Forbidden Colours - A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto

 

Another musical great has left this world. Ryuichi Sakamoto was a founding member of Yellow Magic Orchestra. He became well known for his neo-classical work, his collaborations, and of course his film scores, from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence to The Revenant to the Oscar-winning score for The Last Emperor. The solo piano version of Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence is one of my favorite piano pieces ever written.

In January of this year he released an album of piano tracks, called 12, that is hauntingly simple and beautiful.

In 2017 he recorded a track called "Life, Life", from the album Async, that is one of my favorite pieces of all time. I'd like to finish this post with the spoken word poem that appears in that track...

And this I dreamt, and this I dream

And some time this I will dream again

And all will be repeated, all be re-embodied

You will dream everything I have seen in dream

To one side from ourselves, to one side from the world

Wave follows wave to break on the shore

On each wave is a star, a person, a bird

Dreams, reality, death - on wave after wave

No need for a date; I was, I am, and I will be

Life is a wonder of wonders, and to wonder

I dedicate myself, on my knees, like an orphan

Alone - among mirrors - fenced in by reflections

Cities and seas, iridescent, intensified

A mother in tears takes a child on her lap

Thank you for your music.

[ s t r e a m ]    [ d o w n l o a d ]    [ a p p l e _ p o d c a s t s ]

T R A C K L I S T :

• 00:00    Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence(solo piano version)
• 04:40    Ryuichi Sakamoto - life, life
• 08:45    Ryuichi Sakamoto - Mountains
• 09:37    Ryuichi Sakamoto - 20220123
• 17:37    Ryuichi Sakamoto - In The Red
• 22:35    Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Revenant Main Theme Atmospheric
• 25:10    Ryuichi Sakamoto & Christian Fennez - oto
• 28:35    Ryuichi Sakamoto - Railroad Man
• 33:07    Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Sheltering Sky(piano version)
• 39:20    Ryuichi Sakamoto - The Sheltering Sky(continues as orchestral version)
• 38:25    Ryuichi Sakamoto - Elephantism 2
• 42:50    Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto - Trioon I
• 47:38    Ryuichi Sakamoto - Aqua
• 51:58    Ryuichi Sakamoto - Rain(I want a Divorce)
• 53:22    Ryuichi Sakamoto - The End
• 55:36    end
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