Forbidden Colours

"Forbidden Colours" is a song composed by Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto with lyrics by English musician, composer and singer David Sylvian. The song is the vocal version of the theme from the Nagisa Oshima film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (in certain territories retitled Furyo) and was first released on the soundtrack album. "Forbidden Colours", also issued as a duet single on Virgin Records in 1983, was the second collaborative single release by Sylvian and Sakamoto, following 1982's "Bamboo Houses".

The title of the song and its lyrics reflect the main themes of the movie; the clashes between not only two countries at war but also two vastly different cultures, difficulties on both sides in accepting or even trying to understand the differences in mentality, the contrasting definitions of honour and shame, as well as the underlying homoerotic tension between the two main characters, Japanese Captain Yonoi (played by Sakamoto himself) and British war prisoner Jack Celliers (David Bowie), and the fine line between love and hate and consequently life and death - hence my love wears forbidden colours.

In 1984 the track was re-recorded and released as the B-side to "Red Guitar", the lead single to Sylvian's first solo album Brilliant Trees and was later also included as a bonus track on certain editions of his 1987 album Secrets of the Beehive. Both Sakamoto and Sylvian have since recorded several interpretations of the song, both instrumental (under the title "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence") and vocal. An orchestral version featuring vocals by Sylvian was included on Sakamoto's 1999 album Cinemage.