Sam Smith’s James Bond Theme Being Called Best Of All Time, But He Wrote It With Another Goal In Mind

It’s hard to top pop icon Adele in any arena, but it seems that Sam Smith may have done just that by showing her up with his James Bond theme. Years after Adele’s “Skyfall” topped the charts, Sam Smith sent an email to his agents, asking if he could take a crack at writing the theme for the next Bond installment. Shortly after that, Sam Smith came out with “The Writing’s on the Wall,” which some are calling the greatest Bond theme of all time.

Listen to the new Sam Smith song in the video below.

But Sam Smith had his sights set even higher than the greatest Bond song ever. He wanted to write the best love song of all time.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Sam Smith met with Sam Mendes, the director of the new James Bond film, Spectre, to discuss the direction of the theme.

“What we kept thinking about through the whole process was what you said to me in our first meeting,” said Sam Smith. “Which is we want to write the greatest love song.”

Both Mendes and Spectre producer Barbara Broccoli were blown away by how good Smith’s song turned out to be. Broccoli claims “The Writing’s on the Wall” “will go down as being one of the greatest Bond songs in history.”

Sam Mendes claims the song works so well with the film that it actually contributes to the story the movie is trying to tell — so much so that it affected the shape of Spectre as it was being written and shot.

“What’s great about a Bond song as good as yours, is that it can actually help storytelling as well. What’s lovely about getting a song early that you love, it starts talking back to the movie as well.”

You can watch Sam Smith and Sam Mendes discuss “The Writing’s on the Wall” in the latest James Bond video blog below.

Regardless of whether or not you believe the Spectre theme is the greatest Bond song of all time, or the greatest love song of all time, there’s no denying its success. In fact, “The Writing’s on the Wall” helped Sam Smith earn two world record spots for his music, according to Out.

The debut album by Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour, spent more consecutive weeks in the U.K. Top 10 chart than any other album to date, and “The Writing’s on the Wall” was the very first James Bond soundtrack song to make it to a No. 1 spot.

To commemorate the incredible achievement, Sam Smith was presented with two certificates at RAK Studios in north London.

“This is so amazing!” Sam Smith said. “It’s such an honor to be recognized by Guinness World Records. It’s been an unbelievable eighteen months — The album exceeded even my wildest dreams thanks to the incredible support of my fans, and to record the first ever Bond theme to reach No.1 in the UK is a real privilege.”

You can see Sam Smith accepting the awards in the official Guinness World Records video below.

Fans of Sam Smith suspected that the singer may be involved in the new James Bond project for quite some time, but he denied it for many months. Being one of the top U.K. artists in the world, Sam Smith was the obvious choice to write the song, but he seemingly didn’t want to spoil the surprise. Finally, in September, the pop star released a statement confirming the longstanding rumors.

“This is one of the highlights of my career. I am honored to finally announce that I will be singing the next Bond theme song. I am so excited to be a part of this iconic British legacy and join an incredible line up of some of my biggest musical inspirations.”

What do you think of the Sam Smith Bond theme? Is it the best ever?

[Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images]