For a limited time, get 20% off select Hooktheory products when you use this link: www.hooktheory.com/davidbennett 📌Another Bond theme that quotes the motif that I forgot to mention is Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" which makes use of the Bond motif near the end of the song and this was actually the year before Tom Jones' "Thunderball". Thanks to the commenters who drew my attention to that example 😊😊
I've tried writing 'Spy' music as it were, and it's so difficult to find something that evokes the same feeling of Bond without actually using the same chords from his theme. Everything about those four chords exemplifies who the character is - mysterious, dangerous, suspenseful, suspicious, etc. It many ways it cannot be topped as a spy theme. The only thing that kinda comes close is the Mission Impossible theme, but that has always felt a little more 'fun and adventure' like. Bond's theme has always felt more gritty and dangerous.
The guitar piece from “Is There Anybody Out There?” from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” is another great example of where this chord progression is used! I believe the chords use different inversions of those in the original Bond progression, with the Bond progression being Am, F/A, F#dim/A, F/A, and the progression from “Is There Anybody Out There?” being Am/E, Fmaj7, F#m7b5, Fmaj7. They’re basically the exact same notes, just inverted. This is the first song I thought of when I heard this chord progression, and I definitely recommend listening to it again for the sound of the Bond progression!
@@danielbu1631I don’t think “Empty Spaces” quite uses the Bond progression, although the motion of the notes within the chords is very similar, starting on a note, moving up to a close by note, moving up to another close by note, and back down. I can definitely see where you’re coming from! This seems to be a motif that appears throughout “The Wall”, most notably in the “Another Brick in the Wall” trilogy. It can also be heard at the end of “Hey You” and “Waiting for the Worms”.
I love the Bond Themes that include the semi-tone motive. Sheryl Crowe's & Adele's are two of my favourite most recent ones. Bond Themes are an art form on their own.
Thanks for the video! Here are some more songs where I think the James Bond theme is recognizable: Madonna - Deeper And Deeper (around 2:56-3:28) Robert Miles - Landscape Depeche Mode - It's No Good (around 3:00) US5 - The Boys Are Back (around the bridge) Ovidiu Anton - Moment Of Silence (around the beginning of 2nd verse) Eneda Tarifa - Fairytale [almost: Liza Minnelli - Losing My Mind]
There’s a lovely Italian song (actually a rewriting of an obscure American pop song) made famous by Mina Mazzini, called “Città vuota”, which does that progression in the context of the I and ii chords. In A: A - F+/A - A6 - F+/A, Bm - G/B - Bm6 - G/B.
The verse of Goldeneye uses this chord progression to back Tina Turner’s vocals. Still one of my all-time favourites, although some of the more recent themes are not far behind.
Great job as always. Supremacy from Muse's The 2nd law album is clearly an hommage to the James Bond theme. We found the progression and even the James Bond chord Em Major 9 at the end of the song.
Came here to say this. Supremacy almost seems purpose-written as a Bond theme! I've seen some people edit James Bond opening sequences to it, and it really works.
Actually, Muse did put forward Supremacy to be used in Skyfall, instead of Adele’s theme, but was rejected. The band released it on their next album The Second Law anyway as they’d already written and recorded it
It's the voice leading that makes the Cornell song sound reminiscent of James Bond. That voice leading doesn't exist in Heart Shaped Box, which is a mess as they often are in rock songs. But even if you want to try and extrapolate the closest mix of voices that approximates the voice leading, you'd get a (V - bvi - iv - V - bvi - vi - bvii/iv) line (last note varies because the last note is an open guitar string and sometimes he hits the D, and sometimes he hits the G). But again, that inexact rising chromatic line is almost never perceived as such because it's a mix of the soprano and alto voices rather than totally in the soprano like the Cornell example. Also the bVI chord never actually plays the major third, and the IV chord is a dom7 both in root position which further distorts any possible connection. Also I know that David sometimes presents it as just a "i - bVI - IV" progression, but that's kind of disingenuous since it's just a really common third descending natural minor progression which you see in a ton of modern music. And as a final note, as iconic as the "James Bond chord progression" is, it's also a really cliché piece of writing. In fact, we literally call them line clichés. Those sorts of chromatically rising/falling voice chord progressions have just always had a strong appeal in Western music so you'll have things that just sort of incidentally sound like it. Anyway, that's all to say that it essentially never sounds like James Bond.
This progression is just one more reason why I love the Bond films, it just adds that level of mystique and I love it and it still reminds me of a guitar riff that I wrote that took some influence from the Bond chords
The theme for Flying Battery zone from Sonic 3 and Knuckles uses this chord progression It's also used in the track from Rayman Legends "The spy who kicked me"
This is my favorite channel for music theory - puts together very practical musical knowledge with great breakdowns and examples. I’m wondering if there’s more content to be had talking about intervals and two chord sequences. The existing videos cover that already, but usually in passing. For example, today’s progression starts with vi IV (or i VI) sequence,which is worth its own video imo with examples of other progressions that include it. There would be no Iron Maiden without i VI. Another worth talking about would be i III, there’d be no Linkin Park without that. Could go even further and just break down intervals the same way. Again, I know that content already exists on this channel, but it’s less common to see theory presented in the bottom-up order, starting with one basic interval and evolving from there.
Live and Let Die has hints of the motif. Right before the orchestra part when paul McCartney sings “live and let die” it goes from G7 - C/G - Gdim7 which contain the notes B-C-C# I can definitely hear the James Bond sound in that part
Wrong order. The bit on "live & let die" lyric is G - C/G - Gdim - G7. The song has "danger feel" but it comes from odd interjection of minor & diminished chords, or oddball chords like D7flat9 (a D7 with a dissonant D# note on top, or maybe it's F# dim over a D). Leave it to Paul to do his own thing - and well.
@@loseryoutube6132 Shoot I KNEW Paul had used the Bond move with the Augmented chord - somewhere. Thanks for identifying it. A bit surprising, maybe, that David's search tool didn't catch it?
French singer/actor Serge Gainsbourg had a song in 1960 called "L'eau à la bouche" that has a similar progression, 60s vibe AND electric guitar twang! Strangely, John Barry and Gainsbourg were both romantically linked with actress Jane Birkin who is also known for her duet with Serge "Je t'aime... moi non plus".
Everytime you post any chord progression videos I try to figure out songs on my own as a fun exercise before going forward with the examples, and this time I was thinking on Akira Yamaoka's Promise, so happy to see you included it!
It’s the third time in a couple of months that I am thinking of a progression and the exact same day you post a video about that chord progression!! Wizardry?! 🧙🏻♂️
I don't know if the original Aquarela do Brasi from 1939 contains the chord progression (there are so many recordings and interpretations) but the reworking of it for the theme to Terry Gilliam's Brazil (which was named for the song) in 1985, by Kate Bush and Michael Kamen, certainly does. Life In Dark Water by Al Stewart also has this as a motif. I think we have to assume everything after 1962 that uses this progression does so deliberately 🕵
Not a big James Bond fan, but I do love how the theme can be adapted to be any combination of epic, haunting, or mysterious. I may be showing my colours here, but I'd love for David to look at the music theory behind the Doctor Who theme (a franchise of which I *am* a big fan).
I can't believe nobody mentioned 'The Court of the Crimson King' by King Crimson, they use the same cliché (though not exactly the same chord progression at the beginning, the Em) and then again with the 4th, starting at Am. This and 'Is There Anybody Out There?' by Pink Floyd are the first examples that came to my mind.
A very similar progression is used in Gordon Lightfoot's classic "Black Day in July" (1968). I learned a lot from Lightfoot songbooks as a kid when I was learning guitar and those chords (which were labelled Em, EmaddC, and EmaddC#) instantly put me in mind of the Bond theme. I guess it's a great progression to add tension.
Both 'you know my name' and 'skyfall' are some of the better songs often repeated on the radio here. Did not know they were made for Bond, rather neat!
This progression is in my favorite song, The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy. I love this chord progression. It goes very well with the melody of The Phoenix and harmonizes beautifully with the words "remix" and "phoenix". It has probably got to be my favorite of all time. I feel blessed to have this video and this progression.
Hi i just wanted to say thanks for your videos i watch your vidoes about modes all the time because they are one of my favourite musical concepts and i just love the format of your videos and how informative they are and theyre just great so thank you for making them
Dido - Thank You (and it's not so bad, it's not so bad..) Guess Who - Undun (too many mountains and not enough stairs to climb..) The The - Love is Stronger Than Death (In this world even winter ain't what it seems)
FANTASTIC video, David. However, you mentioned that Thunderball was the first Bond movie to include the JB motif within its opening movie theme. Actually, both From Russia With Love and Goldfinger incorporated this progression within their theme songs as well. (And if you want to get really picky about this, the very first Bond movie (Doctor No) also included it . . . . since its opening movie theme WAS the James Bond Theme.)
Serge Gainsbourg used the progression as early as 1958 in his "Poinconneur des Lilas". Arthur Brown's "Child Of My Kingdom" also uses the progression, as does Tom Robinson's "Glad To Be Gay". (This latter song also uses the familiar minor-chord line cliche with a chromatically falling bass.)
Perry's Theme from Phineas and Ferb uses this progression and separately part of the motif (but the harmonic rhythm is cut in half for the theme), but Perry is sort of the Bond of the show, so it absolutely makes sense if that's what they did! And if you look for the motif in "Perry's Theme," I don't think it's there. Instead, they use a quick half-motif when Perry either breaks in (if he isn't disguised) or when he removes his disguise (" *PERRY THE PLATYPUS* ?"
Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” has this as a refrain between sections of the music. As far as I can tell without playing through the music to check. At the end of the second verse. But it certainly sounds similar. And the verse also has the descending minor bass line cliche. But there is a simple explanation. The song was originally written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. Who also wrote the lyrics to “Goldfinger”. I am not sure of the exact sequence of the original song, Simone’s recording and the release of the film, but they were all around the same period. And Bricusse also wrote the lyrics to “You Only Live Twice”
Blondie’s ‘Last Contact in Red Square’ briefly uses this in the intro to evoke a ‘spy feel’. And in terms of video games, both the ‘Mini Boss’ theme and ‘Flying Battery Zone’ from Sonic & Knuckles use this motif as well!
The instrumental "Behind The Rain" by Herb Alpert, from the album "Rise", from 1979, also uses that chord progression, albeit in the key of C sharp minor rather than E minor, and is lively. No wonder on first hearing it, I thought it would have made a very good Bond theme.
One chord progression that is very similar to this one is the I I+ I6 I+ or I I+ vi I+ chord progression! It combines the augmented climb progression’s major-ness with the same chromatic movement of the James Bond progression, making a chord progression that feels somewhat unresolved and bittersweet (at least to my ears). It’s a great chord progression to look into if you’d like! Some songs I know with this chord progression include: Impossible Year - Panic! At The Disco Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston Notion - The Rare Occasions Underground - Ben Folds Five I Got Love - Mother Mother Stay Behind - Mother Mother Ryne’s Song - Ashe Off She Goes - Bad Suns Christmas Kids - Roar There Is A Sound - The Handsome Family
Great video, as always. :) It comes up a fair amount in videogames, like with these ones: Final Fantasy 6 - Decisive Battle Final Fantasy 8 - Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec Final Fantasy 9 - Vamo a Flamenco Fire Emblem series - Together We Ride I've used the chord progression multiple times in songs. I find it works best as an intro, in the verses, or in the bridge, because it feels like it's building to something that needs to come after it imho. Also, it's more versatile than one might think. The Final Fantasy 9 song Vamo a Flamenco shows what putting a happy song after the James Bond intro does. It surprisingly works, and it ultimately gives the song a very distinctive feel that's hard to pin down in words. :)
And Forested Temple too in FF7. Which uses the motif in Emin, then Amin, switches to a G/Dmaj version of it then back to Dmin before going back to Emin again. Very cool sequence. Nobuo is obviously a James Bond fan!
"My Dark Disquiet" by Poets of the Fall has the Bond progression. On the same album it's featured on ("Ultraviolet"), you will find the song "False Kings" that is another very James Bondesque theme.
I hear this progression in Susanne Vega's beautiful song "In Liverpool", in the verses - it may be inverted or altered a little, but the half-steps are there. I went to watch its video just now, and some comments say "sounds like a bond theme..."
Another song that I think has a similar progression is "Say No to This" from Hamilton, it evokes the same feeling from the Bond theme, mysterious and unsettling
This progression is all over the place in Hamilton, most prominently "Stay Alive" and parts of "Right Hand Man". "Say No to This" is similar, but it keeps going up on the fourth chord.
I'd regard this as chromatic embellishment of the static harmony of E minor (CESH), also known as a "til ready". Aka a line cliche, as you say. Thinking this way, it's Em Emb6 Em6 Emb6. Cry Me a River is very similar but continues upwards: Em Emb6 Em6 Em7. As to the Craig era, I think the intention was to present a musical prequel. The defining characteristic of the chromatic line is there but the harmonisation is more mobile, passionate, youthful than the no nonsense implacable businesslike vamp it presages - much as the character will develop. I'd imagine the collaborators on subsequent films were told to use it but Sam Smith wouldn't or couldn't so wrote another (and rather inappropriate) "Sam in pain" song instead.
Don't know if it's been said already, but the Finnish song "Shanghain valot" by Annika Eklund (The Lights of Shanghai in English) uses this progression. It was actually one of the top qualifiers for which Finnish song was to be presented at the Eurovision in 2006, but was beaten by Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah" that also won the competition :D
Hey do you think you could do a video on the chord functions and what their functions actually are? Like how they all relate to the tonic note, and how they're used to create emotion/tension and stuff. Love the videos keep it up!
Cool jam at the end. Always love that about your videos. On a whim I decided to play this in E major and use whole steps for the line cliché (B - C# - D# - C#). It is such a different vibe and made me laugh a little. Reminds me of a song but I can't seem to place it.
Wait until you learn that one of the most important songs in Brazilian music history, “Carinhoso” by Pixinguinha was using this progression back in 1916.
I only knew of the 'Secret Agent Man' that uses James Bond chord progression because it was so obvious, but I never knew ( perhaps didn't pay close attention to it ) that there's been others that did it as well. So cool to know..
The beginning of Running from evil from Doom 2 features a slightly altered version, with the last chord actually being another semitone up, then going back down at the end.
Even though Monty Norman is officially credited with writing the James Bond theme, I'm one of millions who think the actual composer is John Barry. Listen to his songs Poor Me and Black Stockings, from 1960, and hear that exact same chord progression, ie, the line cliché!
This progression is all over the Final Fantasy 8 soundtrack, it's in the main theme "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec" which is quoted and referenced in a lot of other songs.
Back in the day(1966), 'Secret Agent Man' was a required song to be played. My band, The Beau Street Runners, Franconia, Virginia, played it twice a night because everyone at the local community pool party could dance to it. Easy changes and you could play several choruses of lead guitar too.
One of my favourite chord sequence tricks is where there's a melody inside it, but not at the bottom or top, but in the middle with sus chords. Things like A Asus2 A Asus4 A. Very 60s sound to me because you find it in things like Tapioca Tundra by the Monkees.
Perhaps the directors of the next JB movie can have a scene where a pianist sits in a corner playing the riff while James introduces himself to the femme fatale. And the pianist/composer is none other than David Bennet. Aim high.
There is another Elvis song where this progression makes an appearance, the theme to the the western he was in, Charro. I'm not sure but I think I did hear or read somewhere that the song was originally written as a Bond theme, though never accepted.
one of my favorite songs that uses this progression is "Youth Culture Killed My Dog" by They Might Be Giants. The intro uses the bare essentials of it (the bass note and the melody) to deliberately create a James Bond type sound.
I think on its own, without its cultural context, it is very heroic and urgently dark, suspenseful even. The sharp, dominantesque desire to resolve from the b6 back to the 5, the major lift from the major 6, then the minor fall back to b6 to resolve fully into the minor (or minoresque) tonality.
When I hear this progression it takes me to The Wall and not James Bond. That's just where I learned it from. I don't recall the song from The Wall. Somewhere between Hey You and Bring The Boys Back Home, I think. Haven't heard it in a while. Interesting video though. Keep it going!
The song you're probably thinking of is Empty Spaces but there are hints of the same progression in other the songs in The Wall, including the instrumental in Is There Anybody Out There. The main verse of all of the Another Brick in the Wall parts also follow a progression that's _almost_ the same and this "almost the same" progression is used elsewhere too, e.g. in the intros to "In the Flesh" (with and without the ?) and in the instrumental of Hey You.
Black Sabbath's She's Gone off the Technical Ecstasy album, in addition to being a rare acoustic Sabbath track, has the opening string section straight out of the Bond theme.
Here’s another one (kinda obscure- believe it or not, considering the artist). One of the non-singles, “Sympin,” off Boyz II Men’s debut album opens with a piano n guitar playing the Bond chords n “riff” respectively for four bars, beneath some programmed strings/horns & sparse percussion. IIRC it’s in Dm. While cool to hear, it’s a lil curious/random-w/ even the piano motif never appearing again. Great vocals on that album (obv), used to wear it out. Always love your insight n playing David!
For a limited time, get 20% off select Hooktheory products when you use this link: www.hooktheory.com/davidbennett
📌Another Bond theme that quotes the motif that I forgot to mention is Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger" which makes use of the Bond motif near the end of the song and this was actually the year before Tom Jones' "Thunderball". Thanks to the commenters who drew my attention to that example 😊😊
Man ,you just forgot the reference track used by John Barry to compose his theme ...Julie London - Cry me a river !!!!
Loved Goldfinger, So Iconic and memorable. Sean Connery was the one. The others were good, but no Sean.
Are you sure Paul doesn't put it somewhere in Live and Let Die?
Tomorrow Never Dies sneaks the first three chords of the progression in at the end of the chorus ;)
I am not a musician, but it seems like the chord progression is similar but sped up for “Wipeout”.
stealth announcing you've been selected to compose the new james bond theme, are we
I've tried writing 'Spy' music as it were, and it's so difficult to find something that evokes the same feeling of Bond without actually using the same chords from his theme. Everything about those four chords exemplifies who the character is - mysterious, dangerous, suspenseful, suspicious, etc. It many ways it cannot be topped as a spy theme. The only thing that kinda comes close is the Mission Impossible theme, but that has always felt a little more 'fun and adventure' like. Bond's theme has always felt more gritty and dangerous.
Focus on Phrygian, and do the line cliche in the bass notes instead of the upper notes (or both at once in power chords).
I feel like you need to incorporate some surf guitar and/or slap bass, and have some sliding, orchestral sounding strings...
The guitar piece from “Is There Anybody Out There?” from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” is another great example of where this chord progression is used! I believe the chords use different inversions of those in the original Bond progression, with the Bond progression being Am, F/A, F#dim/A, F/A, and the progression from “Is There Anybody Out There?” being Am/E, Fmaj7, F#m7b5, Fmaj7. They’re basically the exact same notes, just inverted. This is the first song I thought of when I heard this chord progression, and I definitely recommend listening to it again for the sound of the Bond progression!
I was looking for such a comment, glad it didn't take long to find :)
Empty spaces also has it
haha, so was I!!!!! glad someone mentioned this i think about it every time i listen to the wall @@roman.korpachyov
@@danielbu1631I don’t think “Empty Spaces” quite uses the Bond progression, although the motion of the notes within the chords is very similar, starting on a note, moving up to a close by note, moving up to another close by note, and back down. I can definitely see where you’re coming from! This seems to be a motif that appears throughout “The Wall”, most notably in the “Another Brick in the Wall” trilogy. It can also be heard at the end of “Hey You” and “Waiting for the Worms”.
Wow I thought this was familiar from there! That makes sense now, thanks
That first Chord Really gives me the EBGBs.
I love the Bond Themes that include the semi-tone motive. Sheryl Crowe's & Adele's are two of my favourite most recent ones. Bond Themes are an art form on their own.
Thanks for the video!
Here are some more songs where I think the James Bond theme is recognizable:
Madonna - Deeper And Deeper (around 2:56-3:28)
Robert Miles - Landscape
Depeche Mode - It's No Good (around 3:00)
US5 - The Boys Are Back (around the bridge)
Ovidiu Anton - Moment Of Silence (around the beginning of 2nd verse)
Eneda Tarifa - Fairytale
[almost: Liza Minnelli - Losing My Mind]
How about Underwater Love by Smoke City?
José Afonso - Redondo Vocábulo
Sorry Angel by Serge Gainsbourg did it as well
Not exactly but quite. Fourth chord is different, isn't it?
There’s a lovely Italian song (actually a rewriting of an obscure American pop song) made famous by Mina Mazzini, called “Città vuota”, which does that progression in the context of the I and ii chords. In A: A - F+/A - A6 - F+/A, Bm - G/B - Bm6 - G/B.
The verse of Goldeneye uses this chord progression to back Tina Turner’s vocals. Still one of my all-time favourites, although some of the more recent themes are not far behind.
I agree. You can hear it very clear at the beginning of the second verse of the song :)
I love this progression
And despite whatever I love these chord progression videos 😊❤❤😊😊😊🎉🎉🎉
And I love you, Tyler.
It would sound cool in a hard bop tune
It's gotta be either my favorite or my second favorite of all time.
Great job as always.
Supremacy from Muse's The 2nd law album is clearly an hommage to the James Bond theme. We found the progression and even the James Bond chord Em Major 9 at the end of the song.
Came here to say this. Supremacy almost seems purpose-written as a Bond theme! I've seen some people edit James Bond opening sequences to it, and it really works.
+
Actually, Muse did put forward Supremacy to be used in Skyfall, instead of Adele’s theme, but was rejected. The band released it on their next album The Second Law anyway as they’d already written and recorded it
@@robertgodsellSkyfall is a surprisingly good theme and well executed. But Supremacy is... supreme. :)
I've been trying to gather songs with this progression for ages without understanding which chords were used, thank you so much for covering it!
The Goldfinger song, released before Thunderball, clearly includes a nod to the James Bond Theme
Both Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box" and Lana Del Ray's "Ultraviolence" (verse) uses the same "bond" progression as the Chris Cornell song!
That's a 3 chord descending progression though, it was the melody of the Cornell song that was Bond-like.
This is also can be heard in the intro of Beatles' Help
It's the voice leading that makes the Cornell song sound reminiscent of James Bond. That voice leading doesn't exist in Heart Shaped Box, which is a mess as they often are in rock songs. But even if you want to try and extrapolate the closest mix of voices that approximates the voice leading, you'd get a (V - bvi - iv - V - bvi - vi - bvii/iv) line (last note varies because the last note is an open guitar string and sometimes he hits the D, and sometimes he hits the G). But again, that inexact rising chromatic line is almost never perceived as such because it's a mix of the soprano and alto voices rather than totally in the soprano like the Cornell example. Also the bVI chord never actually plays the major third, and the IV chord is a dom7 both in root position which further distorts any possible connection.
Also I know that David sometimes presents it as just a "i - bVI - IV" progression, but that's kind of disingenuous since it's just a really common third descending natural minor progression which you see in a ton of modern music.
And as a final note, as iconic as the "James Bond chord progression" is, it's also a really cliché piece of writing. In fact, we literally call them line clichés. Those sorts of chromatically rising/falling voice chord progressions have just always had a strong appeal in Western music so you'll have things that just sort of incidentally sound like it.
Anyway, that's all to say that it essentially never sounds like James Bond.
The heart shaped box progression is also in territorial pissings and in bloom. I always think of that as the nirvana chord progression
Also, Yes - Starship trooper! (the last part)
This progression is just one more reason why I love the Bond films, it just adds that level of mystique and I love it and it still reminds me of a guitar riff that I wrote that took some influence from the Bond chords
The theme for Flying Battery zone from Sonic 3 and Knuckles uses this chord progression
It's also used in the track from Rayman Legends "The spy who kicked me"
This is my favorite channel for music theory - puts together very practical musical knowledge with great breakdowns and examples.
I’m wondering if there’s more content to be had talking about intervals and two chord sequences. The existing videos cover that already, but usually in passing. For example, today’s progression starts with vi IV (or i VI) sequence,which is worth its own video imo with examples of other progressions that include it. There would be no Iron Maiden without i VI. Another worth talking about would be i III, there’d be no Linkin Park without that.
Could go even further and just break down intervals the same way. Again, I know that content already exists on this channel, but it’s less common to see theory presented in the bottom-up order, starting with one basic interval and evolving from there.
Live and Let Die has hints of the motif. Right before the orchestra part when paul McCartney sings “live and let die” it goes from G7 - C/G - Gdim7 which contain the notes B-C-C#
I can definitely hear the James Bond sound in that part
Well it WAS a Bond film song!
Wrong order. The bit on "live & let die" lyric is G - C/G - Gdim - G7. The song has "danger feel" but it comes from odd interjection of minor & diminished chords, or oddball chords like D7flat9 (a D7 with a dissonant D# note on top, or maybe it's F# dim over a D). Leave it to Paul to do his own thing - and well.
Paul also used the same Em - C/E - C#°/E in the song Another Day, in the middle section.
@@loseryoutube6132 Shoot I KNEW Paul had used the Bond move with the Augmented chord - somewhere. Thanks for identifying it. A bit surprising, maybe, that David's search tool didn't catch it?
l think the 2nd chord is G C# E
Incredible analysis on one of the Greatest Movie Themes of all Time
There's also "Hey Bulldog" by the Beatles, which uses the same semitone climb
@@Luke5100did he talk about Savoy Truffle? I haven't watched the full video yet, but that instantly comes to mind
I was waiting for it to come out in this video
In the chorus of Mis-shapes by Pulp, they use the Bond chords and sing the line “we won’t use bombs” which I used to hear as “we want James Bond.”
Seeing David in a First of October shirt is something i NEVER EVER thought i was gonna see!!
French singer/actor Serge Gainsbourg had a song in 1960 called "L'eau à la bouche" that has a similar progression, 60s vibe AND electric guitar twang! Strangely, John Barry and Gainsbourg were both romantically linked with actress Jane Birkin who is also known for her duet with Serge "Je t'aime... moi non plus".
Also the first track of his first LP - "Le Poinçonneur des Lilas"
Everytime you post any chord progression videos I try to figure out songs on my own as a fun exercise before going forward with the examples, and this time I was thinking on Akira Yamaoka's Promise, so happy to see you included it!
One of my favourite uses of this progression when is the The Guess Who uses it in the bridge of their song “Undun”
It’s the third time in a couple of months that I am thinking of a progression and the exact same day you post a video about that chord progression!! Wizardry?! 🧙🏻♂️
I don't know if the original Aquarela do Brasi from 1939 contains the chord progression (there are so many recordings and interpretations) but the reworking of it for the theme to Terry Gilliam's Brazil (which was named for the song) in 1985, by Kate Bush and Michael Kamen, certainly does. Life In Dark Water by Al Stewart also has this as a motif. I think we have to assume everything after 1962 that uses this progression does so deliberately 🕵
Not a big James Bond fan, but I do love how the theme can be adapted to be any combination of epic, haunting, or mysterious. I may be showing my colours here, but I'd love for David to look at the music theory behind the Doctor Who theme (a franchise of which I *am* a big fan).
I can't believe nobody mentioned 'The Court of the Crimson King' by King Crimson, they use the same cliché (though not exactly the same chord progression at the beginning, the Em) and then again with the 4th, starting at Am. This and 'Is There Anybody Out There?' by Pink Floyd are the first examples that came to my mind.
A very similar progression is used in Gordon Lightfoot's classic "Black Day in July" (1968). I learned a lot from Lightfoot songbooks as a kid when I was learning guitar and those chords (which were labelled Em, EmaddC, and EmaddC#) instantly put me in mind of the Bond theme. I guess it's a great progression to add tension.
Gordon Lightfoot also has another song called "Don't Beat Me Down" that has a reverse "Bond" progression: Em(7) - A - C - Em, capo 3rd fret
@@OurgasmComrade Yes, another great song to sing and play.
Both 'you know my name' and 'skyfall' are some of the better songs often repeated on the radio here. Did not know they were made for Bond, rather neat!
This progression is in my favorite song, The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy. I love this chord progression. It goes very well with the melody of The Phoenix and harmonizes beautifully with the words "remix" and "phoenix". It has probably got to be my favorite of all time. I feel blessed to have this video and this progression.
The acoustic guitar section of Pink Floyd's "Is There Anybody Out There?"
Think so... how about Stairway to Heaven & Cry Me a River?
Exactly what I thought
A simple progression yet so effective. Enjoyable segment, as always, David. Thank you!
If you're looking at video game music, The Phantom Forest from Final Fantasy 6 also uses this chord progression of create that tense haunted sound.
The boss theme uses it as well. 👍
And Forested Temple in FF7!
Used in Descent I level 20 and Doom II level 1 to some extent
Hi i just wanted to say thanks for your videos i watch your vidoes about modes all the time because they are one of my favourite musical concepts and i just love the format of your videos and how informative they are and theyre just great so thank you for making them
Dido - Thank You (and it's not so bad, it's not so bad..)
Guess Who - Undun (too many mountains and not enough stairs to climb..)
The The - Love is Stronger Than Death (In this world even winter ain't what it seems)
I believe Mis-shapes by Pulp also uses the chord progression briefly at the end of the chorus.
"We won't use guns, we won't use bombs, we'll use the one thing we've got more of and that's our minds."
....yeah!😛
FANTASTIC video, David. However, you mentioned that Thunderball was the first Bond movie to include the JB motif within its opening movie theme. Actually, both From Russia With Love and Goldfinger incorporated this progression within their theme songs as well. (And if you want to get really picky about this, the very first Bond movie (Doctor No) also included it . . . . since its opening movie theme WAS the James Bond Theme.)
Serge Gainsbourg used the progression as early as 1958 in his "Poinconneur des Lilas". Arthur Brown's "Child Of My Kingdom" also uses the progression, as does Tom Robinson's "Glad To Be Gay". (This latter song also uses the familiar minor-chord line cliche with a chromatically falling bass.)
Perry's Theme from Phineas and Ferb uses this progression and separately part of the motif (but the harmonic rhythm is cut in half for the theme), but Perry is sort of the Bond of the show, so it absolutely makes sense if that's what they did!
And if you look for the motif in "Perry's Theme," I don't think it's there. Instead, they use a quick half-motif when Perry either breaks in (if he isn't disguised) or when he removes his disguise (" *PERRY THE PLATYPUS* ?"
Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” has this as a refrain between sections of the music. As far as I can tell without playing through the music to check. At the end of the second verse.
But it certainly sounds similar. And the verse also has the descending minor bass line cliche.
But there is a simple explanation. The song was originally written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse.
Who also wrote the lyrics to “Goldfinger”.
I am not sure of the exact sequence of the original song, Simone’s recording and the release of the film, but they were all around the same period.
And Bricusse also wrote the lyrics to “You Only Live Twice”
Blondie’s ‘Last Contact in Red Square’ briefly uses this in the intro to evoke a ‘spy feel’. And in terms of video games, both the ‘Mini Boss’ theme and ‘Flying Battery Zone’ from Sonic & Knuckles use this motif as well!
The instrumental "Behind The Rain" by Herb Alpert, from the album "Rise", from 1979, also uses that chord progression, albeit in the key of C sharp minor rather than E minor, and is lively. No wonder on first hearing it, I thought it would have made a very good Bond theme.
One chord progression that is very similar to this one is the I I+ I6 I+ or I I+ vi I+ chord progression! It combines the augmented climb progression’s major-ness with the same chromatic movement of the James Bond progression, making a chord progression that feels somewhat unresolved and bittersweet (at least to my ears). It’s a great chord progression to look into if you’d like! Some songs I know with this chord progression include:
Impossible Year - Panic! At The Disco
Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston
Notion - The Rare Occasions
Underground - Ben Folds Five
I Got Love - Mother Mother
Stay Behind - Mother Mother
Ryne’s Song - Ashe
Off She Goes - Bad Suns
Christmas Kids - Roar
There Is A Sound - The Handsome Family
Great video, as always. :)
It comes up a fair amount in videogames, like with these ones:
Final Fantasy 6 - Decisive Battle
Final Fantasy 8 - Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec
Final Fantasy 9 - Vamo a Flamenco
Fire Emblem series - Together We Ride
I've used the chord progression multiple times in songs. I find it works best as an intro, in the verses, or in the bridge, because it feels like it's building to something that needs to come after it imho.
Also, it's more versatile than one might think. The Final Fantasy 9 song Vamo a Flamenco shows what putting a happy song after the James Bond intro does. It surprisingly works, and it ultimately gives the song a very distinctive feel that's hard to pin down in words. :)
And Forested Temple too in FF7. Which uses the motif in Emin, then Amin, switches to a G/Dmaj version of it then back to Dmin before going back to Emin again. Very cool sequence. Nobuo is obviously a James Bond fan!
"My Dark Disquiet" by Poets of the Fall has the Bond progression. On the same album it's featured on ("Ultraviolet"), you will find the song "False Kings" that is another very James Bondesque theme.
Personally, this chord progression must be on my top 5 favorites
I hear this progression in Susanne Vega's beautiful song "In Liverpool", in the verses - it may be inverted or altered a little, but the half-steps are there. I went to watch its video just now, and some comments say "sounds like a bond theme..."
Another song that I think has a similar progression is "Say No to This" from Hamilton, it evokes the same feeling from the Bond theme, mysterious and unsettling
This progression is all over the place in Hamilton, most prominently "Stay Alive" and parts of "Right Hand Man".
"Say No to This" is similar, but it keeps going up on the fourth chord.
Stravinskys „Firebird“ from 1910 uses that chord loop at some point. It‘s the earliest usage of the progression I know of
“Inkwell Hell” from the game Cuphead uses this chord progression
Love your playing at the end of the video!
Thank you!
I'd regard this as chromatic embellishment of the static harmony of E minor (CESH), also known as a "til ready". Aka a line cliche, as you say. Thinking this way, it's Em Emb6 Em6 Emb6. Cry Me a River is very similar but continues upwards: Em Emb6 Em6 Em7. As to the Craig era, I think the intention was to present a musical prequel. The defining characteristic of the chromatic line is there but the harmonisation is more mobile, passionate, youthful than the no nonsense implacable businesslike vamp it presages - much as the character will develop. I'd imagine the collaborators on subsequent films were told to use it but Sam Smith wouldn't or couldn't so wrote another (and rather inappropriate) "Sam in pain" song instead.
Goldfinger used the chord progression before Thunderball did. It was also incorporated in at least GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough.
The classic rock Guess Who song "Undone" also uses the pattern in a single vocal part in the middle of the song.
Don't know if it's been said already, but the Finnish song "Shanghain valot" by Annika Eklund (The Lights of Shanghai in English) uses this progression. It was actually one of the top qualifiers for which Finnish song was to be presented at the Eurovision in 2006, but was beaten by Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah" that also won the competition :D
Battle Theme #4 from the game "Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel" uses this chord progression as well at one point in the track
Hey do you think you could do a video on the chord functions and what their functions actually are? Like how they all relate to the tonic note, and how they're used to create emotion/tension and stuff. Love the videos keep it up!
I could listen to the outro for hours.
Cool jam at the end. Always love that about your videos.
On a whim I decided to play this in E major and use whole steps for the line cliché (B - C# - D# - C#).
It is such a different vibe and made me laugh a little. Reminds me of a song but I can't seem to place it.
I absolutely love the little impros you play au the end!
Thanks!
@@DavidBennettPiano you‘re welcome!
I‘m impressed by your work.
I currently try myself to improve in improvisation and songwriting.
I bet no one knows this one: "Redondo Vocábulo" by the portuguese folk singer José Afonso. Beautiful melody! I recommend it highly.
th-cam.com/video/aEfH006yDeo/w-d-xo.html
Your composition at the end of this is one of your best in these videos.
Wait until you learn that one of the most important songs in Brazilian music history, “Carinhoso” by Pixinguinha was using this progression back in 1916.
In the Court of the Crimson King (King Crimson) and prior to the Time to Get Away section of Tuesday on Days of Future Past (Moody Blues)
There is an actual name for this particular harmonic technique. It's called Contrapuntal Elaboration of Static Harmony (CESH).
What about Kim Wilde's "Kids in America" finale?
Fits well into the pattern.
I found more examples.
Very interesting. Goldfinger Theme also has the progression, and so does part of From Russia With Love Theme (title sequense).
I've never played an instrument and know absolutely nothing about music, yet I watched this entire video
A First of October shirt for a video you put out on the First of October?
Nicely done!
the James Bond chord progression is also heard in The Stranglers song: "Too Precious" from the album "Dreamtime" from 1986.
I only knew of the 'Secret Agent Man' that uses James Bond chord progression because it was so obvious, but I never knew ( perhaps didn't pay close attention to it ) that there's been others that did it as well. So cool to know..
Practicing scales and cadences in Eb, you might find yourself playing this tune, and you might be startled by your discovery. It's so cool.
IRRC the judge in the Barry vs Norman case ruled that the opening 'vamp' was a common sequence and not attributable to either composer.
The beginning of Running from evil from Doom 2 features a slightly altered version, with the last chord actually being another semitone up, then going back down at the end.
Even though Monty Norman is officially credited with writing the James Bond theme, I'm one of millions who think the actual composer is John Barry. Listen to his songs Poor Me and Black Stockings, from 1960, and hear that exact same chord progression, ie, the line cliché!
"Flying Battery Zone" from Sonic 3 also uses this chord progression as well.
The bridge of "Undun" by the Guess Who features this progression as well.
This progression is all over the Final Fantasy 8 soundtrack, it's in the main theme "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec" which is quoted and referenced in a lot of other songs.
Back in the day(1966), 'Secret Agent Man' was a required song to be played. My band, The Beau Street Runners, Franconia, Virginia, played it twice a night because everyone at the local community pool party could dance to it. Easy changes and you could play several choruses of lead guitar too.
One of my favourite chord sequence tricks is where there's a melody inside it, but not at the bottom or top, but in the middle with sus chords. Things like A Asus2 A Asus4 A. Very 60s sound to me because you find it in things like Tapioca Tundra by the Monkees.
Perhaps the directors of the next JB movie can have a scene where a pianist sits in a corner playing the riff while James introduces himself to the femme fatale. And the pianist/composer is none other than David Bennet. Aim high.
There is another Elvis song where this progression makes an appearance, the theme to the the western he was in, Charro. I'm not sure but I think I did hear or read somewhere that the song was originally written as a Bond theme, though never accepted.
one of my favorite songs that uses this progression is "Youth Culture Killed My Dog" by They Might Be Giants. The intro uses the bare essentials of it (the bass note and the melody) to deliberately create a James Bond type sound.
Nice blues riffing at the end there! I dug it.
The "So sad, so sad" section in Paul McCartney's song Another Day uses a variation of this chord sequence.
I think on its own, without its cultural context, it is very heroic and urgently dark, suspenseful even. The sharp, dominantesque desire to resolve from the b6 back to the 5, the major lift from the major 6, then the minor fall back to b6 to resolve fully into the minor (or minoresque) tonality.
🎶"There once was a man with an unlucky sneeze... and what's worse he came into this world the wrong way round..." 🎶
I'm pretty sure it's in Hey Bulldog too "you can talk to meeee"
When I hear this progression it takes me to The Wall and not James Bond. That's just where I learned it from. I don't recall the song from The Wall. Somewhere between Hey You and Bring The Boys Back Home, I think. Haven't heard it in a while. Interesting video though. Keep it going!
The song you're probably thinking of is Empty Spaces but there are hints of the same progression in other the songs in The Wall, including the instrumental in Is There Anybody Out There. The main verse of all of the Another Brick in the Wall parts also follow a progression that's _almost_ the same and this "almost the same" progression is used elsewhere too, e.g. in the intros to "In the Flesh" (with and without the ?) and in the instrumental of Hey You.
Amazing video, David! It needed a big knowledge of pop and movie music to recall and mention all those songs: compliments
'Be forewarned' by Pentagram uses the James bond melody at 0:54 too
Before Thunderball, Goldfinger also borrows that Bond motive, although quite intentionally, and also borrows other elements of it.
Black Sabbath's She's Gone off the Technical Ecstasy album, in addition to being a rare acoustic Sabbath track, has the opening string section straight out of the Bond theme.
Some of the songs also use the bond progression, IIRC it's a motif for Washington
Now it makes sense why Supremacy by Muse sounds tailor-made for a Bond theme.
Amazing lesson as always
Fascinating analysis!
Here’s another one (kinda obscure- believe it or not, considering the artist). One of the non-singles, “Sympin,” off Boyz II Men’s debut album opens with a piano n guitar playing the Bond chords n “riff” respectively for four bars, beneath some programmed strings/horns & sparse percussion. IIRC it’s in Dm. While cool to hear, it’s a lil curious/random-w/ even the piano motif never appearing again. Great vocals on that album (obv), used to wear it out.
Always love your insight n playing David!
In Final Fantasy VI, the music in the Phantom Forest uses this progression. It's haunting and one of my favorite tracks from the game.