Today, it's hard to believe that anyone would not have liked Billie Eilish's "No Time To Die" title song. Her melancholy and poised vocal performance was perfectly woven into many memorable, tear-jerking moments in No Time To Die, becoming a crucial part of the film's soul. However, the James Bond actor Daniel Craig initially had some doubts about the song, although later, he had a drastic change of heart, calling it "f***king amazing!"
Unlike co-producer Stephen Lipson, who instantly became fond of Finneas' and Billie Eilish's draft of "No Time To Die," Craig initially expressed his uncertainty about the song's ability to provide the epic emotional depth necessary for his final Bond outing. His doubts were reasonable. In fact, Eilish herself also expressed some doubt about her big cinematic delivery, according to co-producer Stephen Lipson.
As in the final studio version, Eilish's beginning instantly drew audiences into an intimate setting with her beautiful airy falsettos and gracefully delivered vibratos -- a very Billie Eilish dark pop aesthetic. However, going from such an artistic point to a cinematic ground-shaking scene involves many more creative decisions.
In an early interview, Hans Zimmer's long-time collaborating guitarist, John Marr, who participated in the scoring and recording process, pointed out that one of the challenges with "No Time To Die" was to find the perfect balance between Eilish's aesthetic and the Bond theme, which wasn't an easy task. Zimmer also mentioned a similar story on how they approached a more personal Bond theme in his interview about the making of "No Time To Die." In fact, Lipson revealed that it took more than three months from when he first started working on the song to get final approval.
Craig was a key opinion to the title song. Before having Craig listen to the track in person, Lipson ensured they had the best sound equipment for the listening experience. He also remixed the track to emphasize the part, which Craig doubted, to deliver a ground-shaking, intensive vocal climax. After Craig approved the track, they then released the announcement of Finneas and Billie Eilish doing the James Bond title song.
Billie Eilish's "No Time To Die" final studio version was beautifully epic and slow-burn. It provided the proper emotional depth that the film needed, while the contrast in different parts of the track also gave the film multi-dimensional nuance and emotions that seemed perfect under various circumstances.
