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Though Monty Norman and John Barrys iconic James Bond Theme, written for 1962sDr.
Its such a part of pop culture.
Its pretty hard to hear it anew.
NATE:Youre saying this is the musical personification of toxic masculinity.
CHARLIE:Yeah, more or less.
NATE:Does the music actually project that?
Roy Orbisons 1961 Crying uses the same chords and melody, too.
NATE:I love locating that undulating chromatic line within its late-50s, early-60s contexts.
That little motif has some some real longevity.
CHARLIE:It totally does.
And its not the only reference that John Barry is pulling from.
He said that he thought of the Bond theme as like a Dizzy Gillespiestyle lick.
Its a big-band swing composition, basically.
It was right in my jazz wheelhouse.
CHARLIE:Totally, but its also a surf-rock thing.
In 1958, the composer Henry Mancini had done thePeter Gunntheme song for the TV show.
And its kind of moving into that surf realm.
And we know Barry was very into this sound, too.
NATE:Seven pounds for the most iconic guitar playing of the 20th century?
And his name is Vic Flick?
You would have heard this inthe theme forPsycho, inNorth by Northwest,and inVertigo.
It has so much ambiguity, dissonance, and complexity in this single tonality.
NATE:Its like a chimerical chord.
Its got on its bottom a minor triad.
And on the top, its got a major triad.
And when you put them together, you just have such a unique, intense, crunchy sound.
Its a very evocative sound.
