Licence to Kill (soundtrack) version based on the James Bond Theme. The guitar riff heard in the original recording of the theme was played by Flick. The prospect, however, fell apart and Gladys Knight's song and performance was chosen, later becoming a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. The song was composed by Narada Michael Walden, Jeffrey Cohen and Walter Afanasieff, based on the "horn line" from "Goldfinger", which required royalty payments to the original writers. At 5 minutes 13 seconds it is the longest Bond theme, though 45 single releases featured a shorter edit, running 4 minutes 11 seconds. The music video
Licence to kill (concept) is popularly known from the James Bond novels and films, where it is signified by the "00" (Double O) designation given to the agents in the series who are licensed to kill; Bond himself is famously agent 007. In literary portrayals, the licence is presumed to be a discretionary one, distributed rarely and requiring extensive training to obtain, granted only to a handful of covert agents of a state in the interest of national security. The agent is not necessarily expected to kill enemies as part of a mission, but may receive legal immunity from prosecution (in his own country)