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".
Undercooled
坂本龍一 Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
銃声だけが響く
風は悲嘆にくれ
大地は揺れる
オレはまだここにいるのに
キミの姿はない
歌を忘れたカナリアと
憂鬱な日々があるだけ
世の中を冷たく濡らす
人間の欲望を
ゆれる車輪にのせる
過ぎ去る季節と共に
限界の怒りの中で
安らぎの羽を探す
そして俺は
閉ざされた窓を開けた
月光がすべてを溶かすように
色あせた夕陽で
肌も信仰も
焼いてしまえるように
深い悲しみを花びらに
閉じ込めて
香りにして流そう
香りにして流しちゃおう
教えてくれよ、オレに
尊厳も人権も踏みにじられて
オレたちの自由は
どこにあるのか
教えてくれ
人権と尊厳と自由のために
果てしなく闘った先人達
闘いと論争の歴史に
刻まれた戦士たち
血塗られる悲劇
踏みにじられる生と死
おたがいの頭めがけて
銃口をむけ合うことが
平和のための方法?
正義をふりかざした
政治的な野心は
ただ戦争の傷を
深めるだけなのに
忘れたの?
果てしない人間の欲望で
作りあげた過去の悲劇を
テロに屈するな
なんて奴らは言うけど
ふざけるな!
命を犠牲にする戦いに
何の価値もないのに
武力で他人の土地を奪うために
送られる兵士たち
弾圧と抑圧!
正当化される殺人行為
心の中で叫ぶ歌
教えてくれよ
オレに
尊厳も人権も
踏みにじられて
オレたちの自由は
どこにあるのか
教えてくれ
教えてくれよ
オレにもし神様が
本当にいるのなら
未来をなくしたものに
羽をなくした白い鳥の
果てない旅が
いつ終わるのかを
教えてくれよ
オレに誰でもが
生きられる愛と
平和の行方を
自爆テロを
どうやって防ぐの?
ただテロリストを
殺しただけで
どんな幸せが
手に入るというの?
飢餓で苦しみ
うなる老婆が運ばれてゆく
不安と危険
恐怖の中で
引きはなされてゆく
オレとキミ
心の中で叫ぶ歌
キミの耳まで届くように
国境や壁を突きぬけて
キミに届くように
The lyrics to "Undercooled" by 坂本龍一 (Nomak edit) express the emptiness and desperation in the heart of the singer. The sound of gunshots echoes in the void of his chest, and the wind mourns while the earth trembles. The singer is alone in this emptiness, and while he looks for peace, he cannot find it. There are days of melancholy where he feels like a forgotten canary who has lost his song. The tears of the one he loves fall like rain, and they seem to soak the world with coldness. The singer sees human desires feeding the flames of a changing world, and they are like the wheels of a car that keep turning. The seasons go by, and the singer searches for tranquility in a fit of anger. He opens the closed window, and the moon's light melts away everything, like a fading sunset, it seems to burn his skin and faith. He decides to lock up his deep sadness and turn it into a fragrant, flowing fragrance of hope.
In another section of the song, the singer asks where our dignity, human rights, and freedom are, which have been ground into the dust. He seeks answers from previous generations who fought tirelessly for human dignity and freedom. Throughout history, the lesson taught was that fighters and warriors were imprinted in bloodshed, and the dead were the footsteps of the departed. The singer speaks about how wars have never worked for peace, and political ambitions that mask themselves as justice only deepen the traumas of war. The singer questions why human beings forget the tragedies of the past and only repeat their mistakes, and further, why people who kill terrorists receive only temporary happiness. The singer calls out for peace and love, wondering what they would bring.
Line by Line Meaning
空虚な胸には
In my hollow chest
銃声だけが響く
Only gunshots reverberate
風は悲嘆にくれ
The wind mourns with sorrow
大地は揺れる
The earth trembles
オレはまだここにいるのに
I'm still here
キミの姿はない
But you're not here
歌を忘れたカナリアと
Just a canary who's forgotten how to sing
憂鬱な日々があるだけ
Living through depressing days
こぼれ落ちるキミの涙は
Your tears spill
世の中を冷たく濡らす
Drenching the world in coldness
人間の欲望を
The desires of humans
ゆれる車輪にのせる
Carried on the shaking wheels
過ぎ去る季節と共に
As seasons come and go
限界の怒りの中で
Amidst the rage of rage
安らぎの羽を探す
Searching for a peaceful wing
そして俺は
And then I
閉ざされた窓を開けた
Opened the closed window
月光がすべてを溶かすように
As moonlight melts everything
色あせた夕陽で
In a fading sunset
肌も信仰も
My skin and faith
焼いてしまえるように
Are burned away
深い悲しみを花びらに
Turning my deep sadness into flower petals
閉じ込めて
And trapping them there
香りにして流そう
Letting them flow as a fragrance
教えてくれよ、オレに
Tell me, please
尊厳も人権も踏みにじられて
When our dignity and human rights are trampled
オレたちの自由は
Where is our freedom
どこにあるのか
Tell me
人権と尊厳と自由のために
In the name of human rights, dignity and freedom
果てしなく闘った先人達
Our predecessors battled without end
闘いと論争の歴史に
As history is filled with strife and arguments
刻まれた戦士たち
Leaving behind warriors' marks
血塗られる悲劇
Tragedies covered in blood
踏みにじられる生と死
Lives and deaths being trampled
おたがいの頭めがけて
Aiming guns at each other
銃口をむけ合うことが
In the name of peace?
平和のための方法?
Is pointing a gun at someone the solution for peace?
正義をふりかざした
Waving the banner of justice
政治的な野心は
Politicians' ambition
ただ戦争の傷を
Only deepens the wounds of war
深めるだけなのに
Despite all of that
忘れたの?
Have we forgotten
果てしない人間の欲望で
That we've caused unending suffering
作りあげた過去の悲劇を
Through our endless human desires
テロに屈するな
Don't give in to terrorism
なんて奴らは言うけど
But what do they know?
ふざけるな!
Don't be ridiculous!
命を犠牲にする戦いに
There's no value in sacrificing lives
何の価値もないのに
For a war that has no value at all
武力で他人の土地を奪うために
Sending soldiers to claim other people's land by force
送られる兵士たち
Who are being sent to fight
弾圧と抑圧!
Oppression and suppression everywhere!
正当化される殺人行為
Murder being justified
心の中で叫ぶ歌
A song shouting out in our hearts
教えてくれ
Tell me
オレに
Please
尊厳も人権も
When our dignity and human rights
踏みにじられて
Are being trampled on
オレたちの自由は
Where is our freedom
どこにあるのか
Tell me
教えてくれよ
Tell me please
オレにもし神様が
If there is a god
本当にいるのなら
Please tell us
未来をなくしたものに
Those who have lost their futures
羽をなくした白い鳥の
And the white bird that has lost its wings
果てない旅が
When will their endless journey
いつ終わるのかを
Ever come to an end?
教えてくれよ
Please tell me
オレに誰でもが
For anyone like me
生きられる愛と
Love that we can live by
平和の行方を
What does the future hold for our peace
自爆テロを
How can we prevent suicide bombings
どうやって防ぐの?
What measures can be taken?
ただテロリストを
Killing terrorists
殺しただけで
Is not the solution
どんな幸せが
What kind of happiness can be achieved
手に入るというの?
By taking lives?
飢餓で苦しみ
Seeing the suffering of those starving
うなる老婆が運ばれてゆく
Or hearing the cries of the old woman being carried away
不安と危険
Living in a constant state of uncertainty
恐怖の中で
In the midst of fear
引きはなされてゆく
It's easy to lose sight of each other
オレとキミ
But you and I
心の中で叫ぶ歌
Have a song that resonates within us
キミの耳まで届くように
So let it reach you
国境や壁を突きぬけて
Piercing through borders and walls
キミに届くように
To let it reach you
Writer(s): Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mc Sniper
Contributed by Madison P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@hoodieflash6602
Just found the sad news of his passing. This piece of magic always takes me out of this mundane world and eases my mind. Mr. Sakamoto, may you find the peace that you were able to provide me.
@l.e.d.1431
訃報を聞いて真っ先にこの演奏が聴きたくなった。
今までありがとうございました。
これからもあなたの音楽にはお世話になります。
RIP
@user-gt4yx2gs6k
教授ありがとう。
本当に大好きでした。
@user-cp2oh7zz2g
和音の奏で方が天才的。これからも素敵な楽曲を提供してほしかった。
RIP
@user-me8ss1ni9y
題名のとおり、はかなく切ない寒さの様なものを感じる…
今までありがとうございました…
@richardyasushiii3848
Sakamoto's music is now part of history. I only wish I had a chance to see him perform live. Rest in peace, professor - your music was important.
@user-we8qj3pp5v
この曲は初めて聴いてから今も尚聴いている曲です。ずっとこれからも聴くでしょう
心に残る曲をありがとうございます
@yukii9223
このピアノ出だしは
涙です、、
@pavelbobrov5019
I''m so glad, I was introduced to his work some time ago. His music has touched me in many ways. RIP.
@nasars7301
I love U forever
Good Bye so sad