With Sony Pictures' reboot of the James Bond film franchise starring a rougher, tougher Daniel Craig as 007, CASINO ROYALE became the highest grossing entry in the 21 cinematic missions since 1962. Indelible as the character of Bond is in film history and pop culture, so too have been many of the Bond film theme songs.  Following up on Chris Cornell's gruff and gritty tune You Know My Name, song artists Jack White and Alicia Keys have teamed up to record the edgy, abrupt and surprisingly poetic Another Way to Die, the title sequence theme for QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

Taking a cue from Daniel Craig's stripped-down and forceful interpretation of Bond in his first mission, White has penned a modernist tune which embodies the hard-punching demeanor of this 21st century 007 yet still retains hints of the suave sensuality associated with the secret agent.  When the song releases the trigger of its rapid autofire lyrics, letting the orchestration and vocals cool between rounds, a smoky blues ambience emerges from its undercurrent.

This is not your father's James Bond, nor is it Shirley Bassey's grand wailing about Goldfinger. More importantly, like You Know My Name before it, this new theme is full of pop stylings but likely won't appeal to repeated pop radio airplay — in the best sense, it's deconstructed and performed for title sequence impact in QUANTUM first and foremost. Should the tune match the erotic sandbox slinking of nude models as backdrop for the titles, it will be another welcome antidote to the airy ballads and puff pastry pop singles which masqueraded as title songs in the middle ages of Bond cinema.  Moore's tenure in the 1970s softened the image of Bond considerably, and tunes like The Spy Who Loved Me followed suit, only to be outwhimped in the late '80s with the utterly vapid entries like A-Ha's The Living Daylights.  [For the record, Timothy Dalton got a very raw deal in the Bond he inherited, though that's a discussion for future Bond film reviews as the franchise makes its Blu-ray debut starting this month.]

While we don't have the full evidence yet, Jack White seems to have invested great care in tying the meaning and tone of his lyrics directly to the action and intent of QUANTUM and Bond's personal dilemma in the story.  As unmistakably noted in the song title itself, the theme centers on the harsh, deadly realities of Bond's 00-status, underscoring the brutal fact that a license to kill is also an unending invitation to die for the cause.  Echoing Chris Cornell's life-gambling imagery from CASINO ROYALE, Bond is more aware than ever that he is quite expendable in his duty and the game will play merrily on, uninterrupted by his potential death.  Unless he wins the final hand every time, the only other possible outcome is to bust out and lose all.

White's lyrics speak coldly about Bond's utter solitude and self-reliance for survival after the events at CASINO ROYALE and his loss of Vesper:

There is no true loyalty outside of one's own discipline and moral code, and betrayal of that pact assures a quick death indeed.  Compare this to the equally cynical but far less personal homage to on-the-job mortality from You Know My Name, in which Cornell growls a cautionary tale to the newly-minted 007:

As the action of QUANTUM ensues, Bond has faced and tasted the bitterness of death personally, taking it to heart that the body count associated with his missions can claim those near to him as easily and impersonally as it can take his own life.  Bond realizes he must confront the lethality he inflicts around him just as directly as he must shield himself from harm — and there are far more terrible pains to endure than torture and death.

This is a far cry from Shirley Bassey or Tom Jones belting out the 1960s grandeur of Goldfinger or Thunderball, because Bond and the world around him have spun off in unimaginable trajectories over the past four decades. Connery's era of Bond called for a hero to stick his chin out for King and country, fearlessly putting his own life on the line to save the world time and again.  Yet today Craig's Bond operates in a world blurred by moral uncertainty and political expedience — a chess game with ill-defined squares on the board, played with moves that often bend the rules or create new ones out of convenience.  There are few if any safe moves now, and despite the reward of living to fight another day, there is often a price paid for survival as well.  White defines the cost Bond endures in his double-0 status:

Jack White's lyrics carry on the pronounced and welcome dark side to this newest Bond incarnation, while Alicia Keys' powerful yet soulful vocals counterpoint White's raspy incantations, harkening back to the brassy R&B influences of Bassey-era tunes.  Keys provides the mandatory feminine influence on the theme, just as Bond at his best is challenged and complimented by his leading ladies.  She shows off her vocal range and impact as the song builds, though admittedly the dueling guitar/voice riffs get a bit sloppy in the middle passage.  More to the point, this unlikely pairing works for the song, as Keys' silkiness smoothes over the cutting edge of White's lyrics, while his cynical (or perhaps sinister) vocal style is enlightened by her smoky power.  Just as Keys playfully echoes White's gritty guitar splashes, their combination exceeds the sum of their individual roles.

To be sure, this is not easy listening Bond music, and as noted it will have limited top-40 airtime appeal at best as a single release.  The orchestration shifts between deconstructed power chords and orchestra hits which fill the requisite Bond theme expectations simulating a solar plexus punch, and Keys' piano-based counter melodies which elevate the mood and aural landscape.

Aside from its thematic proximity to Cornell's CASINO ROYALE tune, Another Way to Die is not too dissimilar from the U2-produced GoldenEye, sans that ballad's sinuous strings and purring vocals by Tina Turner.  Both go for the cool style points previously racked up by Bassey in her prime, but approached from nearly opposite angles of tone and intention.  Musically White's creation is more akin to Paul McCartney's rock-influenced bravado of Live and Let Die, but again without the lushness of the orchestra to soften the lyrical blows hurled by Jack and Alicia.  For the same reasons, Another Way to Die will be much less a musical interlude between opening action hook and the main story, and much more a true title sequence theme supporting the story rather than pumping up soundtrack sales.

As much as many Bond fans reviled Madonna's theme contribution for Die Another Day, it did better suit the purpose of a 007 theme which I prefer: a thematic bridge from the thrilling teaser sequence expanding and developing that action into the central story about to unfold.  Indeed, director Lee Tamahori used the title theme to underscore a montage of Bond's captivity and torture as a Korean prisoner which lead directly into the plot dilemma of 007's release-in-trade for the villain's henchman. 

While I enjoyed the thematic content and raw sounds of Cornell and score composer David Arnold's You Know My Name for its clever interpretation of Bond's reboot as a franchise, the title animation did little to support the song's strengths other than hammer home the obvious symbolism of CASINO ROYALE's inherent games of chance and lives being gambled.  It remains to be seen how well Another Way to Die will be adapted and interpreted in the upcoming film's title sequence and/or its drama at-large, but judging from the single's release the prospects are promising, thanks to Jack White and Alicia Keys' brash yet harmonious efforts.

Jack White and Alicia Keys performing Another Way to Die is available through Amazon.com and iTunes.