Goldfinger (song)

"Goldfinger"
A-side label of UK vinyl single
Single by Shirley Bassey
B-side	"Strange How Love Can Be"§
Released	1964
Length	2:48
Label	Columbia United Artists (US) / Capitol (Canada)
Writer(s)	John Barry, Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley
Producer(s)	George Martin

"Goldfinger" is the title song from the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger. Composed by John Barry and with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, the song was performed by Shirley Bassey for the film's opening and closing title sequences, as well as the soundtrack album release. The single release of the song gave Bassey her only Billboard Hot 100 top forty hit, peaking in the Top 10 at number eight and at number two for four weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart, and in the United Kingdom the single reached number 21.

The song finished at #53 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In 2008, the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley were asked to create the lyrics for the song. But when its composer John Barry played them the first three notes, Bricusse and Newley looked at each other and sang out: ". . . wider than a mile," to the melody of "Moon River," the popular theme song from Breakfast at Tiffany's. Barry was not amused.

One source of inspiration was the song "Mack the Knife", which director Guy Hamilton showed Barry, thinking it was a "gritty and rough" song that could be a good model for what the film required. Bricusse and Newley were not shown any film footage or script excerpts, but were advised of the fatal gilding suffered by the Jill Masterson character, played by Shirley Eaton. Bricusse would later recall that once he and Newley hit upon utilizing "the Midas touch" in the lyric, the pattern of the song became evident and the lyrics were completed within at most a couple of days.

The first recording of "Goldfinger" was made by Newley in a May 14, 1964 recording session, with Barry as conductor, which produced two completed takes. Barry would recall that Newley gave a "very creepy" performance which he, Barry considered "terrific". Newley's recording, however, was made purely as a demo for the film's makers. According to Barry, Newley "didn't want to sing it in the movie as they [Newley and Bricusse] thought the song was a bit weird".