The
Living Daylights
aka James Bond Instrumental 2
Writers - Tennant/Lowe
Unreleased
This track, like the instrumental backing of "This Must Be the Place I've Waited Years to Leave," was composed prospectively for the 1987 James Bond film The Living Daylights. Much more upbeat and considerably less atmospheric than that other track, it's hard to imagine this piece fitting into the Bond context. It has appeared on several bootleg compilations under different names, including "The Living Daylights," "The Living Daylights 2," and "James Bond Instrumental 2." Some of those bootlegs also include the instrumental track that would evolve into "This Must Be the Place…,"which in those cases is usually referred to as either "The Living Daylights" or "The Living Daylights 1."
As Neil has told the story, the Boys were never actually asked to score the film or provide its theme. Rather, it had been "intimated" to them that such an offer might be forthcoming. So they wrote this music with that prospect in mind. Unlike the case with "This Must Be the Place…," Neil and Chris haven't found an alternate means of putting this track to use, so it languishes in the vault.
Incidentally, A-ha got the ultimate job of providing what turned out to be one of the less memorable James Bond themes.
List cross-references
- "Documented" officially unreleased songs written by the Pet Shop Boys
- My (least) favorite "PSB myths" that have been (or need to be) put to rest
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