"Die Another Day" is the theme to the James Bond film of the same name by American singer-songwriter Madonna. The single was released in late 2002 by Warner Bros. Records and marked Madonna's 20th anniversary from her first album release in 1983. It peaked at number eight in the United States^[2] and number three in the United Kingdom, selling 175,000 copies^[3] – making it the most successful Bond theme since Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill." The song was later included on her 2003 studio album, American Life,^[4] and her 2009 compilation album, Celebration.

Madonna has included the song on two of her world tours; the first being the 2004 Re-Invention World Tour and again as a video interlude on the 2008–09 Sticky & Sweet Tour, this time a new music video was filmed incorporating the theme of Madonna as a professional boxer and the music was remixed.

Background and composition[link]

The song was co-written and co-produced by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï in the key of C minor^[5] with string arrangements written by Michel Colombier.^[6] The single was released worldwide on October 22, 2002 as the lead single from American Life, Madonna's ninth album.

The song was chosen to be featured as the theme song for the James Bond movie Die Another Day. It was featured in its soundtrack. The song was later released on Madonna's ninth studio album American Life (2002). Then in 2009, the single version was featured on her third greatest hits album Celebration (2009). Die Another Day was the most successful Bond theme-song since the 1980s. "Die Another Day", the single, marked Madonna's 20th anniversary in the music business; Madonna's first single, "Everybody", had been released in October 1982.

None of Die Another Day's melody was employed by David Arnold in the development of the motion picture score. Instead, the instrumentals of the song's Dirty Vegas Mix can be heard during one scene of the film. Some of the remixes of the song feature bonus spoken word vocals by Madonna. She performed "Die Another Day" as part of her 2004 Re-Invention Tour^[7] and used it as a video interlude in the Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008). A live performance of the song is included on Madonna's live CD I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (2005). According to The Official Charts Company, the song has sold 175,000 copies there.^[8]

Critical reception[link]

The song received an amount of mixed reviews. Stephen Thompson writing for The A.V. Club called the track "pneumatic (and) hook-deficient"^[9] Ken Tucker wrote for Entertainment Weekly that the song is a "flat James Bond" and that it "was neither Madonna Classic nor Diet Madonna With Lemon."^[10] James Hannaham from Spin was positive, writing that it's a "brilliant, melodramatic song, that sounds like a stoic response to a world gone mad. While a spooky orchestra scrapes away, Mirwais struggles to defuse a Moog-synthesizer bomb before it explodes, and Madonna declares, "It's not my time to go."^[11] Dan Gennoe wrote for Yahoo! Music that "With the style to content ratio weighed heavily in style's favour, it's hard not to see her one dimensional club tracks as trying too hard to be too clever; especially when teeth grindingly unBond Bond theme 'Die Another Day' bodypops into view."^[12] Stylus Magazine called it "a great slice-and-dice hit of fucked-up electroclash".^[13]

Critical opinion of the song widely varies as evidenced by the fact that it was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song as well as for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song in 2002.^[14] In an official MORI poll in the UK for the Channel 4 program James Bond's Greatest Hits, the song was voted 9th most popular James Bond theme by the general public. Those polled aged 24 and under voted it their number 1 favorite Bond song. Incidentally, while Die Another Day, the film, marked the 40th anniversary of the James Bond franchise.

The song received a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 46th Grammy Awards but lost out to Kylie Minogue's "Come Into My World."

Chart performance[link]

The single spent 11 weeks at number one on the United States Billboard Singles Sales Charts and is her most successful title on the sales chart to date. It became the fifth best-selling dance single of the 2000s decade in the United States.^[15] The song peaked #1 in 12 different countries, including an 8 week stint at #1 on the World Music Charts. The song became Madonna's 35th US Top 10 hit peaking at number 8. In Oceania, the song peaked at number five in Australia, staying in the charts for nineteen weeks and peaked at number twenty-two in New Zealand, staying in the charts for three weeks.^[16]

Music video[link]

The music video was directed by Traktor, a Swedish directing team, and filmed from August 22–27, 2002 at Hollywood Center Studios in Hollywood, California. The video features references to Honey Ryder (from 1962's Dr No), Rosa Klebb and Blofeld's white Persian cat (from 1963's From Russia With Love), Oddjob and Jill Masterson (from 1964's Goldfinger), Tee Hee's metal arm from the 1973 Live and Let Die, Francisco Scaramanga's golden gun from 1974's The Man With The Golden Gun, as well as a spacesuit, a fencing battle in a Venetian glass factory, and a Jaws-like man with metal teeth, all referencing 1979's Moonraker, and even contains a reference to Luke Skywalker's lightsaber battle with Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back. And from the film of the same name, the opening titles torture scene with General Moon, a portrait of the then-Bond Pierce Brosnan from a fight scene with Gustav Graves, and the dual role (in black and white fencing costumes) played by double agent Miranda Frost, herself a protege of Verity, played in the film by Madonna herself. The very end of the video has sparked some discussion as Madonna appears to escape Houdini-like from the electric chair, leaving behind only a smouldering chair with a Hebrew expression לאו, a phrase that can be interpreted as "great escape" or "freedom," one of the "72 Names of God," used in the Kabbalah.^[17] The video ends with the gun barrel sequence, as Madonna throws open the doors of the torture facility in her escape. The total production costs for the video were over $6,000,000, making it the second most expensive music video ever made, after "Scream" by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.^[18]

• Director: Traktor (Mats Lindberg, Pontus Löwenhielm, Ole Sanders)
• Producer: Jim Bouvet
• Director of Photography: Harris Savides
• Editor: Rick Russell
• Production Company: Traktor Films

Track listings and formats[link]

Charts and certifications[link]