Writing's on the Wall (Sam Smith song)

"Writing's on the Wall"

A 27-second sample of "Writing's on the Wall". The song has been called "very slow and surprisingly restrained", with it deemed inferior to the previous James Bond theme "Skyfall".

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"Writing's on the Wall" was co-written by Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes^[9] in a single session: they wrote it in under half an hour and quickly recorded a demo. They were so pleased with Smith's vocal performance that they used it on the final release.^[10] On 8 September 2015, Sam Smith announced that they were singing the song for the James Bond film Spectre. They described performing the theme as "one of the highlights of my career".^[11] The English band Radiohead also composed a song for the film, "Spectre", which went unused.^[12]

The song is written in the key of F minor with a tempo of 66 beats per minute (Larghetto). Smith's vocals range from A ♭₃ to D♭₅.^[13] Smith said it was "horrible to sing" as the notes are "just so high".^[14]

"Writing's on the Wall" received a mixed response from critics.

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote that the song attempted to capture the mood of Adele's "Skyfall", but "doesn't feel anywhere near as striking [...] the chances of it joining the pantheon of Bond themes that anyone with even a passing interest in pop music can hum seem pretty slender".^[15] Chris Willman of Variety similarly noted the song was "unbecoming of a Bond movie", comparing it negatively to Adele's "Skyfall" from the previous 2012 Bond installment and Billie Eilish's "No Time to Die" from the subsequent 2021 Bond film of the same name. He ranked the song as the worst James Bond theme song.^[16]

Lewis Corner of Digital Spy rated it three out of five stars.^[17]

Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph called the song a "monster Bond ballad", stating, "(The song) is very, very slow and surprisingly restrained, at times floating by on resonant piano notes, the faintest brush stroke of orchestra, with all the focus on Smith's intense, tremulous vocal, rising with controlled pace and tension to an audacious chorus pay-off".^[18]

Chris DeVille of Stereogum felt it was inferior to Radiohead's rejected song.^[19]

In the United Kingdom, "Writing's on the Wall" became the first James Bond theme to reach number one, on the issue dated 8 October 2015.^[20][21] The previous highest-charting Bond themes were Adele's "Skyfall" and Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" from the 1985 film of the same name, which both reached number two.^[22][23] It also became Smith's fifth UK number-one single within two years. The song spent a total of 16 consecutive weeks in the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, "Writing's on the Wall" debuted and peaked at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100, compared to the previous Bond song, "Skyfall", which debuted at number 8 in October 2012. On the Canadian Hot 100, the song debuted at and peaked number 43. In Australia, the song performed moderately, debuting at number 44, and later peaking at number 43, but on the Irish Singles Chart, the song was a much bigger hit, debuting and peaking at number 9. The song has also charted in several other European countries though to a far lesser degree than its predecessor.

Recording and management

• Recorded at RAK Studios, Abbey Road Studios and The Pierce Rooms (London, England)
• Mixed at The Pierce Rooms (London, England)
• Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York)
• Cover photograph by Rankin
• Artwork and design by Studio Moross
• Published by Naughty Words Ltd. / Stellar Songs Ltd. / Sony/ATV Music Publishing / Salli Isaak Songs Limited / Universal Music Publishing Limited

Personnel

• Outline of James Bond