"Forbidden Colours" is a 1983 song by

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan. The band's androgynous look and increasingly ...

and

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...

. The song is the vocal version of the theme from the

Nagisa Oshima NaGISA (Natural Geography in Shore Areas or Natural Geography of In-Shore Areas) is an international collaborative effort aimed at inventorying, cataloguing, and monitoring biodiversity of the in-shore area. So named for the Japanese word "nagisa ...

film ''

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence , also known in many European editions as , is a 1983 war film co-written and directed by Nagisa Ōshima, co-written by Paul Mayersberg, and produced by Jeremy Thomas. The film is based on the experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post (portrayed b ...

.'' It appears on the film's soundtrack album and was released as a single on

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

in 1983 (the second collaborative single release by Sylvian and Sakamoto, following 1982's "

Bamboo Houses "Bamboo Houses" is a song by Japanese musician-composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and English singer-songwriter David Sylvian, released on Virgin Records in 1982. It reached number 30 in the UK charts in the second week of August 1982. The double A-sid ...

").

Background

The title of the song is taken from Japanese writer

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...

's 1953 novel ''

Forbidden Colors is a 1951 novel (禁色 Part 2 was published in 1953) by the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, translated into English in 1968. The name ''kinjiki'' is a euphemism for same-sex love. The kanji 禁 means "forbidden" and 色 in this case means "ero ...

''; although not directly related to the film, both works include exploration of

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

themes, specifically resistance to desires through faith in God. In 1984 the track was re-recorded and released as the B-side to "Red Guitar", the lead single to Sylvian's first solo album ''

Brilliant Trees ''Brilliant Trees'' is the first solo album by the British singer-songwriter David Sylvian, released in June 1984. The album peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in e ...

'' and was later also included as a bonus track on certain editions of his 1987 album ''

Secrets of the Beehive ''Secrets of the Beehive'' is a solo album by British singer-songwriter David Sylvian and it was released on 19 October 1987 (in Europe, UK and America). The album peaked at no.37 in the UK album chart. The album was released in Japan on 21 Nove ...

''. Both Sakamoto and Sylvian have since recorded several interpretations of the song, both instrumental (under the title "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence") and vocal. An orchestral version featuring vocals by Sylvian was included on Sakamoto's 1999 album ''

Cinemage ''Cinemage'' is a 1999 album by Ryuichi Sakamoto. It is a collection of six of his works for film soundtracks and events. Background ''Cinemage'' was recorded live while Sakamoto toured Japan with his orchestra in 1997-98. The album was originally ...

''. Sylvian said in an interview 2012 about the track:

Track listing

All music by Ryuichi Sakamoto; lyrics by David Sylvian on "Forbidden Colours", "Bamboo Houses" and "Bamboo Music".

7": Virgin / VS601 (UK) and 7" Picture Disc: Virgin / VSY601 (UK)

;Side one # "Forbidden Colours" – 4:42 ;Side two # "The Seed and the Sower" – 5:00

12": Virgin / VS601-12 (UK)

;Side one # "Forbidden Colours" – 4:42 ;Side two # "The Seed and the Sower" – 5:00 # "Last Regrets" – 2:40

1988 3" CD: Virgin / CDT18 (UK)

# "Forbidden Colours" – 4.42 # "Bamboo Houses" – 5.26 # "Bamboo Music" – 5.38

Chart positions

Personnel

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, programming *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, lyrics

Production

– producer * Recording and mixing – Ryuichi Sakamoto, Seigen Ono, Shinichi Tanaka * Recording assistant – Michio Nakakoshi *

–

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

, cover design * Yuka Fujii –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

References

{{authority control 1983 singles Songs written by David Sylvian Songs written by Ryuichi Sakamoto Virgin Records singles David Sylvian songs 1983 songs LGBT-related songs