Japan: Forbidden Colours - David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto (Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence)
Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese musician, singer, composer, record producer, activist, writer, actor and dancer, based in Tokyo and New York. He began his career while at university in the 1970s, as a session musician, producer, and arranger. His first major success came in 1978 as co-founder of the electronic music trio Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With bandmates Haroumi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto helped play a pioneering role in the development of synth-pop, techno and house genres. As a film composer, he has won an Academy Award, BAFTA, Grammy, and two Golden Globe Awards, and has received three BAFTA nominations and four Golden Globe nominations. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983) marked his debut as a film score composer and as an actor, and its main theme was adapted into the single "Forbidden Colours" which became an international hit. His most successful work as a film composer was The Last Emperor (1987), after which he continued earning accolades composing for films such as The Sheltering Sky (1990), Little Buddha (1993), and The Revenant (2015). On occasion, Sakamoto has also worked on anime and video games, as a composer as well as a scenario writer. In 2009, he was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France's Ministry of Culture for his musical contributions. He has collaborated with a range of artists, including David Sylvian, Carsten Nicolai, Youssou N'Dour, and Fennesz. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryuichi_Sakamoto
David Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan. Initially a glam-rock-inspired band, Japan developed their sound and androgynous look to incorporate electronic music and foreign influences, eventually becoming an influence on the UK's early-1980s New Romantic scene. In 1982, Sylvian released his first solo collaborative effort with Ryuichi Sakamoto, entitled "Bamboo Houses/Bamboo Music”. He also worked with Sakamoto on the UK Top 20 song "Forbidden Colours” for the 1983 Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Sakamoto's first contribution to Sylvian's work, though, was as co-writer of "Taking Islands in Africa" on the Japan album Gentlemen Take Polaroids (1980) Sylvian's solo work has been influenced by a variety of musical styles and genres, including jazz, avant- garde, ambient, electronic, and progressive rock. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sylvian
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Japanese: Senjō no Merī Kurisumasu ("Merry Christmas on the Battlefield"), also known in many European editions as Furyo (Japanese for "prisoner of war"), is a 1983 British-Japanese drama film directed by Nagisa Oshima, produced by Jeremy Thomas and starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano and Jack Thompson.
The screenplay by Oshima with Paul Mayersberg was based on Sir Laurens van der Post's experiences as a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II as depicted in his works The Seed and the Sower (1963) and The Night of the New Moon (1970). Sakamoto also wrote the score and the vocal theme "Forbidden Colours", featuring David Sylvian.
The film was entered into the 1983 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d'Or. Sakamoto's score also won the film a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.
Forbidden Colours – Lyrics The wounds on your hands never seem to heal I thought all I needed was to believe
Here am I, a lifetime away from you The blood of Christ, or the beat of my heart My love wears forbidden colours My life believes
Senseless years thunder by Millions are willing to give their lives for you Does nothing live on? Learning to cope with feelings aroused in me My hands in the soil, buried inside of myself My love wears forbidden colours My life believes in you once again
I'll go walking in circles while doubting the very ground beneath me Trying to show unquestioning faith in everything Here am I, a lifetime away from you The blood of Christ, or a change of heart
My love wears forbidden colours My life believes My love wears forbidden colours My life believes in you once again