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Everything or Nothing (song)
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Wikipedia article
"'Everything or Nothing'" is a song by the American recording artist Ma. It was written by Ron Fair, Randy Bugnitz and Ma and recorded for the 2003 'James Bond' third-person shooter video game 'James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing', released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube consoles. Published by Electronic Arts, the game features the likeness and voice from Ma who portrays the character Ma Starling, an NSA double agent who aids Bond in dealing with the use of nanotechnology as terrorism. "Everything or Nothing" was released as a promotional single in support of the game's official release. A jazz version, also produced by Fair, was performed by Ma on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' in late 2004.
Background
In 2001, video game developer Electronic Arts approached Ma to be involved in its 'James Bond' franchise. While she expected to be relegated to composing the theme song to the game or providing background music, EA saw her role as broader than that when they asked her to star as a central character named Ma Starling, an NSA agent posing as a jazz singer opposite the former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan. The title of the song and game are based on EON Productions, the production company behind all of the James Bond films.
Writing and recording
"Everything or Nothing" was written by Ma, Bugnitz and frequent collaborator Fair, while production was overseen by the latter. Mixing of the track was provided by Ben Grosse. EA asked the singer to record a song which would also work in a jazz club as "Everything or Nothing" was expected to be used in a similar environment in a video game sequence. Commenting on the result, Ma said, "It fit together. It's not like Mya, recording artist, separate and apart from [the game]. It's actually a song that the agent sings within the game. So I get to be myself a little as well as play a character and sing as the character." The first jazz song she ever wrote, Ma considered writing a 'Bond' theme an opportunity to be a writer "outside of Ma" as she felt the track marked a breakaway from the concrete and solid coming from a personal experience that she had frequently used on previous records. "'Everything Or Nothing' can mean so many things and the definition and links can be infinite", she said. "So in the lyric writing process there was everything from the analogy between cars and keys versus just relationships or some of the top R&B clichs, you know, when I'm writing my own songs."
Fair produced three different versions of "Everything or Nothing", including the synthesizerdriven main version, a jazz edition and a techno remix. While familiar with the classic 'Bond' songs such as Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger", Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" and Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better", Ma did not immerse herself with the songs that were accompanying the 'Bond' films, though she researched for the techno version of "Everything or Nothing", the first version for which she wrote the lyrics. Unfamiliar with that genre, she took to rave and house music, as well as techno and pop music and invited friends to play music for her. For the jazz rendition, Fair brought in live musician and modified the melody and rhythms of the song.
Formats and track listings
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of 'Everything or Nothing'.
*Music and lyrics Ma Harrison, Ron Fair, Randy Bugnitz
*Lead and backing vocals Ma Harrison
*Mixing Ben Grosse
References
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