Greetings all
Another success from John Barry
"We Have All the Time in the World" is a James Bond theme and popular song sung by Louis Armstrong. Its music was composed by John Barry and the lyrics by Hal David. It is a secondary musical theme in 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the title theme being the instrumental "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," also composed by Barry. The song title, "We Have All the Time in the World", is taken from James Bond's final words in both the novel and the film, spoken after his wife's death. Louis Armstrong was too ill to play his trumpet.[1] Barry chose Armstrong because he felt he could "deliver the title line with irony."[2]
The song was not registered in the music rating charts in the UK when first released, only becoming well known 25 years later, in 1994 as part of a Guinness beer commercial after My Bloody Valentine chose to cover it for charity. Armstrong's version was then re-released on vinyl and CD and reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2005, a BBC survey showed it is the third-most-popular love song played at weddings.[3]
In addition to My Bloody Valentine, "We Have All the Time in the World" has been covered by La Ola Que Quería Ser Chau, Iggy Pop, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Vic Damone, Michael Ball, Giorgia Todrani, The Puppini Sisters, The Fairly Handsome Band, Tindersticks, The Pale Fountains, Shirley Bassey (for a later withdrawn album of Bond themes), Thomas White (musician) and Alfie Boe. Iggy Pop's version of it plays during the end credits of the film The Jacket.
John Barry cited "We Have All The Time In The World" as one of his favourite Bond compositions, saying it was the finest piece of music he had written for a Bond movie, and also because of the pleasure of working with Louis Armstrong
Cheers
Booker