Brass Band

Skyfall

by Adkins & Epworth

Grade 4 | 5 Mins

The theme to the 2012 Bond film, Skyfall, was co-written by Adele Adkins and her producer, Paul Epworth. It was recorded, with a 77-piece orchestral backing, in London’s Abbey Road Studios and released online on 5th October 2012 at 0:07 BST, as part of ‘Global James Bond Day’, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of the first Bond film, Dr No.

The song’s lyrics closely reflect the narrative of the film, examining Bond’s relationship with his country and MI6, and Epworth deliberately included harmonic and melodic references to Monty Norman’s original 1962 James Bond Theme, which has featured in every film of the series over the past 50 years. Adele’s single reached No 1 in the iTunes Chart within 10 hours of its release and became the joint-highest Bond theme in the UK singles charts (together with Duran Duran’s 1985 A View to a Kill) by reaching the No 2 spot within a week of its release.