Paul McCartney on What’s ‘Weird’ About ‘Live and Let Die’
Paul McCartney said that something about “Live and Let Die” now feels “weird.” The track sticks out from the pack of other 007 themes for reasons completely disconnected from Paul’s comments. “Live and Let Die” also stands apart from many of the hits Paul released during the 1970s.
Paul McCartney didn’t want to face the reality of ‘Live and Let Die’
The James Bond movie franchise began in 1962 with the release of Dr. No. Over the next few years, the series figured out its own formula. With the success of Shirley Bassey’s title song for the film Goldfinger, it became customary for 007 movies to have a theme song that shared its title with the movie. Stars like Tom Jones, Louis Armstrong, and Nancy Sinatra performed tunes for the franchise.
In 1973, Roger Moore played Bond for the first time in the movie Live and Let Die. That movie featured a theme song from none other than Paul. The cute Beatle was the biggest star to perform a Bond theme up to that point.
During a 2023 interview with PaulMcCartney.com, the “Silly Love Songs” singer was asked how he felt about the 50th anniversary of “Live and Let Die.” “I don’t believe it, do you?” he replied. “I’m only 45! But no, it’s always very weird when you get these kind of anniversaries because I don’t keep count. I have no idea if it’s coming up for 50 or 60 years or whatever. It’s shocking, really, but in a nice way. I think, ‘Where did the time go?’ It’s nice that the song has lasted, though, and people still enjoy it.”
What makes ‘Live and Let Die’ weird in a wonderful way
The legacy of “Live and Let Die” is that it’s one of the best Bond themes. It’s impossible to find a list of the series’ best tunes that doesn’t include Paul’s contribution to the series. Many other superstars released Bond themes, including Madonna, Adele, and Billie Eilish, but none were as memorable or as dynamic as “Live and Let Die.”
On top of that, “Live and Let Die” remains one of Paul’s 1970s songs that we can all agree to enjoy. While the “Let It Be” singer had a classic run in the 1960s, his 1970s output featured a lot of divisive songs such as “The Long and Winding Road,” “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” and “Wonderful Christmastime.” On the other hand, “Live and Let Die” is a combination of meat and potatoes rock ‘n’ roll and prog rock that still works as a crowd-pleaser all these decades later.
Paul McCartney uses the song to ‘make people jump’
Paul discussed the impact of “Live and Let Die.” “Ever since then, we’ve played it in our live shows, and we have these big pyrotechnic explosions that make people jump,” he said. “Because of that, I now think of it as this big performance piece, and I do enjoy shocking people with the first bang! So, it’s definitely taken on a new meaning for me beyond the Bond film.”
“Live and Let Die” is over 50 years old, but it sounds just as good as the day Paul released it. It’s even aged a lot better than the movie that inspired it.
