Duran Duran’s ‘A View to a Kill’ Turns 33: Do the Lyrics Make Sense Yet?

James Bond + Duran Duran = ???

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At this time in the summer of 1985, A View to a Kill, the seventh and final Roger Moore James Bond movie, was all but done at the box office. Duran Duran‘s title track, however, was ascendant on the music charts.

For two weeks in July of ’85, “A View to a Kill” was the No. 1 single on Billboard‘s decisive “Hot 100” chart. It turned out to be the band’s final chart-topping hit of the 1980s (and the final No. 1 U.S. hit of Duran Duran’s career to date).

A 2015 Rolling Stone assessment of James Bond songs ranked “A View to a Kill” a middling 11th (out of 21), just ahead of the orchestral “From Russia With Love” and just behind Garbage’s contribution to The World Is Not Enough. The magazine praised Simon Le Bon and crew for doing their best with “the nonsense of the movie’s title.”

Or did they? Let’s break down the lyrics of “A View to a Kill,” and see if time has revealed their mysteries.

And, for a list of songs that actually fit their movies, check out the best songs from John Hughes movies, or these essential ’80s soundtracks.

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