In their new book, The James Bond Songs: Pop Anthems of Late Capitalism, Adrian Daub and Charles Kronengold trace the long history of a singular musical genre. The story of the Bond song is the story of the pop song more generically, and perhaps even of its end.

 

In film after film, songs from “Goldfinger” to “Writing’s on the Wall” want to talk about the fulfillment that comes from fast cars, shaken martinis, and mindless sex, but their unstable speakers, subjects, and addressees actually undercut the logic of the lifestyle James Bond is sworn to defend.

 

Join us for refreshments and a conversation about the book, these songs, and the ways that pop music has shaped our sense of who we are.