The ‘007’ Theme Song That Made James Bond Actor Daniel Craig Cry

Before working on the music for the 2012 James Bond film, Skyfall, producer Paul Richard Epworth read the entire script to the new film and watched a marathon of 13 007 films to break down some of the elements of the best theme songs from the franchise, from Shirley Bassey’s “Diamonds Are Forever” to the Paul and Linda McCartney-penned Wings’ classic “Live and Let Die.”

“[The producers] said they wanted a dramatic ballad basically,” said Epworth. “With having read the script and trying to set the whole thing up in that context, where it happens in the film, there was really only one thing it could be. It was interesting to want to do something that was simultaneously dark and final, like a funeral, and to try to turn it into something that was not final. A sense of death and rebirth.”

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Eventually, Epworth, who has worked with Paul McCartney, U2, Rihanna, Florence + the Machine, Coldplay, and more throughout his career, had the music and called in Adele to help with the lyrics. “I thought, ‘This could be the song,’” said Epworth. “And I rang [Adele] up and said, ‘It might be too dark.’ And she said she loved it.”

At the time, Adele was riding high off the release of her 2011 album, 21, which became the biggest-selling album of the 21st century. Epworth also served as a producer on the album, including co-writing and producing Adele’s megahit, “Rolling In The Deep,” then went on to work on her 2015 album 25.

[RELATED: The Meaning Behind the Heartbreaking Lyrics of Adele’s “Chasing Pavements”]

The 10-Minute 007 Theme Song

Before writing any lyrics, Adele also insisted on reading the entire script for Skyfall. Once they were in the studio, Adele wrote the first draft of lyrics to the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall within 10 minutes and laid down vocals.

“Within 10 minutes, she put down most of the vocals,” said Epworth. “She had the lyrics ready in her head when she drove over. It was the most absurd thing. She’s fast, but it was really quite phenomenal.”

Before Bond, Adele had a history of writing another song within minutes. Frustrated with wanting to leave her hometown of West Norwood in England to stay in London for school, Adele wrote “Hometown Glory” in 10 minutes, following an argument with her mother. The song, featured on her 2008 debut album 19, also became Adele’s first single in 2007.

Then, at 23, Adele had her first Bond theme song, also written within a similar timespan.

“From the opening bars, I knew immediately.”

The lyrics captured Bond’s downfall and themes of death and resurrection in the film.

This is the end
Hold your breath and count to ten
Feel the Earth move and then
Hear my heart burst again
For this is the end
I’ve drowned and dreamt this moment
So overdue, I owe them
Swept away, I’m stolen

Let the sky fall
When it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together
Let the sky fall
When it crumbles
We will stand tall
Face it all together
At Skyfall
At Skyfall

Upon hearing the song for the first time, actor Daniel Craig cried. “From the opening bars, I knew immediately,” said Craig. “Then the voice kicked in, and it was exactly what I’d wanted from the beginning. It just got better and better because it fitted the movie. In fact, the more of the movie we made, the more it fitted.”

Released on October 5 2012, two weeks before the premiere of the film, “Skyfall” topped the charts in 11 countries and went to No. 8 in the U.S. “Skyfall’ also became the first James Bond theme song to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 47 years since “Live and Let Die.”

“She came in very early before we started shooting, and her main concern was, ‘I write songs about myself, how can I make a Bond song?’” recalled Craig. “My answer was ‘Just write a personal song.’ Carly Simon’s ‘Nobody Does It Better’ was a love song.”

Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images