17 replies to this topic

[Donovan]

I've read where people here are bemoaning the lack of new information these days so I thought I'd tell you about a song that was supposedly written to be used as the title song for "GoldenEye". (NOTE: I did a search on this board and didn't find any information about this story here.)

I recently looked at the trivia notes for "GoldenEye" and noticed an entry which claimed that the pop group Ace of Base, specifically band member Jonas Berggren, had written a song for the film. The group recorded it but their label killed the deal. Years later, the song was rerecorded with the word "goldeneye" replaced with "juvenile". "The Juvenile" was released on the album "Da Capo" in late 2002.

The website Bond Smells A Rat (a reference to a recurring track title in the Bond films), which reviews the Bond soundtracks, provides the following quote that used to be on the official Ace of Base website:

"This track was planned to be the title-song of the James Bond-movie of the same name... However, even though a demo-version exists ... and it is said to be much closer to the usual musical theme than Tina Turner's interpretation, Arista Records thought that Ace Of Base were too big for doing a title-song for a movie that was expected to fail attracting a large audience in the United States. Later on, it was recorded for Album V and called The Juvenile."

On a bulletin board thread reviewing the album, the following additional information is found:

"The Juvenile" is not only a thoughtful look at the societal treatment of the youth in today's disposable culture, but also has the distinction of being a song originally written as a James Bond theme. Back when The Goldeneye was filmed, the band was approached to record the title track for the 007 flick. They produced "The Goldeneye" which insiders had raved was a brilliant track. Unfortunately, their American label at the time - Arista Records - didn't want to hand over what was then one of their hottest acts to a competitor's label for the movie soundtrack. So the project died and several years later Ace of Base have reworked the lyrics for their new album and hence the social commentary piece that is "The Juvenile" was born.

The Internet is full of similar accounts which seem to be factual. The only thing I have a slight problem with is at the time during post production, Eon issued press releases stating that Bono and The Edge were hired to compose a title song to be performed by Tina Turner. My point is I am not sure that Eon either hired or approached Ace of Base. And if they did, by sheer luck didn't publicize this fact (avoiding embarrasment when the band had to ditch leaving the production company to scramble for a replacement).

PLUS, I didn't see this mentioned in "James Bond: The Legacy".

I have heard the song, and it is certainly Bond-esque; a sort of combination of "For Your Eyes Only" and "The World Is Not Enough"...maybe slower. If I had to choose between this and the Tina Turner version, yes, I'd pick this. Below are the lyrics. Just replace "The Juvenile" with "The GoldenEye" and you'll get the idea.

Written by Jonas "Joker" Berggren.

The juvenile
In a time where the night is so cold
The juvenile
Has the key to the end
The juvenile in the end
That is why we are here
The road will take us to the end
Tomorrow's foe is now a friend

Why don't we do it
Like they used to do it all so long ago
They kept together till the bitter end (Old and young)
Today we don't care
Either but the youth or but the old
They cannot rise their voices yet
But later on they will do

The juvenile
In a time where the night is so cold
The juvenile
Has the key to the end (always believe in)
The juvenile in the end
That is why we are here
The road will take us to the end
Tomorrow's foe is now a friend

No education
We don't need no education
Telling us the right to choose
If we have no choice (No, no, no)
It's so explosive
Any day will burst into a fire
Oh, come down and guide us
Before it is too late

The juvenile
In a time where the night is so cold
The juvenile
Has the key to the end (always believe in)
The juvenile in the end
That is why we are here
The road will take us to the end
Tomorrow's foe is now a friend

Oooh, oooh

Always and always and always believe in

Always believe in...

The juvenile
In a time where the night is so cold
The juvenile
Has the key to the end (always believe in)
The juvenile in the end
That is why we are here
The road will take us to the end
Tomorrow's foe is now a friend

[[dark]]

I've had the song for quite a while, now. Great song [the bridge is particularly good], and I could really see it working over the main titles, but I'd still prefer Tina Turner's version.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Wow!

This IS interesting, especially for the likes of me who actively enjoys tracking down and collecting rejected / unused / demo Bond songs. I"ll have to get the CD. Wonder if there are any liner notes pertaining to this info?

Thanks for that Donovan.

[Qwerty]

"The Juvenile" was released on the album "Da Capo" in late 2002.

Thank you Donovan. I find it well worth looking for these CD's when there are "almost" James Bond songs on them. I'll definitely be looking for this one, and I thought I had seen this on Bond Smells a Rat. Must have forgotten about it.

[Gabe Vieira]

Wow. As much as I am a fan of Bono's music, I have to say that version is better.

[BONDFINESSE 007]

nothing beats tina turner

[Blofeld's Cat]

nothing beats tina turner

.....like Ike Turner did.

[Tanger]

Wow. Learn something new everyday. I'll defintely give it a download. Now if I can just find that supposedly early GE score.

[trs007]

Found it and gave a listen last night--great song.

[Qwerty]

Wow. Learn something new everyday. I'll defintely give it a download. Now if I can just find that supposedly early GE score.

On the same topic: Serra had 'The Experience of Love' singles?!? I found some further info on those from Bond Smells a Rat last night, and there is a link on there to another site for all the information. Never knew about those and if I did, I forgot!

[terminus]

A cool song - but if 'Searching for the Goldeneye' ( Kym Mazelle ) wasn't a good Bond song then this isn't. The lyrics are cool and the basic arrangment is cool but it would need a major Barry / Arnold overhaul on the music to make it a Bond song with the proper feel.

[Qwerty]

Still searching. I want to keep this music store based for this, since I want to try it first. Lots of albums, but not this generally new one.

[Jim]

Well, it's interesting and a great find, but replacing the words "the juvenile" with "the GoldenEye"... hmm... although I guess it doesn't make substantially less sense than "doing XYZ with a GoldenEye" - probably just a hard word to use.

The stuff about "Tomorrow's foe is now a friend" or whatever it is - that's a bit cute, isn't it?

[Kronsteen]

I had heard that they did a demo song to Goldeneye, but never knew they had released it. Well, it's a great song and definately as good as Turners/Bonos version...

[Qwerty]

I had heard that they did a demo song to Goldeneye, but never knew they had released it. Well, it's a great song and definately as good as Turners/Bonos version...

I think I may be turning to eBay for this one. Didn't know it was pretty good.

[Forever007]

I read recently that Ace of Base was originally contracted to do the title song to Goldeneye. They submitted their work which was eventually rejected. They released the track in Europe under the title "The Juvenile" with altered lyrics. Sounds very Bondesque.

[Qwerty]

Topics merged.

[icecold]

I like it, I dont prefer it to the Tina Turner song but it's just as good.