Sylvian and Sakamoto together are a match made in heaven. First time I heard this I thought my heart would break with melancholy, and from time to time it still does. It's breathtaking.
Sakamoto initially expected Sylvian to write lyrics whose melody matched that of the main piano line. But Sylvian thought the song would work much better with the vocal singing a counterpoint melody.
Can’t believe that Sakamoto has passed away at only 71 yrs of age 😢from cancer 😢. This song has been a favourite of mine with its haunting sound, for almost 40yrs Gone but never forgotten ❤️💔
My older brother used to play this non stop when it was released, I was busy playing on my amstrad cpc 464 but every now and then I would pause the game and just listen to this coming through my bedroom wall. It is truly beautiful. ❤
Pieces like this convince me that fate is real. For 2 men from different continents to meet and make something so astonishingly beautiful has to be fate.
It always amazes me that this film involved three of the most beautiful men (yes, I mean their appearances) and greatest artists ever. We're blessed to still have David Sylvian, yet we miss David Bowie and now Ryuichi Sakamoto. All so legendary. Hell, even their past and eternal significant others are legends in their own rights (lest we forget the compositional brilliance of Akiko Yano, the poetic prowess of Ingrid Chavez, or the beauty and business accumen of Iman). Genius attracts genius, and in every way, that's what this is. Interestingly, the last thing Ryuichi did musically was collaborate with Suga of BTS, who has covered the instrumental version of this song but alas has not made mention of the vocal version seen here. A shame, because David's voice and lyrics by some miracle elevate it to further stratospheres, even as beautiful as it already was. Truly, this is a transcendent classic and a lovely video too (glowing angelic David!)
I really like this comment and I cannot agree more. David Bowie, David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto were possesing a certain masculine beauty that transcends the feminine, slim, delicate facial features yet somewhat rectangular. I wish both three could have appeared in the video but for some reason, Bowie who's the starr of this movie didn't appear in this video. And because of Sylvian's arrogance. . .he has never met Bowie in person. (Or at least, has never posted a photo of him and Bowie together, that's for sure.)
I can't listen to this without crying. I'm a fullgrown man at 42 with a big love for electronic hardcore. My favorite piece of beautiful music besides traditionel classic.
This is the only film that has ever made me cry...the ending when he shouts merry Christmas...and then quieter merry Christmas Mr Lawrence... literally has me fighting back the tears...then for this masterpiece to be playing well that just finishes me.... simply beautiful music..not of this earth
I have a very strong emotional memory attached to the film the first time I saw it when came out on video. Why this is the only song that can 99% of the time bring me to tears when I hear it.
Played by the amazing Takeshi (Beat) Kitano. He was the star of Hana-Bi and Kikujiro. He is a legend in Japan as a stand-up comedian, actor and director.
For those of us who have ever experienced 'doubt' this song is a masterpiece. I salute you David ( we both went to Catford Boys School ) and Sakamoto for creating true beauty, seldom found outside of nature.
Kathleen. Thanks so much for the response. London's SE6 area and the Downham area will likely always be in our DNA. And that's no bad thing. Perhaps the working class area drives artists to create beauty by means of an escape. And few songs can match the beauty of 'Forbidden Colours'. Chris.
Sylvian is the perfect vocal synthesis of his countrymen, Bowie and Ferry. One of the greats and this song in particular, which should have won the Oscar that year.
David Sylvian has such an incredible, unusual and haunting voice. Just superb! The music from Ryuichi Sakamoto is faultless and so fitting for that movie.
I still vividly remember buying the 12" single when it first came out 40 years ago. Saw Sakamoto played live 4 times in my part of the world. Every time he came I took the chance. I missed none, and I don't regret going to all of them. Amazing diversities that I witnessed in all the shows, even he played the same music he played it differently. He's truly an accomplished artist, true to himself, and brought a lot of good to the world in his lifetime. Wish him the best in his afterlife.
When I saw the movie almost 35 years ago everyone was crying in the theater...The movie.....the music ...the actors ...it was an amazing experience!!!!!!
I'm begging you please share more about it!!!!! I mean this is 100% my favourite movie of all times and I wonder how people used to react when it came out...
Even picked this for my funeral. Always in my heart (May it be many years off). Thanks to any one who comes. The drinks are on me. Thank God for Elspeth & Imogen. See you when the time is right Mum. Mark x
Quite possibly one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever recorded. Even more bitter sweet and melancholy as I realise it's 33 three years since my best friend and I went to see the movie.
As a twenty something old in the 80s heard this song in the early 80s and fell so in love with it and the movie and love to hear it again such fond memories of David Bowie and Tom Conti and also Ryuichi Sakamoto thanks for the memories XOXOXO😂😊🎉🍾🥂🍸🍸
Well, what can I say. Beyond words for me. David Bowie got me into the film, the film got me into David Sylvian and the band Japan. Together with my best friend. And that is where it all started: the new romantics, New Wave. Suddenly it had a name for a lot of bands I became to listen to. And getting to know people as a 14 year old. Delicate people with love for a sophisticated culture. The best High school I could ever imagine. And Aikido 😁. Thanks to some David's 🎶❤️😊
Met my wife in the midst of this, style and mind blowing, conceptual music. Still together 37 later, still breaking out the vinyl. I feel for the millennials, they don’t have single thing that comes close to scratching the surface of any of this. I live in hope.....
Believe me, nowadays beautiful music of any age and nationality will find its listeners among the young. I'm 21 and have been listening to this since 16, I live in a small town in Russia and know people here who listen to New Wave and 80s Japanese pop and jazz
Born 1997, never has it been so easy to be exposed to this music than it is today. A technology has been invented to shrink the world and it's up to us how we use it. For better or for worse we're in the same conversation.
How have I lived the past 26 years on this planet without my ears bearing witness to this absolute gem of a song? That has to be one of the most fragile, melancholic and heartbreaking piano melodies I've ever heard. By a stroke of fate, I turned my TV on the other evening and this music video was playing on Rage. I was gripped almost instantly by everything about it. Also, reading through the comments only to find out that Sakamoto passed away this year...RIP
Rage since 85, this why rage is important it gives every generation a glimpse of perfection, and this song is it ❤ I might be 55 but your comment makes me feel the Future of music is safe ❤️
I hadn't listened to this song in ages, it's so beautiful it kinda hurts....this is pure poetry & a perfect fusion between the western world and Japan.
Some of the 80's artists and their music were sometimes not quite of this earth. Kate Bush, David Sylvian, Prince, Michael Jackson, Vangelis, Ultravox ...
I don't get how we ever got it into our minds that the 80's were the disaster years for music. The very best music was made in this time. The ultimate convergence of technology and music. Two brilliant minds came together and created some of the most brilliant music ever made. God bless Sakamoto and Sylvian.
Evert de Ruiter because during the 70s good music was high in the charts , Pink Floyd sold milllions of records, even Atom heart mother was in the charts, could you imagine that in the 80s? After disco music there was marketing applied more severely to music, and good music became basically alternative music
I still come back and listen to this on a regular basis. One of the most pure, beautiful songs ever written and recorded. I cry every time I hear it. And to also watch the instrumental, full orchestra version tears your soul apart.
Such a lovely soundtrack by Sakamoto. His acting was surprisingly good in the film seeing as he's a composer and not an actor. He's a beautiful man, not to mention a talented one.
I was doing my final school exams when this was released.It takes me back in time and is still hauntingly beautiful as it was then.David Sylvian is a true master ❤️
An absolutely beautiful song that has stayed with me from a 14 year old boy. Gorgeous composition and lyrics sung with emotion by the incredible David Sylvian.
One of the best film of the eighties even now after 28 years i still don't get bored of watching this masterpiece, and as for this song david sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto compliment each other amazingly well.
I remember how I watched this movie for the first time as a kid. I had the soundtrack stuck in my head ever since and then hunted it down on cassette tape. I freaking cried when I got to listen to it again. It will always be pure magic. I'm so glad I got to listen to the piano trio version live years ago.
I hear sakamoto's influence all over Joe Hisashi's sountracks for Studio Ghibli and Takashi Kitano, as well as SEGA's great RPG Shenmue. I hear David Sylvian's legacy all over visual Kei jrock since Boowy, Luna Sea, Larc en Ciel and Gackt, all the way to the mid-late 80s. thoroughly amazing.
First time i heard this song was in my teenage time in early 90s on some radiostation. It completly blew my mind with its unspeakable beauty. Too bad they never had been giving the names of their playlists. Of course I taped it and in my tracklist I gave it a name "Unknown beauty". It took me many years to find out its exact name at last.
I went to see this as a teenager with a group of friends , half walked out of the screening but I was transfixed and have been obsessed with it ever since . I guess I am a massive Bowie fan (my grandson is called Bowie)but I loved the artistic way it was filmed and the music is the soundtrack to my life . I bought Sakamotos album and listened to it for years. To this day it means so much and stirs my emotions.
Yes, that movie was something else... I still like to watch it... in some aspects its amateuristic and not very well rounded... so I understand people who dont like it... but to me the unrefined rawness, was gripping and refreshing, I still cry like a baby everytime I watch the movie (and i'm a 52 year old fart) And i know i'm not the only one... A work of art!!!
I had this as a 7" single that got shelved til a few years before lockdown,,,and got to appreciate sylvain and Sakamoto xxx all over again,, and some years before, brought another 7" single for a friend who sadly died from cancer, but played it every day before she went.! Still miss you Tina xxx
Japanese are simply the masters of composition. When it comes to emotion they got it in their blood. They use the right instruments, right flow etc. to make u feel like you're in heaven. But that hardly even starts describing what Japan is all about. I'd really wanna make a visit there someday.
This is one of the most " spell binding " pieces of music I had ever heard.. The movie made its soundtrack all the more poignant.. The cruelty of war , but the complexity of human emotions bound by ancestry & tradition.. Ryuichi Sakamoto is one of the most esteemed musicians of our era. Such a gifted & talented gentleman.. & equally so in person.. I was honoured to meet him. Gracious, personified..!😘😘💞💞💓💓
Mr. David Sylvian what a great voice in this wonderful song. Emotional and deep, your voice always penetrates my heart. This is a eternal classic . And Mr. Ryuichi Sakamoto i hope for your completely recovery, because your melodies are outstanding. Congratulations to both.
this movie had many subtexts, not just homosexuality, but the clash of two extremely similar cultures like the english and japanese. Both islands, both empires, both anchored in traditions and honor, both tea drinking cultures, which is pretty symptomatic and not just an incidental fact.
@@weebdeeb1302 I wouldn't describe it like that, no, but it has an obvious subtext about homosexuality (the Japanese officer infatuated with the English prisoner)
@@weebdeeb1302 its nothing explicit, its very subtle, and its an interesting movie about, mainly, clash of cultures, with an excellent performance from david bowie, and well you've heard the music. BTW, in the description of the video you can see the music is from the movie Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence
Love this haunting tune, very emotional for me seeing the film when it came out couldn't help remind me of what my Father went through over 70 years ago in WWII as a POW of the Japanese in a camp in Java, Indonesia called Ambarawa! I have seen photos of what it looked like and it was similar to this video...
Awful time and shaming for all involved. The higher ranks officers were often just as cruel to the lower ranking officers as they were to prisoners. Cant imagine such cruelty.
My all time favourite song. Seen them 4 times, David voice so haunting, to this day I'm still listening, and thinking of all the fantastic times I had. Thank Japan
Finally did see movie. Mostly fantastic. Bowie was great. I thought Ryuichi Sakamoto was the wrong person to cast as Yonoi. They wanted him in the movie certainly. But to play the main antagonist? His dialogue left much to be desired. Sorry. This song is great. Didn't find the rest of the music, in the movie, nearly as interesting and almost seemed out of place. This movie is good but I liked this director's previous two movies more.
Rest in peace, maestro Sakamoto.
❤
I found out today that Ryuichi had died in March.
True legend! Sorely missed.
Genius
🎉LOVED THE MOVIE SAW IT WHEN IT CAME OUT 1980 TOM
Listening this in July 2022 and it's as brilliant as ever. My god I'm 61 now but it seems like yesterday I first heard it
Stay young 🙏🏻
Sylvian and Sakamoto together are a match made in heaven. First time I heard this I thought my heart would break with melancholy, and from time to time it still does. It's breathtaking.
Sakamoto initially expected Sylvian to write lyrics whose melody matched that of the main piano line. But Sylvian thought the song would work much better with the vocal singing a counterpoint melody.
Beautifully said. Could not agree more!
❤
All the good guys are leaving us
Never to be replaced
It was a dream growing up too good music …we were so lucky
They didn't leave.. Their souls is immortalized through their music and kept alive by UA-cam. People still come back to listen
ideas persist. villains make mistakes. high drama spellbinds.
80s
Can’t believe that Sakamoto has passed away at only 71 yrs of age 😢from cancer 😢. This song has been a favourite of mine with its haunting sound, for almost 40yrs
Gone but never forgotten ❤️💔
I never get tired of hearing this, sakamoto’s haunting melody and sylvians delivery is epic
Amen brother
A timeless classic
Beautiful xxx 💕💕💕💕
It is.
Neither me.
Grandissimi
One of my life’s most treasured songs.
RIP Mr Sakamoto. You WERE the music you composed. Beautiful and spiritual.
Rest in peace, Sakamoto. May you never be forgotten
My older brother used to play this non stop when it was released, I was busy playing on my amstrad cpc 464 but every now and then I would pause the game and just listen to this coming through my bedroom wall. It is truly beautiful. ❤
Great story.
I agree. Don’t know why but the story brings tears to my eyes. Brothers touched by the same music. Beautiful vision.
Pieces like this convince me that fate is real. For 2 men from different continents to meet and make something so astonishingly beautiful has to be fate.
David Sylvian is perfect vocals, with Sakamoto xx
It always amazes me that this film involved three of the most beautiful men (yes, I mean their appearances) and greatest artists ever. We're blessed to still have David Sylvian, yet we miss David Bowie and now Ryuichi Sakamoto. All so legendary. Hell, even their past and eternal significant others are legends in their own rights (lest we forget the compositional brilliance of Akiko Yano, the poetic prowess of Ingrid Chavez, or the beauty and business accumen of Iman). Genius attracts genius, and in every way, that's what this is. Interestingly, the last thing Ryuichi did musically was collaborate with Suga of BTS, who has covered the instrumental version of this song but alas has not made mention of the vocal version seen here. A shame, because David's voice and lyrics by some miracle elevate it to further stratospheres, even as beautiful as it already was. Truly, this is a transcendent classic and a lovely video too (glowing angelic David!)
I really like this comment and I cannot agree more.
David Bowie, David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto were possesing a certain masculine beauty that transcends the feminine, slim, delicate facial features yet somewhat rectangular. I wish both three could have appeared in the video but for some reason, Bowie who's the starr of this movie didn't appear in this video.
And because of Sylvian's arrogance. . .he has never met Bowie in person. (Or at least, has never posted a photo of him and Bowie together, that's for sure.)
I can't listen to this without crying. I'm a fullgrown man at 42 with a big love for electronic hardcore. My favorite piece of beautiful music besides traditionel classic.
This is the only film that has ever made me cry...the ending when he shouts merry Christmas...and then quieter merry Christmas Mr Lawrence... literally has me fighting back the tears...then for this masterpiece to be playing well that just finishes me.... simply beautiful music..not of this earth
When Lawrence says to Hara "There are times when victory is very hard to take" is heartbreaking.
It makes me cry at the end in the cell when the music begins and Tom contis voice breaks as he is holding back the tears saying God bless you.
I have a very strong emotional memory attached to the film the first time I saw it when came out on video. Why this is the only song that can 99% of the time bring me to tears when I hear it.
Played by the amazing Takeshi (Beat) Kitano. He was the star of Hana-Bi and Kikujiro. He is a legend in Japan as a stand-up comedian, actor and director.
Totally agree I took one of my earlier girlfriends to watch this at the movies and it had us both crying at the end
David Sylvian has one of the most beautiful voices ever!!!
+Anna Poell Maybe the most sexy voice.
Page Winchester absolutely!
and has the most beautiful face
+Napoleon Bonaparte totally agree♡
+Anna Maybe he is perfect.
Can't believe or understand how this song still makes me feel even after so many years.
Susie Connolly have u seen the film. If not I suggest you do. Best ever
Agree Susie. It seems to have become part of me somehow.
same here. This film was soooo unbelievable.... wonderful!
The chords rip my heart out and cry every single time for who I was and where I am going
@@illiapenrosa5016 time i watched it again i think ♥️♥️♥️🏴🏴🏴
Sylvian is pure class. Thank you David, and thank you Japan, for making my teenage years easier to get through.
Absolutely agree, they don't make music like this now. Classic, beautiful and memorable.
R.I.P. maestro Sakamoto... 🙏and thank you for the immortal music you left us as a gift 🎵🎶 🎼
A truly beautiful song, they don't make them like this no more sadly. A great year it was for music, 1983
For those of us who have ever experienced 'doubt' this song is a masterpiece. I salute you David ( we both went to Catford Boys School ) and Sakamoto for creating true beauty, seldom found outside of nature.
Loved this song always....strangely I come from Downham and worked in Catford.....so many artists came from that general area.
Kathleen. Thanks so much for the response. London's SE6 area and the Downham area will likely always be in our DNA. And that's no bad thing. Perhaps the working class area drives artists to create beauty by means of an escape. And few songs can match the beauty of 'Forbidden Colours'.
Chris.
Sylvian is the perfect vocal synthesis of his countrymen, Bowie and Ferry. One of the greats and this song in particular, which should have won the Oscar that year.
David Sylvian should be put in the category of legend for great music as he is such a talent.
He was also gorgeous
May you rest in the arms of the Lord, Mr Sakamoto. Thank you for sharing your beautiful gift with us. Can't believe you are gone....
Listening to this in 2024 and it's taken me straight back to my youth.
R.I.P Sakamoto
David Sylvian has such an incredible, unusual and haunting voice. Just superb! The music from Ryuichi Sakamoto is faultless and so fitting for that movie.
depressing movie, depressing song
Quelle voix pfff magnifique
I still vividly remember buying the 12" single when it first came out 40 years ago.
Saw Sakamoto played live 4 times in my part of the world. Every time he came I took the chance. I missed none, and I don't regret going to all of them. Amazing diversities that I witnessed in all the shows, even he played the same music he played it differently. He's truly an accomplished artist, true to himself, and brought a lot of good to the world in his lifetime. Wish him the best in his afterlife.
One of the most beautiful pieces of music of all time...
When I saw the movie almost 35 years ago everyone was crying in the theater...The movie.....the music ...the actors ...it was an amazing experience!!!!!!
I'm begging you please share more about it!!!!! I mean this is 100% my favourite movie of all times and I wonder how people used to react when it came out...
@@nymphaea5552 read the book the seed and the sower.
I wish I saw the movie in a theatre but I wasn't even born in 1983
Lets not be silly this is the best classic pop song of all time. Nothing has ever come close. Tear are always flowing. This is flawless.
roxy music - lover
louden wainwright summers almost over
lizzardfrequency
It has the an unbelievable atmosphere combined with David's vocals.magical always lifts me up listening to this
Even picked this for my funeral. Always in my heart (May it be many years off). Thanks to any one who comes. The drinks are on me. Thank God for Elspeth & Imogen. See you when the time is right Mum. Mark x
hope you are doing alright mark
Feeling this, Merry Christmas all 2019
@@jenniferhollingsworth1275 yes
It was my funeral yesterday and they played lick my love pump by Spinal Tap.. 🐹🍹🏃🌲🎅🎄🌙🐵🐵🐸👵🌕🍷🍸🚮🚮🏡🐁🐭🐭📺📺📺😀😀😀⛽⛽⛽🎄💀💀💀💀👻
I’ll come to your funeral, if you come to mine...
Beautiful, moving, fantastic I've listened to this I. Going to say over 20 years xx
Quite possibly one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever recorded. Even more bitter sweet and melancholy as I realise it's 33 three years since my best friend and I went to see the movie.
Fantastic nostalgia.. Don't drown in it! (A Sylvian song)
His voice is so beautiful I miss artists like this x
Joanne Daly he is still there, singing like an angel
As a twenty something old in the 80s heard this song in the early 80s and fell so in love with it and the movie and love to hear it again such fond memories of David Bowie and Tom Conti and also Ryuichi Sakamoto thanks for the memories XOXOXO😂😊🎉🍾🥂🍸🍸
This song back came into my head an hour ago...30/12/23.....how I have missed it.
Sylvian is the best male vocalist of the century... the emotion he can put into his voice is astounding.
Well, what can I say. Beyond words for me. David Bowie got me into the film, the film got me into David Sylvian and the band Japan. Together with my best friend. And that is where it all started: the new romantics, New Wave. Suddenly it had a name for a lot of bands I became to listen to. And getting to know people as a 14 year old. Delicate people with love for a sophisticated culture. The best High school I could ever imagine. And Aikido 😁. Thanks to some David's 🎶❤️😊
The song transports me back to 1983 when I saw the movie in Hong kong. Hauntingly beautiful.
Met my wife in the midst of this, style and mind blowing, conceptual music. Still together 37 later, still breaking out the vinyl. I feel for the millennials, they don’t have single thing that comes close to scratching the surface of any of this. I live in hope.....
I love this track. born 92.
Believe me, nowadays beautiful music of any age and nationality will find its listeners among the young. I'm 21 and have been listening to this since 16, I live in a small town in Russia and know people here who listen to New Wave and 80s Japanese pop and jazz
My wife and I are millennials and this was our wedding song. Celebrating 10 years today and listening to it once it again. :)
@@granderondeproductions3286 i love this track aswell. born 06
Born 1997, never has it been so easy to be exposed to this music than it is today. A technology has been invented to shrink the world and it's up to us how we use it. For better or for worse we're in the same conversation.
Still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up and shed a tear after 30 years, classic.
Also me
David Sylvian ‘s voice is so special.
How have I lived the past 26 years on this planet without my ears bearing witness to this absolute gem of a song? That has to be one of the most fragile, melancholic and heartbreaking piano melodies I've ever heard. By a stroke of fate, I turned my TV on the other evening and this music video was playing on Rage. I was gripped almost instantly by everything about it. Also, reading through the comments only to find out that Sakamoto passed away this year...RIP
I'm very glad you found this beautiful song. You should watch the film it was in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, David Bowie was tremendous.
Bless you. I was in my 20s when this song came out. I'm 60 now and I still play this song. Welcome to the club.
Rage since 85, this why rage is important it gives every generation a glimpse of perfection, and this song is it ❤
I might be 55 but your comment makes me feel the Future of music is safe ❤️
I just found the same song at the same age @brandontadday6288 ❤ how beautiful!
I hadn't listened to this song in ages, it's so beautiful it kinda hurts....this is pure poetry & a perfect fusion between the western world and Japan.
Sylvian has produced some of the most impactful music in my 53 years. Secrets of the Beehive still stuns me.
RIP Bowie, this is one of the most beautiful songs with David Sylvian.
I miss Bowie too but he had nothing to do with this song.
he was in the movie Dia! And I love this song
LadyLove * Oh i didn't know! Thanks for telling me!
LadyLove * @
@@diascruggs5276 he did have some story behind this song though. He was offered to sing this song but he rejected it. That's where David came in
One of the most beautiful songs ever written
"I keep walking in circles while doubting the very ground beneath me, trying to show unquestioning faith in everything." Wow.
Some of the 80's artists and their music were sometimes not quite of this earth. Kate Bush, David Sylvian, Prince, Michael Jackson, Vangelis, Ultravox ...
I don't get how we ever got it into our minds that the 80's were the disaster years for music. The very best music was made in this time. The ultimate convergence of technology and music. Two brilliant minds came together and created some of the most brilliant music ever made. God bless Sakamoto and Sylvian.
I love them all!
Kate is rad
Evert de Ruiter because during the 70s good music was high in the charts , Pink Floyd sold milllions of records, even Atom heart mother was in the charts, could you imagine that in the 80s? After disco music there was marketing applied more severely to music, and good music became basically alternative music
@@evertderuiter4849 It's after decades of the shit garbage we have to listen to today that we enjoy the under appreciated music of our own youth.
I still come back and listen to this on a regular basis. One of the most pure, beautiful songs ever written and recorded. I cry every time I hear it. And to also watch the instrumental, full orchestra version tears your soul apart.
❤❤❤
Such a lovely soundtrack by Sakamoto. His acting was surprisingly good in the film seeing as he's a composer and not an actor. He's a beautiful man, not to mention a talented one.
Tears in my eyes as I hear this, sad an somehow magical too. The film is an all time classic, and moves me so much.
I used to listen to this a lot back in the 80s, and I recently returned to bathe in memories and it sounds even better - respect to Mr Sylvian
The whole music score to this movie is beautiful.
I was doing my final school exams when this was released.It takes me back in time and is still hauntingly beautiful as it was then.David Sylvian is a true master ❤️
An absolutely beautiful song that has stayed with me from a 14 year old boy. Gorgeous composition and lyrics sung with emotion by the incredible David Sylvian.
One of the best film of the eighties even now after 28 years i still don't get bored of watching this masterpiece, and as for this song david sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto compliment each other amazingly well.
Simply incredible, what a feeling, what emotion. I so with I could go back to the early 80s. Wahi' Valleys
This is one of the most magical songs ever composed. Just beautiful and haunting. Sylvians voice is gorgeous!
I'm in love with Ryuichi Sakamoto: his music, his character... omg 😍
+Manon Barbier What do you know about his character?
+elenatria I'm talking about his character in the movie: Yonoi. Not about his personality.
Rest in peace, Ryuichi Sakamoto. Of your vast collection of work, this is my absolute favorite.
I wish this wonderful classic was re release. RIP SIR Sakamoto 🙏
I remember how I watched this movie for the first time as a kid. I had the soundtrack stuck in my head ever since and then hunted it down on cassette tape. I freaking cried when I got to listen to it again. It will always be pure magic. I'm so glad I got to listen to the piano trio version live years ago.
Every time I feel helpess and alone this songs brings me so much love. I get so emotive.
It always will xxx you cannot surpress beauty fullness xxx
The background music to this is timeless. So modern yet really classic
I was 17 I think when this came out .54 now still just as mesmerizing and and beautiful as when I 1st heard it ...I play it at least once a week
xxxxx
I hear sakamoto's influence all over Joe Hisashi's sountracks for Studio Ghibli and Takashi Kitano, as well as SEGA's great RPG Shenmue. I hear David Sylvian's legacy all over visual Kei jrock since Boowy, Luna Sea, Larc en Ciel and Gackt, all the way to the mid-late 80s. thoroughly amazing.
I felt that also, especially with Shenmue. Clearly Sakamoto has inspired a lot of people.
You have depth knowledge about japanese modern rock musoc industry, especially late 80s and early 90s generation 👍
Me too. Whenever I think of David or japan I think of sakamoto x
Cuco uses this same melody in his song Lover is a Day
ua-cam.com/video/_QfPliSW83A/v-deo.html
@Bobby Hill I think Nakaido Chabo Reichi's Lain OST and anything by Sambomaster (ie. on Naruto) is up there, if not better.
First time i heard this song was in my teenage time in early 90s on some radiostation. It completly blew my mind with its unspeakable beauty. Too bad they never had been giving the names of their playlists. Of course I taped it and in my tracklist I gave it a name "Unknown beauty". It took me many years to find out its exact name at last.
Unknown beauty.
So perfect.
Have you since listened to David Sylvian with Japan, just brilliant.
When I was in military and I had night shifts I was always listening to this music. Now I’m 60 and I found that music again! Fantastic!
Having a good old ugly cry listening to this. Rest in power Ryuichi, thank you for everything ❤
Have always loved David Sylvians voice and this is in my mind the greatest expression of his beautiful voice
I went to see this as a teenager with a group of friends , half walked out of the screening but I was transfixed and have been obsessed with it ever since . I guess I am a massive Bowie fan (my grandson is called Bowie)but I loved the artistic way it was filmed and the music is the soundtrack to my life . I bought Sakamotos album and listened to it for years. To this day it means so much and stirs my emotions.
Yes, that movie was something else... I still like to watch it... in some aspects its amateuristic and not very well rounded... so I understand people who dont like it... but to me the unrefined rawness, was gripping and refreshing, I still cry like a baby everytime I watch the movie (and i'm a 52 year old fart) And i know i'm not the only one... A work of art!!!
It was one of the happiest days of my life went to see it in brighton with my mum and sister
I had this as a 7" single that got shelved til a few years before lockdown,,,and got to appreciate sylvain and Sakamoto xxx all over again,,
and some years before, brought another 7" single for a friend who sadly died from cancer, but played it every day before she went.!
Still miss you Tina xxx
One of the greatest songs of all time absolute classic
Japanese are simply the masters of composition. When it comes to emotion they got it in their blood. They use the right instruments, right flow etc. to make u feel like you're in heaven. But that hardly even starts describing what Japan is all about. I'd really wanna make a visit there someday.
Two musical geniuses come together to create the nearest thing to musical perfection that I've ever heard.
Amazing movie. Bowie, Sakamoto and Sylvian and I'm blessed to have seen all three of them live:-)
This remains the most beautiful song I ever heard. Thank you Sakamoto for penning this. Rip you brilliant man.
Another masterpiece. Rest in piece, maestro.
This is one of the most " spell binding " pieces of music I had ever heard..
The movie made its soundtrack all the more poignant..
The cruelty of war , but the complexity of human emotions bound by ancestry & tradition..
Ryuichi Sakamoto is one of the most esteemed musicians of our era.
Such a gifted & talented gentleman..
& equally so in person..
I was honoured to meet him.
Gracious, personified..!😘😘💞💞💓💓
hauntingly beautiful in its space, simplicity and restraint. A TRUE New Romantic Master!
Every time I hear this there are tears involved.
Fly safe CMDR, wipe those tears!
I love this song Sylvian's voice is haunting and beautiful i find this song so peaceful
Mr. David Sylvian what a great voice in this wonderful song. Emotional and deep, your voice always penetrates my heart.
This is a eternal classic . And Mr. Ryuichi Sakamoto i hope for your completely recovery, because your melodies are
outstanding. Congratulations to both.
Sadly, Ryuichi Sakamoto passed last April.
this movie had many subtexts, not just homosexuality, but the clash of two extremely similar cultures like the english and japanese. Both islands, both empires, both anchored in traditions and honor, both tea drinking cultures, which is pretty symptomatic and not just an incidental fact.
Wait, was this an LBTGQ+ movie!?
@@weebdeeb1302 I wouldn't describe it like that, no, but it has an obvious subtext about homosexuality (the Japanese officer infatuated with the English prisoner)
@@juanaltredo2974 OOooH, sorry, I haven't watched the movie and I don't even know what movie you guys are talking about because I'm a minor-
@@weebdeeb1302 its nothing explicit, its very subtle, and its an interesting movie about, mainly, clash of cultures, with an excellent performance from david bowie, and well you've heard the music. BTW, in the description of the video you can see the music is from the movie Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence
@@juanaltredo2974 Oh, ohk thnx 😊 I was trynna figure out what movie everyone was talking about and I completely forgot about the description-
Rest In Peace Ryuichi Sakamoto beautiful man
Sublime. It is many, many years since I've watched it. I loved it then. It appears more gorgeous to me now than when I first saw it.
It always gives me goosebumps, no matter how many times I listen to it
RIP ...THANK YOU for being a part of the musical fabric of my life. Rest well.
Love this haunting tune, very emotional for me seeing the film when it came out couldn't help remind me of what my Father went through over 70 years ago in WWII as a POW of the Japanese in a camp in Java, Indonesia called Ambarawa! I have seen photos of what it looked like and it was similar to this video...
Charles Den-Baars Thanks for sharing, couldn't of put it better
my uncle claude was in a japanese concentration camp it was horrible he told dad this song reminds me of him rip uncle xox
Awful time and shaming for all involved. The higher ranks officers were often just as cruel to the lower ranking officers as they were to prisoners. Cant imagine such cruelty.
The most haunting piece of music ever written.❤
Thankyou Mr sakamoto ,you left us wonderful music Rip sir
David Sylvian has made some of the most beautiful songs with his beautiful voice
I think so
My all time favourite song. Seen them 4 times, David voice so haunting, to this day I'm still listening, and thinking of all the fantastic times I had. Thank Japan
John McCullow 4 times? I've watched this atleast..... I make up most of the views
RIP Ryuichi Sakamoto. Thanks for this stunning piece of music.
No one will ever play and sing masterpieces like this with the same passion.
So unforgettable..so deeply moving...
Fan of Japan for years. Somehow I just found this song. Glad I did. Beautiful. This video is good too. I am going to have to watch the movie soon.
Finally did see movie. Mostly fantastic. Bowie was great. I thought Ryuichi Sakamoto was the wrong person to cast as Yonoi. They wanted him in the movie certainly. But to play the main antagonist? His dialogue left much to be desired. Sorry.
This song is great. Didn't find the rest of the music, in the movie, nearly as interesting and almost seemed out of place.
This movie is good but I liked this director's previous two movies more.
One of my favourite songs ever...for me an eternal classic.
Old music with you grow up never Lost..!
David Sylvian is the most beautiful man I have ever seen and, oh, that voice!
"The Blood of Christ, or the beat of my heart..." This line speaks volumes to me...
Such a hauntingly beauty song...never forgotten