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My Gen X Playlist: Nobody Does It Better – Carly Simon

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Daily writing prompt
If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?
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Long ago I had a roommate that read Tom Clancy novels. I tried reading The Hunt for Red October, but lazy me opted for the movie. Sean Connery, why not?

When I heard Jim from The Office was going to star in the Jack Ryan series, my initial reaction was Whaaaat? I was used to Jim pranking Dwight, not saving the world from evil world leaders. It sounded like a stretch.

When I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I binged the four seasons of Jack Ryan in no time. Nicely done. Tip of the cap. I’m no action hero, but I think it would be fun to play one, even for an episode. What’s not fun about being a spy? It’s either Jack Ryan, or Maxwell Smart, secret agent 86. I wouldn’t mind checking out the cone of silence, using my shoe phone or taking the phone booth to god knows where. Jack Ryan or Maxwell Smart. Wildly different characters, yet it’s a toss up between the two.

Carly Simon sang Nobody Does it Better as the theme song for the movie The Spy Who Loved Me. This was the first James Bond movie that I saw.

Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager wrote this song, which was the theme for the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. Unlike all previous Bond songs, this one isn’t named after the movie, and the film isn’t even mentioned in the chorus – the only mention of the movie comes in the first verse: “Like heaven above me, the spy who loved me is keepin’ all my secrets safe tonight.”

Hamlisch and Bayer Sager didn’t write the song for the movie; it was the producer Richard Perry who convinced them to submit it for the film, and the Bond producer Cubby Broccoli loved it. They reworked the song to make it work for 007 and get the movie mentioned in the lyrics.

– songfacts

There have been a number of cover versions of this song, even one by Radiohead. They just don’t seem to stack up to the original. Gotta give the nod to Carly Simon.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby, you're the best

I wasn't looking but somehow you found me
I tried to hide from your love light
But like Heaven above me
The spy who loved me
Is keeping all my secrets safe tonight

And nobody does it better
Though sometimes I wish someone could
Nobody does it quite the way you do
Why'd you have to be so good?

The way that you hold me
Whenever you hold me
There's some kind of magic inside you
That keeps me from running
But just keep it coming
How'd you learn to do the things you do?

And nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby, baby, darlin', you're the best

Baby, you're the best
Darlin', you're the best
Baby, you're the best
Baby, you're the best
Baby, you're the best
Baby, you're the best

20 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: Nobody Does It Better – Carly Simon”

  3. Great friggin song. In the workshop the other day I watched The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, and For Your Eyes Only in sequence. I was planing and scraping and sawing, so I didn’t pay attention to everything, but it still took me back. For Your Eyes Only was the first one I saw in the theater, and these were movies I used to watch with my Dad. Those three are really good.

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      1. Definitely a good show, but it is nice to see him branch out into a different genre. Looking forward to watching this one. And the Carly Simon is killer ❤

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  8. A fun post!

    Heavily-Scots-accented Sean Connery as a Russian submarine commander. Suuuure, I thought! Pretty good movie, though. Might have to give ‘Jack Ryan’ a go, too.

    I really enjoyed ‘Get Smart.’ It was such a lighthearted look at espionage and incompetence, plus all the fancy gear you mentioned.

    This is a superb Carly Simon song and I had forgotten that it was a Bond theme.

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    1. Great to hear there are other Get Smart fans out there! I laughed at your Connery comment. That was too funny! Jack Ryan was worth the time for me. I can’t say that about too many shows. But I may be biased because I like the genre.

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