Songfacts®:

• In the mid-1960s, Nancy Sinatra was popular enough to sing the theme song to a James Bond movie, which is entitled You Only Live Twice. While it didn't reach the chart heights of such theme songs as "Goldfinger" and "A View To A Kill," it remains fondly remembered by her fans and is featured on all of the James Bond them song compilations. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Mike - Santa Barbara, CA
• James Bond veteran John Barry wrote the music while the lyrics were by Leslie Bricusse, who had previously worked on the theme to Goldfinger. Sinatra's regular collaborator Lee Hazlewood produced the version that was released as a single.
• The song was recorded on May 2, 1967 at the CTS Studios in Bayswater, London with a 60-piece orchestra. Sinatra was very nervous during the recording, and she needed about 25 takes before there was enough material for John Barry to create the final product.
• Robbie Williams re-recorded the opening bars of the song for his 1998 UK chart-topper "Millennium." He decided it was a lot cheaper to recreate it in the studio rather than to clear a sample.
• Cee-Lo Green sampled the song for his 2011 single "Bright Lights, Bigger City," which peaked at #13 in the UK.
• Coldplay recorded a live version of the song as the B-side for their "Don't Panic" single. It was recorded during performance at the Rockefeller Music Hall in Norway.