances by him that were top notch, but I think this is a very difficult song to sing live.

    Yes, I'm bracing for the comments about being live in front of billions around the world and also Hollywood Royalty. Oh and that I should try singing live at the Academy Awards and see how that goes.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    :)) well "Performance Anxiety" can strike at any time. ;)
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    They have pre performance pills for that...said to last a good few hours ;)

  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    You should watch Adele's Skyfall performance at the Oscars. That's what I call a clunker :))
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    edited March 2016 Posts: 10,586
    doubleoego wrote: »
    They have pre performance pills for that...said to last a good few hours ;)
    Lol. But not moment after. Could be severe.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    Now You can get them in eye drops.........Apparently they make you look hard .

  • royale65royale65 Caustic misanthrope reporting for duty.
    Posts: 4,418
    @Thunderpussy's here 'till Thursday folks!
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