Diamonds Are Forever (soundtrack)

Diamonds Are Forever is the soundtrack by John Barry for the seventh James Bond film of the same name.

Diamonds Are Forever
Soundtrack album by John Barry
Released	1971
Recorded	October 1971
Label	EMI
Producer	Frank Collura (reissue)
John Barry chronology
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Mary, Queen of Scots (1971)
James Bond soundtrack chronology
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Live and Let Die (1973)
Singles from Diamonds Are Forever
"Diamonds Are Forever" Released: 1971

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

"Diamonds Are Forever", the title song with lyrics by Don Black, was the second Bond theme to be performed by Shirley Bassey, after "Goldfinger". The song was also recorded in Italian by Bassey as "Una cascata di diamanti (Vivo di diamanti)" for the Italian version's end credits; this version was only issued on 7-inch single in Italy, and was intended to be included in a (cancelled) 3-CD box set titled Shirley released in 2012.^[2]

Track listing

Tracks 13–21 were not released on the original soundtrack.

1. "Diamonds Are Forever" (Main Title) – sung by Shirley Bassey^[4]
2. "Bond Meets Bambi and Thumper"^[A]
3. "Moon Buggy Ride"
4. "Circus, Circus"
5. "Death at the Whyte House"
6. "Diamonds Are Forever (Source Instrumental)"
7. "Diamonds Are Forever (Bond and Tiffany)"
8. "Bond Smells a Rat"
9. "Tiffany Case"
10. "007 and Counting"
11. "Q's Trick"
12. "To Hell with Blofeld"^[A][B]
13. "Gunbarrel and Manhunt"^[A]
14. "Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd / Bond to Holland"^[A]
15. "Peter Franks"
16. "Airport Source / On the Road"
17. "Slumber, Inc."
18. "The Whyte House"
19. "Plenty, Then Tiffany"
20. "Following the Diamonds"
21. "Additional and Alternate Cues"

1. contains the "James Bond Theme", originally composed for the Dr. No soundtrack
2. contains "007", originally from the From Russia with Love soundtrack

Sampling

The title song is frequently sampled by modern artists:

• "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" – a Grammy Award-winning song by hip hop artist Kanye West. Released on July 4, 2005, as the lead single of his second studio album, Late Registration.^[5]
• " Psychology" by Dead Prez
• "Conflict Diamonds" by Lupe Fiasco (2006)
• "Dope Dealer" by Meek Mill

Cover versions

• The British band Arctic Monkeys covered the titular song exclusively for Domino Records' compilation CD album, All the Rage.
• German synthpop group Alphaville covered the titular song on their album CrazyShow in 2003. Another cover of the song was later released on the 2022 orchestral album Eternally Yours.

See also

• Outline of James Bond
• James Bond music

References

1. Diamonds Are Forever at AllMusic
2. "Shirley Bassey 3CD release 2012". Shirley Bassey Wordpress. March 15, 2012. Retrieved March 16, 2012.
3. "Every James Bond Theme Song, Ranked Worst to Best". Variety. October 8, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
4. Bassey also sung an Italian version of this song (Vivo di diamanti, literally "I live because of diamonds") for the Italian edition of the film's end credits.
5. Late Registration (Media notes). Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella Records. 2005.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)