The new Bond theme, sadly, is just another song.

“Another Way to Die,” from the upcoming film “Quantum of Solace,” seeks to impress the listener with imagery pertaining to Bond. “A woman walking by / A drop in the water / A look in the eye” can all relate to the James Bond legacy. Sorry to say, though, that they all lack originality.

The combination of Alicia Keys and Jack White is an intriguing one. R&B piano-soul meets raucous-indie-garage-rock could be a new sound; something different brought to the table. Their fans are different. If nothing else, the song could bring more followers to the Bond franchise.

The unity of these two, however, falls flat.

“Another Way to Die” sounds like it could be cool, because the two artists are hot in today’s music scene. The song, however, isn’t at part with previous, contemporary Bond songs. The good ones, while written specifically for the franchise, could stand alone without the context of Bond and still make sense. When thought of with the title character at heart, they made even more sense.

Without the Bond context, “Another Way To Die” doesn’t have a point.

Christoph Lindner, associate professor of English, is NIU’s James Bond expert, having written the textbook for NIU’s own Bond Phenomenon class. Bluntly, he said the song is “both musically and lyrically lame.”

Lindner said the song “is haunted by its predecessors – particularly songs of the 1960s.”

For example, Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger” similarly posits visual imagery of a brooding, mystery man – in this case, it’s Goldfinger. The song warns the listener “Goldfinger, he’s the man, the man with the Midas touch / A spider’s touch such a cold finger.” While the subject is a different character, “Another Way to Die” uses similar non-descript analogies.

Another example is “You Only Live Twice” by Nancy Sinatra. “You only live twice, or so it seems / One life for yourself and one for your dreams,” she sings. Visual imagery and analogies, again, work their way through the song, painting a rather fluffy, hippy viewpoint on life.

Both songs indirectly portray something specific about the times in which they were written. Sensational and seemingly vague, both coincide with the romantic ‘60s. The only things decade-specific about “Another Way to Die” are Alicia Keys and Jack White.

“It is a strange Americanization, which partly reflects the 007 franchise’s own, broader re-orientation to appeal more to American viewers,” Lindner said.

Again, this shows the inclusion of popular American artists should musically warrant it a position of importance on the music charts. Seeing the artists’ names attached to the song, their fans are interested. While Bond is distinctly of British background, it’s the American fervor that speaks for this song, not the song quality itself.

Needless to say, the song was a good try at something unique and distinctive to this generation. The ingredients are all good, but the mixture is in horrible discord.