Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is the soundtrack from the 1983 film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, released on 1 May 1983 in Japan and in August 1983 in the UK. It was composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also starred in the film. It was Sakamoto's first film score, though it was released several weeks after the film Daijōbu, My Friend, for which he also composed the music.
Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film has since become a cult classic, largely due to its soundtrack. For the film's soundtrack, Sakamoto won the 1984 BAFTA Award for Best Film Music as well as the 1984 Mainichi Film Award for Best Film Score. David Sylvian contributed lyrics and vocals on "Forbidden Colours", a vocal version of the main theme, "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence", both of which were released as singles. A special 30th anniversary edition, which included a second CD of tracks, was released in November 2013 in Japan.
Track listing
Personnel Ryuichi Sakamoto – instrumentation, recording, mixing, producer David Sylvian – vocals (track 19) Seigen Ono – recording, mixing, producer Shinichi Tanaka – recording, mixing, producer Michio Nakakoshi – recording assistant, mixing assistant Hiroshi Okura – recording supervisor Peter Barakan – recording supervisor
Charts Chart (1983)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)40Iceland (Dagblaðið Vísir)7Japanese Albums (Oricon)8 Chart (1988)PeakpositionJapanese Albums (Oricon)49
Release history CountryDateFormatLabelJapan1 May 1983LPLondonVariousAugust–October 1983LP, MCVirgin, MCAAustralia1985CDVirginJapan5 December 1985CDLondon9 March 1988CD, LP, MCMidiUK1988CD, LPVirginJapan21 September 1993CDMidiUS & EuropeOctober 1994CD, MCMilanJapan11 November 20132xCDMidiFrance23 March 2015CD, digital downloadMilanUS & France21 October 2016CD, LP, digital downloadMilan
References