Sakamoto began his career while at university in the 1970s as a session musician, producer, and arranger. His first major success came in 1978 as co-founder of YMO. He concurrently pursued a solo career, releasing the experimental electronic fusion album Thousand Knives in 1978. Two years later, he released the album B-2 Unit. It included the track "Riot in Lagos", which was significant in the development of electro and hip hop music. He went on to produce more solo records, and collaborate with many international artists, David Sylvian, Carsten Nicolai, Youssou N'Dour, and Fennesz among them. Sakamoto composed music for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and his composition "Energy Flow" (1999) was the first instrumental number-one single in Japan's Oricon charts history.
As a film-score composer, Sakamoto had won an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Grammy, and 2 Golden Globe Awards. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983) marked his debut as both an actor and a film-score composer; its main theme was adapted into the single "Forbidden Colours" which became an international hit. His most successful work as a film composer was The Last Emperor (1987), after which he continued earning accolades composing for films such as The Sheltering Sky (1990), Little Buddha (1993), and The Revenant (2015). On occasion, Sakamoto has also worked as a composer and a scenario writer on anime and video games. In 2009, he was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the Ministry of Culture of France for his contributions to music.
Sakamoto entered the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1970, earning a B.A. in music composition and an M.A. with special emphasis on both electronic and ethnic music. He studied ethnomusicology there with the intention of becoming a researcher in the field, due to his interest in various world music traditions, particularly the Japanese (especially Okinawan), Indian and African musical traditions. He was also trained in classical music and began experimenting with the electronic music equipment available at the university, including synthesizers such as the Buchla, Moog, and ARP. One of Sakamoto's classical influences was Claude Debussy, who he described as his "hero" and stated that "Asian music heavily influenced Debussy, and Debussy heavily influenced me. So, the music goes around the world and comes full circle."
Sakamoto released his first solo album Thousand Knives of Ryūichi Sakamoto in mid-1978 with the help of Hideki Matsutake—Hosono also contributed to the song "Thousand Knives". The album experimented with different styles, such as "Thousand Knives" and "The End of Asia"—in which electronic music was fused with traditional Japanese music—while "Grasshoppers" is a more minimalistic piano song. The album was recorded from April to July 1978 with a variety of electronic musical instruments, including various synthesizers, such as the KORG PS-3100, a polyphonic synthesizer; the Oberheim Eight-Voice; the Moog III-C; the Polymoog, the Minimoog; the Micromoog; the Korg VC-10, which is a vocoder; the KORG SQ-10, which is an analog sequencer; the Syn-Drums, an electronic drum kit; and the microprocessor-based Roland MC-8 Microcomposer, which is a music sequencer that was programmed by Matsutake and played by Sakamoto. A version of the song "Thousand Knives" was released on the Yellow Magic Orchestra's 1981 album BGM. This version was one of the earliest uses of the Roland TR-808 drum machine, for YMO's live performance of "1000 Knives" in 1980 and their BGM album release in 1981.
Sakamoto's production credits represent a prolific career in this role. In 1983, he produced Mari Iijima's debut album Rosé, the same year that the Yellow Magic Orchestra was disbanded. Sakamoto subsequently worked with artists such as Thomas Dolby; Aztec Camera, on the Dreamland (1993) album; and Imai Miki, co-producing her 1994 album A Place In The Sun. In 1996, Sakamoto produced "Mind Circus", the first single from actress Miki Nakatani, leading to a collaboration period spanning 9 singles and 7 albums though 2001.
Roddy Frame, who worked with Sakamoto as a member of Aztec Camera, explained in a 1993 interview preceding the release of "Dreamland" that he had had to wait a lengthy period of time before he was able to work with Sakamoto, who wrote two soundtracks, a solo album and the music for the opening ceremony at the Barcelona Olympics, prior to working with Frame over four weeks in a New York studio. Frame said that he was impressed by the work of YMO and the Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence soundtrack, explaining: "That's where you realise that the atmosphere around his compositions is actually in the writing - it's got nothing to do with synthesisers." Frame's decision to ask Sakamoto was finalized after he saw his performance at the Japan Festival that was held in London, United Kingdom.
Sakamoto began working in films, as a composer and actor, in Nagisa Oshima's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), for which he composed the score, title theme, and the duet "Forbidden Colours" with David Sylvian. Sakamoto later composed Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor (1987), which earned him the Academy Award with fellow composers David Byrne and Cong Su. In that same year, he composed the score to the cult-classic anime film Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise. Sakamoto also went on to compose the score of the opening ceremony for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, telecast live to an audience of over a billion viewers.
Other films scored by Sakamoto include Pedro Almodóvar's Tacones lejanos (High Heels) (1991); Bertolucci's The Little Buddha (1993); Oliver Stone's Wild Palms (1993); John Maybury's Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998); Brian De Palma's Snake Eyes (1998) and Femme Fatale (2002); Oshima's Gohatto (1999); and Jun Ichikawa's (director of the Mitsui ReHouse commercial from 1997 to 1999 starring Chizuru Ikewaki and Mao Inoue) Tony Takitani (2005).
Several tracks from Sakamoto's earlier solo albums have also appeared in film soundtracks. In particular, variations of "Chinsagu No Hana" (from Beauty) and "Bibo No Aozora" (from 1996) provide the poignant closing pieces for Sue Brooks's Japanese Story (2003) and Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel (2006), respectively. In 2015, Sakamoto teamed up with Iñárritu to score his film, The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.
Sakamoto also acted in several films: perhaps his most notable performance was as the conflicted Captain Yonoi in Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, alongside Takeshi Kitano and British rock singer David Bowie. He also played roles in The Last Emperor (as Masahiko Amakasu) and Madonna's "Rain" music video.
In 1994, Japan Football Association asked Sakamoto to compose the instrumental song "Japanese Soccer Anthem". This instrumental song played at the beginning of Japan Football Association-sponsored events, such as Emperor's Cup matches.
In 2006 Sakamoto, in collaboration with Japanese music company Avex Group, founded Commmons (コモンズ, Komonzu), a record label seeking to change the manner in which music is produced. Sakamoto has explained that Commmons is not his label, but is a platform for all aspiring artists to join as equal collaborators to share the benefits of the music industry. On the initiative's "About" page, the label is described as a project that "aims to find new possibilities for music, while making meaningful contribution to culture and society". The name "Commmons" is spelt with three "m"s because the third "m" stands for music.
Sakamoto's first of three marriages occurred in 1972, but ended in divorce two years later—Sakamoto has a daughter from this relationship. Sakamoto then married popular Japanese pianist and singer Akiko Yano in 1982, following several musical collaborations with her, including touring work with the Yellow Magic Orchestra. Sakamoto's second marriage ended in August 2006, 14 years after a mutual decision to live separately—Yano and Sakamoto raised one daughter, J-pop singer Miu Sakamoto. He has lived with his manager and wife Norika Sora since around 1990 and has two children with her.
Beginning in June 2014, Sakamoto took a year-long hiatus after he was diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer. In 2015, he returned, stating: "Right now I'm good. I feel better. Much, much better. I feel energy inside, but you never know. The cancer might come back in three years, five years, maybe 10 years. Also the radiation makes your immune system really low. It means I'm very susceptible to another cancer in my body."
On June 14, 2018, a documentary about the life and work of Sakamoto, entitled Coda, was released. The film follows Sakamoto as he recovers from cancer and resumes creating music, protests nuclear power plants following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster, and creates field recordings in a variety of locales. Directed by Stephen Nomura Schible, the documentary was met with critical praise.
On January 21, 2021, Sakamoto shared a link on his official pages, which contained a letter announcing that though his throat cancer went into remission, he was now diagnosed with rectal cancer, and that was currently undergoing treatment after a successful surgery. He wrote: "From now on, I will be living alongside cancer. But, I am hoping to make music for a little while longer".
Risky
坂本龍一 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where people are cheated of life
I knew I could never stay home, No
As you lie in the dark
With your pink dress on
You look risky, Lovely, Risky, Lovely
Risky, That's your name
Risky, Unashamed
Risky, Show your style
Risky, Love's on trial
You make me feel, that this heart is real
When you hold me, love me, hold me, love me
Girl with the scream in her eyes
Risky, That's your name
Risky, Unashamed
Risky, Show your style
Risky, Love's on trial
People fall apart all the time
I've been hit enough to know why
Climb to this point, move on
Climb to this point, move on
Career, career, acquire, acquire
But what is life without a heart
There's standing room only
Somebody better tell the truth
Proceed at your own risk
Risky, That's your name
Risky, Unashamed
Risky, Show your style
Risky, Love's on trial
Why feel so sad
Let your heart be glad
Love is risky, lovely, risky, lovely
Child of the whispering skies
Born in a corporate dungeon
Where people are cheated of life
I knew I could never stay home
Risky love, Risky love, Risky love, Sweet love
Risky love, Risky love, Give me love, Sweet love, Risky love, Risky love
The lyrics to "Risky" by 坂本龍一 convey a sense of rebellion and resistance against a stifling corporate society. The song begins by describing the singer's birthplace as a "corporate dungeon," where people are cheated out of a fulfilling life. This environment is one in which they could never feel at home. The following lines paint a vivid image of someone lying in the dark, wearing a pink dress, exuding both riskiness and loveliness. This person, referred to as the "child of the whispering skies," represents a figure who defies societal norms and expectations.
The chorus repeats the word "risky" to emphasize the individual's audacity and lack of shame in being unconventional. The lyrics suggest that the person's risky behavior is a way for them to express their own sense of style and challenge the conventions of love. By holding and loving the singer, they make them feel alive and real, adding a layer of passion and authenticity to their existence. The reference to the "girl with the scream in her eyes" further emphasizes this rebellious nature.
The song then delves into a reflection on the transitory nature of relationships and the fragility of hearts. The verses express a cynicism towards the pursuit of material success and acquiring possessions, contrasting it with the importance of having a heart and genuine emotions. The lines "Career, career, acquire, acquire, but what is life without a heart" encapsulate this sentiment. The lyrics suggest that there is a lack of honesty and truth in the world, urging the listener to proceed at their own risk.
In summary, "Risky" is a commentary on the oppressive nature of corporate society and the rebellion against societal norms and expectations. It celebrates risk-taking and authenticity, while also questioning the pursuit of material success.
Line by Line Meaning
Born in a corporate dungeon
Raised in a repressive and suffocating corporate environment
Where people are cheated of life
Where individuals are deceived and deprived of true fulfillment
I knew I could never stay home, No
I realized I couldn't remain in that oppressive place
As you lie in the dark
When you find yourself engulfed in darkness
With your pink dress on
Dressed in vulnerability and innocence
You look risky, Lovely, Risky, Lovely
You appear daring and captivating, both intimidating and beautiful
Child of the whispering skies
One who has been molded by the secrets and mysteries of the heavens
Risky, That's your name
Risky, that's how you are identified
Risky, Unashamed
Risky, unapologetic for your boldness
Risky, Show your style
Risky, exhibit your unique and audacious demeanor
Risky, Love's on trial
Risky, the validity of love is being tested
You make me feel, that this heart is real
You make me believe that this emotion is genuine
When you hold me, love me, hold me, love me
When you embrace and cherish me affectionately
Girl with the scream in her eyes
A woman with intense and passionate emotions reflected in her gaze
People fall apart all the time
Individuals constantly experience emotional breakdowns
I've been hit enough to know why
I've endured enough blows to understand the reasons
Climb to this point, move on
Reach this stage of personal growth, then continue progressing
Career, career, acquire, acquire
Emphasizing the pursuit of professional success and material possessions
But what is life without a heart
However, life lacks meaning without genuine emotions
There's standing room only
There's no space for inauthenticity or complacency
Somebody better tell the truth
Someone should reveal the honest reality
Proceed at your own risk
Advance with caution and be aware of potential consequences
Why feel so sad
Why succumb to melancholy
Let your heart be glad
Allow your heart to experience joy
Love is risky, lovely, risky, lovely
Love involves uncertainties but is also enchanting and beautiful
Risky love, Risky love, Risky love, Sweet love
Love that is daring and uncertain, yet delightful
Risky love, Risky love, Give me love, Sweet love, Risky love, Risky love
Desire for love that is bold, uncertain, and affectionate
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: BILL O LASWELL, IGGY POP, RYUICHI SAKAMOTO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind