Bamboo Houses

[attack1967]

best B side ever recorded

[Maxiclaudi]

I most certainly preferred this track to Bamboo Music, which is more widely known. David's voice on this track is so poignant - even in the later version it got better (Everything and Nothing).

[dumdumfriend]

@MrLadysman1969 so do i got it last year. Both sides are just great!

[MrLadysman1969]

I still have this on 7" & 12" Vinyl

[fjortis02]

Best song of em all, I mean in the whole world

[Sebelis]

Sometimes good music is worth waiting for :)

[themanmaschine]

Classic from 1982! Gotta love those synths, I think they are marvellous!

[freechildgold]

gets me everytime

[swanstep]

This is just so outstanding, isn't it?

[IlynaTV1]

I am only a child, I am 12 years old and I like Mike Oldfield, David Sylvian, U2, Fleetwood Mac and the things so! I hate the things from now on it is stupid!!! DEEP SYLVIAN!!!!!

[Milltinqq]

@IlynaTV1 OMG! i am the same as you! all the stupid pop stars now like JLS, Justin Beiber, Cheryl Cole and so one are just terrible, I wish another Japan would come along and blow them all away, or atleast David come back and Blow them Off the charts

[IlynaTV1]

@Milltinqq : Yes the things from now on it is really stupid!!! It is what "JLS"?

[Milltinqq]

@IlynaTV1 Justins little sausage?



[IlynaTV1]

@Milltinqq : ha okay!!!

[FunnyLovely15571]

@Milltinqq xD

[LittleKaro666]

@IlynaTV1 Old music has the magic =)

[IlynaTV1]

@LittleKaro666 : Oh yeah!!!

[dja51]

Great sound from the 80's mannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

[mintwithahole]

dIdn't Sakamoto work with Sylvian on the theme from Merry Christmas Mr Laurence?

[mintwithahole]

Sakamoto is brilliant in this but he ruined the Oil On Canvas tour with his tortured guitar solos. If another Japan came along today all this rap and techno rubbish would be swept into the sewer where it belongs. Japan= proper music made by skilled and accomplished musicians.

[tfgts11]

@mintwithahole

Masami Tsuchiya from Ippu-Do played the guiter on Oil On Canvas tour.

Ryuichi Sakamoto didn't.

[mintwithahole]

@tfgts11 Of course he did. Dont know how I made that mistake. Thanks for putting me straight.

[Milltinqq]

@mintwithahole THANK YOU! Finally, someone who understands what real music is!

[MrDerekMonty]

sometimes in a club a dj will play Blue Monday, the problem is what to follow it with.

[invaderzezix]

It sounds like it was made an hour ago

[Chigleybus]

Outstanding, have't heard this for many years but it's as fresh as a daisy. A classic.

[ti1967bd]

kakkoii

daremo mane dekinai

tensai ryuichi sakamoto

[apalmfish]

This original version was so much better than Sylvian's augmented version for his Everything and Nothing release. Should have left well alone. This has all of the great Sakamoto sounds that were present on YMO's two gems (BGM and Technodelic), plus the stuff he brought (uncredited) to Tin Drum. I imagine Sylvs was happy to let the genius to his work on this one. Still one of my favourites this. Thank you for posting.

[irishcowboy42]

@apalmfish Uncredited by Sakamoto? Surely harsh on Barbieri and Sylvian who spent months on programing and sequencing sounds on aestethic ambience that furnished "Tim Drum"... Yes influenced by Sakamoto but????????????

[TOWNLED66]

so takes me back love japan and early sylvian stuff

[TerentiaWillsomethin]

duuuuuude. this is tight. wouldn't expect anything less from these two :D

[not3bad13]

Pedanitc correction: Bamboo Houses was not the B side. This was a "double A" sided single.

[frontsidegrind]

we need more guys like this, making music like this, in the world.

[ludocrat]

My older sister bought this 12" when it was released and played it so much that I think it became sort of burned into my fragile little mind. Haven't heard it for the most time - and still seem to recognise every bump, sample, beat, mumble and Sylvian plea. Nice.

[2009doglife]

30年ぶりに聴けました♪

ありがとう。

Thank　you.



[wendybrownkatz]

this music is timeless. Love it.

[wasabicocoa]

I have been searching for this song for 20+ years ,as I worked at a new age shop in Philadelphia for a minute,heard it knew it was David Sylvian,but never got the track name.I feel so warm and connected hearing thjs fillintheblank filled.  Cheers and thanks,Valerie Velvet

[poulpe55555]

beautiful

[poulpe55555]

This song make me cry... it is so beautiful...

[unkonkrable]

@poulpe55555 i second that...emotionally and spiritually provoking. peace from NY

[pawnsacrifice1]

Smack in the middle of Japans gold era....before Sylvian got boring.

[rogermelly44]

Might anyone know who plays or programs the drums on this track? The whole rythm is amazing. Did Steve Jansen have anything to do with Bamboo Houses/Music?

[tyler3333durden]

@rogermelly44

Yes, Steve Jansen did.  Well known his fill in 1:48, 2:59:D

[tyler3333durden]

@rogermelly44

Yes Steve Jansen did. well known his fill in at 1:48, 2:59

[tyler3333durden]

@rogermelly44

Yes Steve Jansen did. well known his fill in at 1:48, 2:59.

[goldenpollen]

an immortal classic and still delivering this special feeling

[messiah668]

Fabulous track. So ahead of its time and still sounding so fresh after all these years.

[Instrumentals4Sale]

So far ahead of their time,

I've been a fan of Sakamoto for a number of years, the collaborations with Sylvain are great. I'd always seen sylvain as just the guy from Japan ...now I see him in a new light.

excellent songwritters, both of them.

[redmanthinks]

Another great collaboration.

[babazdooba]

awsomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[baiNEKO]

was this only on a single, and not on the album Forbidden Colors?

i like it

[neuphoria11]

this song had a huge influence on my work... so great...

[400026]

god musik!

[aeternum100]

i putted it on a film (in super 8), in wich i had filmed the raise to the top of the Eiffel Tower, from the ground, into an open elevator. It was 1982.

[honeybozo]

gosh - brings back memories: needs to be played very loud and whilst driving any vehicle very very fast.....

[alastair415]

I still have this on 7" vinyl B side... Brings me back. One of my favorite tracks ever....

[fuppinbaxter]

Thank you . I thought it was bamboo houses I recalled. Bamboo music .

[mintwithahole]

How cool is this song?

[heatdeb]

Got this on 12 inch and sounds breathtaking.

[ar4216]

@heatdeb

Yes, I also have it on 12". Sounds as fresh as when I first listened to it.

[LAPoloPlayer]

One of the greatest tunes of all time. Everytime I play this loud, someone comes to ask about it. I think the CD it is on is "Sylvian Sakamoto Forbidden Colors" but it is different from the Soundtrack to the movie of the same name. It is an import to the USA. Might even be out of print. Good luck!

[lisa3x]

Is this the back side of Forbidden Colours?

[FaceInTheRain]

What cd can this be found on?

[zackjmack]

OK, this is possibly my favorite by Sakamoto and Sylvian. Heartbeat is way up there, but this song seems so authentic to me. I have this on vinyl is part of it as well, ha ha.

[shesgotmedals]

Fantasic to hear this after so many years, thank you for sharing

[amsix]

This song is the emblem of my youth

[thewysefool]

I agree, there's elements of 'Canton' in there somewhere!

[christphe]

I think , this is a song about "solitariness"

Everyone being a single like me can have this emotions.

Thinking about family or kids that we never had to hand ..

I am sad. .

[Shadders5]

Haven't heard this in years ..... I remember buying the 12 inch single when it was originally released in the early 80's, but it's long been lost ..... I hardly played the A side

[mashamorgan]

2 Genius' at work !! or is it Genuii ?

[Tiramisator]

Two Geniusses . Perhaps...

[brillianttrees7]

Brilliant!!

[haminikuohji]

僕が大好きだった子供たちはもうほとんど残っていない

小さくて痩せ細った子供たちの竹の歌が聴こえる

それでも人々の生活は続いている

[gajirosato59]

Thanks,barbarella.

i think this song sounds like the south east Asia tune (not the Japanese traditional tunes).

i do not know what Sakamoto and Sylvian intended to express by this song, but i have been feeling the very sad situation in this song since 25 years ago.

(we can listen to the far noizes like the Air forces airplane or bomb)

i (and you) can imagine the serious situations in the not-advanced Asian countries like Vietnum, Cambodia , Tibet, and some countries...

What do you feel?

[zxmzc14]

wow I have listened to this song for so long.. and I never understood what it means but I always felt free and good.. it has always given me the feeling that things are going to be good and I should just trust in that. . and maybe because it is jenseits gut und bose.

[Kaleidoscorp]

Actually few works by Sakamoto has traditional Japanese taste.

[zackjmack]

It's interesting that you mention Vietnam. I've been listening to this song for going on three decades and it always gave me a vision of Vietnam even though Sakamoto is obviously Japanese. I guess, considering the era in which the song emerged and the ensuing context...caused me to equate 'Bamboo Houses/Music' with images of Deer Hunter , Platoon, Apocalypse Now, and shit like that. I'm sure it's subjective, though. We'd be better off to consult the artists, I imagine.

[Kaleidoscorp]

I Japanese dont find anything Japanese in Sakamoto's work.

It's very continental.

[bobos01]

good point. all of them..a?

masami as well.

[Kaleidoscorp]

masami tsuchiya? He's nearly British.

[Genecidedrummer]

love it thnx for posting

[nikospotes]

xunw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!

[motellife]

I'd only heard this track on the Everything and Nothing album, but now that I hear this original version, I must say Sylvian's voice here sounds much more youthful and exotic.

[ludocrat]

My (older :) sister bought this when it came out. Haven't heard it since then. Lots of years. But I remember thinking I was sort of touching the future when I listened to it at the time.

Seems strange that now.

[waitwit1]

Thanks barbarella19844.

This was my favourite of the two as well.

Just love,love,love it.

[FaceInTheRain]

Excellent song. Thanks for posting.

[Zoeysdream]

I adore this track. Like PippinPogle, I have the 12" vinyl of it. Sheer brilliance.

Thanks for the translation tfgts11.

[PippinPogle]

Thank you so much for posting this. I used to have the 12" and adored it--put the album on my wall when I was a pre-teen. Nobody in my area had it, so it was something "special", but now that I'm an adult, I can fully see what I sensed intuitively then: how brilliant Sylvian and Sakamoto are.

[tricerebollocks]

Great song.One of my favourites.Anyone have any info on a band called "strange arrangement"..,track..,"don't runaway from here"? Was on the same album I first heard this song on..,vynyl in the early eighties called "Modern Heroes". Great album,great times.Any info appreciated.

[NeoTokyo2006]

This original sooo much better than the remake on Everything and Nothing. Better vocals that didn't need re-recording!

Thanks, great to see the translation!

[Dengatube]

I agree. I hate the repetetive flutes-like sample.

[ananga]

if anyone can provide the Japanese (日本語) for what Sakamoto sings preferably both as kanji (漢字) AND hiragana (平仮名), please copy and paste it here

[tfgts11]

Sakamoto speaks in Japanese;

僕が大好きだった建物たち

もうほとんど残っていない

小さくて痩せ細った子供たちが歌っている竹の歌が聞こえる

それでも人々の生活は続いている

(boku ga daisuki datta tatemono tachi mou hotondo nokotte inai chiisaku te yase hosotta kodomo tachi ga utatte iru take no uta ga kikoeru soredemo hitobito no seikatsu wa tsuzuite iru)

[tfgts11]

English translation;

the buildings I have loved so much

are hardly standing any longer

I can hear the song of bamboo that sung by small and emaciated children

still, people's lives go on

Sylvian sings in English;

all the buildings I have loved

are barely standing

all the children so young and thin

sing bamboo music

[wichtelland]

a riddle for thousand years!

thank you very much .

I love this song for more than 20 years!

never understand the meaning of his words.

[sheloshim]

at last i know the words... arigato!

[kaydiem]

Can anyone provide an English translation of the words SPOKEN before the singing starts? Thanks

[pencitypunk]

I have no idea who this is, but kool sounds

[ddtigertiger]

Me gusta el tema :$

te amoooooo

[stevilhex]

Thankyou.

I always prefered the b-side and this is the first time I`ve been able to hear it for many long years. Thankyou so much.

[hardiestgirl2012]

Fabolous song and work between two Extraordinary Musicians like Sakamoto and Mr.Sylvian ...

one of the Wonderful songs they are made ..

and still sounds fresh and experimental ...

Brilliant!

Just two Genius like Ryu and David

can do that ..

thanks for posting this song

[KarmicLuva]

Dont tell Timbaland, he may steal it.

I love this song, this is a different version from what I know. It makes modern music sound dated, and thats how music should sound. Great stuff!

[cassanou]

It still sounds fresh and experimental. Awesome posting !

[barbarella19844]

it's a fresh sound although it have decades

[LadyboyN]

Does anyone out their know if a cd exists of all of the collabrations these two have made at all ???

Been a huge fan of them both since 1979 and still listening to them now,thanks for the posting.

[barbarella19844]

Two compilations:

FORBIDDEN COLOURS 1991 1. FORBIDDEN COLOURS 2. BAMBOO HOUSES 3. BAMBOO MUSIC 4. FORBIDDEN COLOURS -VERSION II

TAINAI KAIKI II 1992 1. TAINAI KAIKI Ⅱ David Sylvian / Ryuichi Sakamoto featuring Ingrid Chavez 2. FORBIDDEN COLOURS David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto 3. THE LAST EMPEROR ( END TITLE THEME ) Ryuichi Sakamoto 4. NUAGES Based on a traditional song, arrangement by Ryuichi Sakamoto

[MioMillioni]

This is one of my all time favourites. I also like the picture above.

[devasurfer]

The best song Sylvian and Sakamoto did together thanks.

I love them both for giving me such wonderful memories!