James Bond songs have a long history of telling you what to do. Paul McCartney and Wings urged us to “Live and Let Die.” Adele opened “Skyfall” by telling us to “Hold your breath and count to ten.” Chris Cornell warned us to “Arm yourself, because no one else here will save you” in Casino Royale. But no Bond song has boldly declared that we should simply watch the movie. That is, until now.
In Lana Del Rey’s new song for the upcoming James Bond video game, 007 First Light, the sultry singer gently asks us: “Will you play?” For the legions of Bond fans and gamers who were fond of IO Interactive’s Hitman franchise, I imagine that answer is yes. What from I’ve seen so far in gameplay reveals and trailers, 007 First Light looks like one of the biggest video games of the year—by a long shot. It should sell millions of copies even if it’s unplayable on release. And yet, there’s still something incredibly silly about Lana directly stating in the song that she’s, “Dying just to know whether you’ll play your life like a game.” You can listen to the song below.
Lyrics aside, the song still rips like any good Bond theme. Original composer David Arnold worked with the singer to include a bit of the original score into the post-chorus. Plus, I’m sure the full orchestra will feel amazing once you’re actually holding a controller and running around doing spy missions as James Bond. As the artist who formerly sang, “Open up a beer and you say, ‘Get over here and play a video game’“ on her song “Video Games,” there was arguably no one more attuned for the job than Del Rey. In just one line, she achieves two difficult tasks: Differentiating the video game from a movie and asking if you’ll play it.
“A title song has to tell us about the world we are about to enter into,” Arnold explained in a statement to the press about the song. “It has to intrigue, excite, and beckon us in. This song joins a long line of genre defining songs, each one creating a benchmark of style that adds to the magnificent heritage that is ‘The Bond Song’.”
Maybe the song will have a different feel once you’re playing as Bond himself, when 007: First Light takes gamers through a reimagined origin story for the character featuring voice acting from Patrick Gibson, Lenny Kravitz, Lennie James, and Gemma Chan. The video game is currently set for release on May 27 on Playstation and Xbox consoles.
Maybe Del Ray’s “First Light” is the future of Bond songs. Like The Fast & The Furious soundtracks telling listeners to drive fast and drift hard, viewers like to know what they’re getting into. Drink the Vesper. Shoot the gun. Wear the suit. And most importantly, ask “Will you watch?”