Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (instrumental)

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" is a 1983 instrumental by the Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, recorded for the 1983 film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Sakamoto also recorded a vocal version, "Forbidden Colours", featuring the English singer David Sylvian.

The Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw described "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" as "one of the most famous movie themes of the 80s with its inspirationally catchy westernised pop take on Japanese music".^[1] It inspired the mandolin part of the 1991 R.E.M. song "Losing My Religion".^[2]

Sakamoto created a vocal version, "Forbidden Colours", with the English singer David Sylvian. It reached the top 20 of the UK singles chart in July and August 1983.^[8]

After Sylvian's band Japan broke up, he did not write for some time. When Sakamoto invited him to work on "Forbidden Colours", he began to work again. Sakamoto originally expected Sylvian's vocal to follow the instrumental melody, but Sylvian found this impossible and instead wrote a counter-melody. Slyvain said of Sakamoto's theme: "I mean, sonically it was incredible. I loved all the samples that he was using ... Sound design was a big part of it for us, and what Ryuichi as producer did was extraordinary with that particular piece of music."^[9]

In September 1999, a remix, "Heart of Asia", was released in Europe by the German-Turkish DJ DJ Quicksilver, under the alias Watergate. It reached number three on the UK singles chart and number four in Denmark. The British journalist James Masterton wrote that it was "one of the few dance treatments of a famous song that actually manages to make the original seem almost dull by comparison".^[13]

There is a 12-inch vinyl Italo disco cover version on the Italian record label Discomagic named "Clock on 5 – Theme from Furyo" which was released in 1984.^[24]

In 2004, Croatian pianist Maksim Mrvica included a piano remix of "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" on his third album, Variations Part I&II. Japanese-American R&B artist Hikaru Utada heavily sampled the theme for her 2009 song "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – FYI", from the album This Is the One.

In 2008, a cover version of "Forbidden Colours" was included on Hollywood Mon Amour,^[25] a collection of songs from soundtracks of movies made in the 1980s, rearranged by Marc Collin of Nouvelle Vague with Nadeah Miranda providing the vocals. In 2009, British singer Faryl Smith recorded a version of the song for her album Wonderland, entitled "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (Somewhere Far Away)".

Japanese post-hardcore band Fact recorded a track by the title "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" on their self-titled album. Tokyo Brass Style, a Japanese big band, recorded a cover of the title theme for their fifth album, Brass Style Xmas. Sherwood & Pinch released a version of the song on their 2017 LP Man vs Sofa.^[26]

On 27 July 2024, at the Fuji Rock Festival in Naeba, the German band Kraftwerk played a cover version of "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" as a tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto, who died in 2023. Ralf Hütter had been friends with Sakamoto since 1981. After performing "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence", Kraftwerk played "Radioactivity", for which Sakamoto wrote additional Japanese lyrics in 2012.^[27]