Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Soundtrack album by
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Released1 May 1983
Recorded1983
StudioOnkio Haus, Tokyo, Japan
Genre
Length40:57
LabelVirgin
Producer
  • Sakamoto
  • Seigen Ono
  • Shinichi Tanaka
Ryuichi Sakamoto chronology
Left-Handed Dream
(1981)		 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
(1983)		 Coda
(1983)
Singles from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
  1. "Forbidden Colours"
    Released: 24 June 1983
  2. "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence"
    Released: September 1983
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Smash Hits6/10[3]

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is the soundtrack from the film of the same name, released on 1 May 1983 in Japan and towards the end of 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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ryuichi Sakamoto, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" 4:34
2."Batavia" 1:18
3."Germination" 1:47
4."A Hearty Breakfast" 1:21
5."Before the War" 2:14
6."The Seed and the Sower" 5:03
7."A Brief Encounter" 2:23
8."Ride Ride Ride (Celliers' Brother's Song)"Stephen McCurdy1:03
9."The Fight" 1:29
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Father Christmas" 2:00
11."Dismissed!" 0:10
12."Assembly" 2:16
13."Beyond Reason" 2:01
14."Sowing the Seed" 1:53
15."23rd Psalm"Traditional2:00
16."Last Regrets" 2:40
17."Ride Ride Ride" (Reprise)McCurdy3:29
18."The Seed" 1:02
19."Forbidden Colours" (with David Sylvian)Sakamoto, Sylvian2:27
Total length:40:57
2013 Japanese bonus CD
No.TitleLength
1."Batavia" (M-3)0:48
2."Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" (M-34)5:34
3."Germination" (M-9)1:29
4."Germination" (M-11)1:13
5."The Seed and the Sower" (M-16A)0:40
6."M-7"0:24
7."M-10"1:54
8."The Seed and the Sower" (M-16)0:40
9."A Brief Encounter" (M17)0:29
10."The Fight"0:29
11."Last Regrets" (M-20 and M-22)1:51
12."Father Christmas" (M-23)2:10
13."Before the War"0:18
14."M-14"0:19
15."Dismissed!"0:27
16."Beyond Reason" (M-26 to M-27 Take 2)2:04
17."M-29"0:30
18."The Seed" (M-29)0:37
19."The Seed" (M-33)1:07
20."Last Regrets" (Take 2)2:11
21."M-28A Take 2"0:44
22."M-1 Free Time"3:05
23."23rd Psalm" (M-30 Take 2 Inst)2:06
24."M-13"3:08
25."Ride Ride Ride" (M-18 Inst)1:09
26."Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" (Theme Five Time Take 1)4:43

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) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 40
Iceland (Dagblaðið Vísir)[8] 7
Japanese Albums (Oricon) 8
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9] 8
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10] 38
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[11] 30
UK Albums (OCC)[12] 36
Chart (1988) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon) 49

Release history

Country Date Format Label Ref.
Japan 1 May 1983 LP London [13]
Various August–October 1983 LP, MC Virgin, MCA
Australia 1985 CD Virgin [14]
Japan 5 December 1985 CD London [15]
9 March 1988 CD, LP, MC Midi
UK 1988 CD, LP Virgin
Japan 21 September 1993 CD Midi [16]
US & Europe October 1994 CD, MC Milan
Japan 11 November 2013 2xCD Midi [6]
France 23 March 2015 CD, digital download Milan [17]
US & France 21 October 2016 CD, LP, digital download Milan [18]

References

  1. ↑ "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence [Original Soundtrack]". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.
  3. ↑ "Albums". Smash Hits. 1–14 September 1983. p. 21. Retrieved 16 April 2021 – via sites.google.com.
  4. ↑ "Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence". In Sheeps Clothing. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  5. ↑ Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - IMDb, retrieved 2021-04-16
  6. 1 2 Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (2013, Paper Sleeve, SHM-CD, CD), retrieved 2021-04-16
  7. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 283. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ↑ "Vísir - 247. Tölublað (28.10.1983) - Tímarit.is". timarit.is. p. 37. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  9. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Soundtrack / Ryuichi Sakamoto – Furyo - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  10. ↑ "Charts.nz – Soundtrack / Ryuichi Sakamoto – Furyo - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence". Hung Medien.
  11. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Soundtrack / Ryuichi Sakamoto – Furyo - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence". Hung Medien.
  12. ↑ "Ryuichi Sakamoto | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  13. ↑ Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983, Vinyl), retrieved 2021-04-16
  14. ↑ Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1985, CD), retrieved 2021-04-16
  15. ↑ Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1985, CD), retrieved 2021-04-16
  16. ↑ Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1993, CD), retrieved 2021-04-16
  17. ↑ Ryuichi Sakamoto – Furyo "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence" (2015, CD), retrieved 2021-04-16
  18. ↑ "Ryuichi Sakamoto: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - Soundtrack". Milan Records. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
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