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Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence: Soundtrack From The Motion Picture (1983)

Posted By: Efgrapha

Date: 10 Dec 2021 18:22:50

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence: Soundtrack from the Original Motion Picture is a soundtrack album for the 1983 film. All compositions on the album are by Sakamoto except "23rd Psalm", which is a traditional piece, and both "Ride, Ride, Ride" tracks, by Stephen McCurdy. In addition, David Sylvian contributed lyrics and vocals on "Forbidden Colours".

Although this CD stands on its own very well – and indeed was the most compelling soundtrack of 1983 – it's hard to consider it totally separately from Sakomoto's other OST masterpiece, 1987's 'The Last Emperor'. Both movies had oriental themes and settings, but whereas 'The Last Emperor' was a largely acoustic / orchestral venture for Sakomoto, this is all-electronic.

'Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence' has two stand-out themes: the title theme (tracks #1, #10 and #19), and 'Sowing the Seed' (track #14). Both are excellent and unforgettable. The rest are sketches which provide a magnificent aural background to the dramatic events that unfold at the Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. I feel you have to see the movie to fully appreciate Sakomoto's intent, though the sight of David Bowie dressed as a schoolboy for one scene may be hard to take!

The final track, 'Forbidden Colours', deserves a mention, because this was the single released to promote the movie. It sounds as if Sakomoto and Seigen Ono created the entire instrumental soundtrack in Tokyo, but then the western producer decided a vocal-based track was needed for the single. I would guess that the opening instrumental track was sent to David Sylvian – please tell me that he wasn't picked just because he sang for a band called 'Japan'! – who then pasted his vocals over the top.

The single did reasonably well in the UK charts, but DJs quickly realised that the instrumental B-side – i.e. the theme with the Sylvian vocal stripped out – had more commercial merit. And this is the theme that everyone remembers the movie for. But over the years, David Sylvian's song has really grown on me. His lyric focusses on the homo-erotic relationship between the characters that Sakomoto and Bowie play, a theme which isn't so promounced in the original novel.
In retrospect, Sylvian's treatment of the song seems entirely right. It just seems bizarre that Bowie appears in the movie, but doesn't play on the soundtrack, whereas Sakomoto does. And yet for 1985's 'The Falcon and the Snowman', Bowie sings the main theme, but doesn't appear in the movie.

Anyway, enjoy the soundtrack, and make sure you see the movie. It's visceral!

Review by Gavin Wilson, Amazon.com

Neo Geo innovator and international musical collaborator Ryuichi Sakamoto has run the gamut in his lengthy career, from the Kraftwerk-inspired work of the Yellow Magic Orchestra and a handful of high-profile soundtracks, to several solo albums and various guest spots with Arto Lindsay, David Sylvian, Thomas Dolby, and Public Image Ltd., among many others. And on the heels of the YMO's breakup in 1983, Sakamoto jumped right into the fray with this soundtrack to director Nagisa Oshima's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Sakamoto also co-starred along with David Bowie). While not as sophisticated as the music he wrote for The Sheltering Sky and The Last Emperor (a collaboration with David Byrne), Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence does sport one of Sakamoto's most fetching pieces, "ForbiddenColours" (given many treatments, including a fine David Sylvian vocal version), and a few successful Asian and Western classical hybrids. Unfortunately, though, the music often bogs down in bloated, synth-washed musings and staid rhythmic underpinnings. Not the best introduction to Sakamoto's work, but certainly worth a cut-out bin price for the lovely variations on "Forbidden Colours."

Review by Stephen Cook, Allmusic.com

~ Ryuichi Sakamoto at Allmusic
~ Ryuichi Sakamoto at Wiki

~ Film at IMDB
~ Film at Wiki

Tracklist:

01. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (04:35)
02. Batavia (01:18)
03. Germination (01:48)
04. A Hearty Breakfast (01:22)
05. Before The War (02:14)
06. The Seed And The Sower (05:01)
07. A Brief Encounter (02:22)
08. Ride, Ride, Ride (Celliers' Brother's Song) (01:04)
09. The Fight (01:28)
10. Father Christmas (02:06)
11. Dismissed (00:09)
12. Assembly (02:17)
13. Beyond Reason (02:00)
14. Sowing The Seed (01:53)
15. 23rd Psalm (02:02)
16. Last Regrets (01:43)
17. Ride, Ride, Ride (Reprise) (01:05)
18. The Seed (01:03)
19. Forbidden Colours (04:44) vocal - David Sylvian

EAC log

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008

Отчёт EAC об извлечении, выполненном 1. июня 2010, 23:09

Ryuichi Sakamoto / Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

Дисковод: ASUS DRW-20B1LT Adapter: 4 ID: 0

Режим чтения : Достоверность
Использование точного потока : Да
Отключение кэша аудио : Да
Использование указателей C2 : Нет

Коррекция смещения при чтении : 6
Способность читать области Lead-in и Lead-out : Нет
Заполнение пропущенных сэмплов тишиной : Да
Удаление блоков с тишиной в начале и конце : Нет
При вычислениях CRC использовались нулевые сэмплы : Да
Интерфейс : Встроенный Win32-интерфейс для Win NT/2000

Выходной формат : Пользовательский кодировщик
Выбранный битрейт : 768 kBit/s
Качество : Высокий
Добавление ID3-тэга : Нет
Утилита сжатия : D:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\Flac.exe
Дополнительные параметры : -8 –delete-input-file -o "D:\CDImage.flac" -V %s

TOC извлечённого CD

Трек | Старт | Длительность | Начальный сектор | Конечный сектор
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 4:35.65 | 0 | 20689
2 | 4:35.65 | 1:18.50 | 20690 | 26589
3 | 5:54.40 | 1:49.07 | 26590 | 34771
4 | 7:43.47 | 1:23.55 | 34772 | 41051
5 | 9:07.27 | 2:15.15 | 41052 | 51191
6 | 11:22.42 | 5:02.73 | 51192 | 73914
7 | 16:25.40 | 2:22.55 | 73915 | 84619
8 | 18:48.20 | 1:04.32 | 84620 | 89451
9 | 19:52.52 | 1:30.50 | 89452 | 96251
10 | 21:23.27 | 2:08.05 | 96252 | 105856
11 | 23:31.32 | 0:09.70 | 105857 | 106601
12 | 23:41.27 | 2:17.25 | 106602 | 116901
13 | 25:58.52 | 2:01.05 | 116902 | 125981
14 | 27:59.57 | 1:55.30 | 125982 | 134636
15 | 29:55.12 | 2:02.55 | 134637 | 143841
16 | 31:57.67 | 1:43.53 | 143842 | 151619
17 | 33:41.45 | 1:06.32 | 151620 | 156601
18 | 34:48.02 | 1:04.73 | 156602 | 161474
19 | 35:53.00 | 4:44.00 | 161475 | 182774

Характеристики диапазона извлечения и сообщения об ошибках

Выбранный диапазон

Имя файла D:\Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.wav

Пиковый уровень 100.0 %
Качество диапазона 99.9 %
CRC теста 5F1C798E
CRC копии 5F1C798E
Копирование… OK

Ошибок не произошло

AccurateRip: сводка

Трек 1 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [6584BE27]
Трек 2 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [39E1F1F8]
Трек 3 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [1D0D050A]
Трек 4 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [37859359]
Трек 5 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [9AC7FEE2]
Трек 6 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [514AE84C]
Трек 7 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [BE7E0274]
Трек 8 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [603CAA7B]
Трек 9 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [00830CD7]
Трек 10 точное извлечение (доверие 8) [6A7F7FBD]
Трек 11 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [4783CA20]
Трек 12 точное извлечение (доверие 8) [827B3713]
Трек 13 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [937C94B1]
Трек 14 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [9EB3F55E]
Трек 15 точное извлечение (доверие 8) [E710B56E]
Трек 16 точное извлечение (доверие 8) [3083587C]
Трек 17 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [F0AF3C7F]
Трек 18 точное извлечение (доверие 9) [95A18E53]
Трек 19 точное извлечение (доверие 8) [003B9729]

Все треки извлечены точно

Конец отчёта

DR log

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2013-03-04 16:26:03

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Ryuichi Sakamoto / Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR13 0.00 dB -15.55 dB 4:36 01-Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
DR12 -5.87 dB -20.40 dB 1:19 02-Batavia
DR14 -6.61 dB -24.18 dB 1:49 03-Germination
DR16 -3.00 dB -23.10 dB 1:24 04-A Hearty Breakfast
DR14 -1.52 dB -19.64 dB 2:15 05-Before The War
DR12 -1.09 dB -18.55 dB 5:03 06-The Seed And The Sower
DR14 -7.60 dB -24.99 dB 2:23 07-A Brief Encounter
DR9 -5.21 dB -20.78 dB 1:04 08-Ride, Ride, Ride (Celliers' Brother's Song)
DR13 -1.93 dB -18.87 dB 1:31 09-The Fight
DR11 -2.37 dB -18.13 dB 2:08 10-Father Christmas
DR9 -5.29 dB -22.00 dB 0:10 11-Dismissed
DR11 -5.99 dB -18.44 dB 2:17 12-Assembly
DR13 -3.80 dB -18.38 dB 2:01 13-Beyond Reason
DR11 -0.79 dB -14.47 dB 1:55 14-Sowing The Seed
DR11 -2.71 dB -17.03 dB 2:03 15-23rd Psalm
DR12 -5.11 dB -19.47 dB 1:44 16-Last Regrets
DR10 -3.46 dB -22.63 dB 1:06 17-Ride, Ride, Ride (Reprise)
DR11 0.00 dB -20.00 dB 1:05 18-The Seed
DR14 -1.05 dB -18.47 dB 4:44 19-Forbidden Colours
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 19
Official DR value: DR12

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 578 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

All thanks to original uploader - orbster

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