Sam Smith Bond song splits opinion

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Media captionBond song 'not a classic but good enough'

Reactions to Sam Smith's theme song for new James Bond film Spectre vary widely following its unveiling earlier on Nick Grimshaw's Radio 1 breakfast show.

Former Bond actor Sir Roger Moore called Writing's On the Wall "very haunting and wonderfully orchestrated".

But other Twitter users have been less complimentary, with one describing it as the "worst Bond theme ever".

BBC entertainment correspondent Colin Paterson said it was "good enough, but not a classic".

The song, whose full version runs for 4 minutes and 38 seconds, begins with the words: "I've been here before / But always hit the floor."

"I've spent a lifetime running, and I always get away," it continues. "But with you I'm feeling something, that makes we want to stay."

"I think it's a song about a man deciding to quit it all for love," Paterson said of the track on BBC Breakfast, comparing its melody to that of Michael Jackson's 1995 single Earth Song.

He also suggested it was far superior to Die Another Day, the much-derided song Madonna contributed to the 2002 Bond film of that name.

Comedian David Schneider was not convinced, greeting the song's release with the words: "The name is Bland. James Bland."

Yet fellow comic Omid Djalili was far more effusive, tweeting the song had left him "in a broken heap."

"If you're not moved by this song you don't have a pulse," wrote Djalili, who had a small role in 1999 Bond film The World is Not Enough.

Image copyrightSony

Image captionWriting's On the Wall may be partially inspired by this scene from Spectre

Smith is the first solo male British act to perform a Bond film's theme song since 1964, when Tom Jones was heard over the opening credits of Thunderball.

The last Bond theme, Adele's song for 2012's Skyfall, peaked at number two in the UK singles chart.

No Bond song has ever reached the top of the UK chart, and opinion is divided whether Smith's track will do so.

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber is currently at number one and is expected to remain there when this week's chart is revealed later on Friday.

Smith himself has said he and his songwriting partner, Jimmy Napes, wanted to create a song that was "timelessly classic".

"This isn't about me, about my life," he said in a promotional video for the song. "I just hope people listen to it and think, 'That's Bond'."

The song's title appears to derive from a scene in Spectre, viewed briefly in the film's trailer, in which James Bond's name is found scrawled upon a wall.