David Sylvian & Riuichi Sakamoto - Forbidden Colours

A serious contender for the title "Most hauntingly beautiful song ever written and recorded", David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Forbidden Colours" featured in the movie Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence in 1983. The melody is written by Sakamoto, known from Yellow Magic Orchestra, and the lyrics were written by Sylvian who had just disbanded his band Japan. "Forbidden Colours" is four minutes of pure magic, the minimalistic arrangement and Sylvian's incredible voice lifting the song into a landscape of surreal beauty. It could actually be my all-time favourite ballad - and I have a few.

Watch and listen