Licence to Kill (song) Licence to Kill (song) "Licence to Kill" is a 1989 song by Gladys Knight, written and recorded for the James Bond film "Licence to Kill", also from 1989. It was written by Narada Michael Walden, Jeffrey Cohen and Walter Afanasieff. Release as a single in May 1989, the song became a top-ten hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number six and becoming Knight's last charting solo single there. The song charted very strongly in Europe, peaking atop the Swedish Singles Chart for eight weeks and reaching the top five in seven other European countries. It also peaked at number
Motifs in the James Bond film series in the films: the laboratory of Hugo Drax is opened by touchtones that play the tune of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", whilst when Bond and Anya are seen walking across the desert in "The Spy Who Loved Me", the theme from "Lawrence of Arabia" is heard. In most of the films, the main villain often captures Bond and, rather than kill him quickly, attempts a slow and protracted death, from which Bond will always escape. This will often also come with a scene of the villain explaining his master plan to Bond. Goldfinger chained Bond to a nuclear