Bond. Bat Bond.

Jamie Gower

— 3 min read
Share
A closeup of a martini. The olive has a cocktail pick with a bat at the top.

This week’s weird idea

The iconic Neal Hefti theme for the original Batman TV series is really a playful version of the equally iconic John Barry/Monty Norman James Bond theme, turned upside down. Yes, upside down.

That’s it, that’s this week’s weird idea. I have no idea how it came to me, but it did. So I pursued it and was shocked to find out that, in the words of Young Frankenstein:

It! Could! Work!
Animated GIF of an upset man gesticulating in front of a wall covered with notes and red yarn.
Me. figuring this out.

First, have a listen to the strings in the first 30 seconds or so of the Bond theme, then listen to the end music for the Batman TV series. Both these tunes depend on a repeated motif of sliding single steps. They’re the heart and backbone of the pieces. The Bond motif is in the strings, and the Batman motif is, well, everywhere.

Graphic representation of the Batman and Bond underlying motifs.
  • The Bond motif rises, but sags back down to the ambiguous note in the middle. Each repetition starts back at the bottom.
  • The Batman motif bounces each note twice as it descends and then start right back upward. It, too, ends on the middle note, but on the next repetition it’s already back at the top, with the chorus triumphantly exclaiming “Batman!” (At no point in the Bond theme does anyone sing “James Bond!”)

And if that weren’t enough to convince you, here’s a parallel timeline of the two pieces, with each square representing a measure/4 beats.

Graphic representation of the opening bars of the Batman and Bond themes, with rows showing which instrument plays in each measure.
  • Bond takes two whole measures just for a fanfare and then plays the motif a couple of times before the guitar even starts the first theme. And more themes come up later. The song just keeps on going.
  • There’s no waiting around with Batman. It’s "everybody in the pool" as soon as possible.

Is Hefti copying Barry/Norman? Nah. Music is a LEGO set, and sometimes composers use the same pieces.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Even I am a little aghast at the amount of thought I’ve put into this.

Go see

Brian Cox sips and correctly pronounces a wide series of Scotches in the space of one afternoon. This is both a) educational, and b) hilarious as he sinks farther and farther into his chair. Because even small sips of Scotch add up if you sip a whole bunch of them in the space of one afternoon.

Have a listen

Well curated. Does what is says on the tin.

And keep breathing

Having recently had a procedure on my oh-my-goodness-it’s-my-heart, I’ve been thinking about when to fight and when to rest. I tend to get pissed off at my maladies (yeah, I’m talking about you, lower back), and I want to just power through them by sheer force of will.

Sometimes that’s a bad move. Sometimes I’m really not ready to take vigorous action. I have to sit down and let my body repair and rest itself until I am in the shape I need to take more active steps to move beyond my injury or illness.

I despise this.

But it hit me a few days ago that sometimes the rest is part of the fight. Getting ready for the next round, as it were. Sharpening the saw. Girding the loins. Napping the flint, although in this case it’s not smacking two rocks together, it's an actual nap.

I wish you a warrior’s respite, then. The world, in all its sorrow and glory, will still be here when we return from our righteous rest.

Until we talk again, I remain,

Your pal,

Jamie

Read more