"Take On Me" is a song by the Norwegian

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

band

A-ha A-ha (usually stylised as ''a-''h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ...

. The original version, recorded in 1984 and released in October of that same year, was produced by

Tony Mansfield Tony Mansfield (born 19 January 1955) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer. Early work Mansfield was born in Wimbledon, London, and became best known as the main songwriter/producer for New Musik, a synthpop band that perfo ...

and remixed by John Ratcliff. The 1985 international hit version was produced by

Alan Tarney Alan Tarney (born 19 November 1945) is an English record producer and musician. He was born in Northside, Workington, Cumberland, but spent his teenage years in Adelaide, Australia, where he met his songwriting and musical partner Trevor Spencer ...

for the group's debut studio album, ''

Hunting High and Low ''Hunting High and Low'' is the debut studio album by Norwegian new wave band A-ha, released on 1 June 1985 in the United States and 28 October 1985 in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, reachin ...

'' (1985). The recording combines

with a varied instrumentation, including acoustic guitars, keyboards, and drums. The original 1984 version "Take On Me" failed to chart in the United Kingdom, as did the second version in the first of its two 1985 releases. The second of those 1985 releases charted in September 1985, reaching number two on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in October. In the United States in October 1985 the single topped ''Billboards Hot 100, no doubt bolstered by the wide exposure on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

of director

Steve Barron Steven Barron (born 4 May 1956) is an Irish-British filmmaker. He is best known for directing the music videos for the songs "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, "Summer of '69" and " Run to You" by Bryan Adams, " Money for Nothing" by Dire Stra ...

's innovative

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

featuring the band in a live-action pencil-sketch animation sequence. The video won six awards and was nominated for two others at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.

Background

"Take On Me" originated from

Pål Waaktaar Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (born Pål Gamst, 6 September 1961) is a Norwegian musician and songwriter. Waaktaar-Savoy is best known for his work as the main songwriter and guitarist in the Norwegian pop band A-ha, which has sold more than 50 million alb ...

's and

Magne Furuholmen Magne Furuholmen (born 1 November 1962) is a Norwegian musician and visual artist. He was named Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olav by King Harald for his services to Norwegian music and his international success. Furuholmen, better kno ...

's previous band

Bridges A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whic ...

, who first composed a number called "The Juicy Fruit Song" when they were 15 and 16 years old. Initially the band felt the riff was too pop-oriented for their band, thus the first version of the song was more "punky" in an attempt to offset the riff. The first take of the song was inspired in part by

Doors A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

member

Ray Manzarek Raymond Daniel Manzarek Jr. (né Manczarek; February 12, 1939 – May 20, 2013) was an American keyboardist. He is best known as a member of the Doors, co-founding the band with singer and lyricist Jim Morrison in 1965. Manzarek was induct ...

and his "almost mathematical but very melodic, structured way of playing". Waaktaar considered the song too poppy for their intended dark style, but Furuholmen recalled thinking it was "quite catchy". Soon after, Bridges disbanded. Waaktaar and Furuholmen relocated to London to try their hand in the music industry there, but returned to Norway after six months of disappointment. They were joined by their school friend, singer

Morten Harket Morten Harket () (born September 14, 1959) is a Norwegian vocalist and songwriter, who is the lead singer of the synthpop/rock band A-ha. A-ha has released 10 studio albums to date, and topped the charts internationally after their breakthrough ...

, who heard the song and said the keyboard riff had the character of a universal hit sound. The three and began working on demos, including a new version of the song, which was renamed "Lesson One" before it evolved into "Take On Me". In January 1983, the band returned to London in search of a recording contract. They intended the song to show off Harket's vocal range, which led to his vocals "doing this spiralling thing".

Recording and production

The band moved into an apartment in London and began contacting record companies and publishing houses. After a few meetings with various A&R personnel, they signed with the publishing house Lionheart. A-ha returned to Norway to earn some money; when they returned to London, they left Lionheart out of frustration. They decided to record new demos, and chose the studio of musician and producer John Ratcliff, intending to re-record five songs. The band signed with Ratcliff, who introduced them to manager Terry Slater. With this encouragement, the band managed to complete some songs, including "Take On Me". After a few meetings, Slater signed them with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

UK. The band met with producer Tony Mansfield, an expert in the use of the

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lic ...

, who mixed the demos with electronic instrumentation. The sound was not what A-ha had hoped to achieve, and the album was remixed again. The band rushed to release "Take On Me" as a single in the United Kingdom but the single only charted at 137, the lowest-charted of all A-ha songs. After this, Warner Brothers' main office in the United States decided to invest in the band, and gave them the opportunity to re-record the song. The song was produced using the

Roland Juno-60 The Roland Juno-60 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1982 and 1984. It followed the Juno-6, an almost identical synthesizer released months earlier. The Juno synthesizers introduced Roland's digitally control ...

synthesiser A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

for the main riff, along with the

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980 ...

and

PPG Wave The PPG Wave is a series of synthesizers built by the German company Palm Products GmbH from 1981 to 1987. Background Until the early 1980s, the tonal palette of commercial synthesizers was limited to that which could be obtained by combining ...

synthesizers. The instrumentation included a

and

, with Furuholmen playing the main melody on a

. A

LinnDrum The LinnDrum, also referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold. Its high-quality samples, flexibility and affordability made the LinnDrum popular; it sold far mo ...

drum machine was used on the second and third releases, with acoustic

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

s and

hi-hat A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist o ...

overdubbed. Harket sang the lead vocal using a Neumann U47 microphone as well as a Neve microphone pre-amp and Neve equaliser. In 2020, former Warner Brothers UK and Reprise executive Andrew Wickham appeared in A-ha's official anniversary documentary ''A-ha: The Making of Take On Me'', to explain how the song's success was due to several parties realising the band's true value. He detailed how the song finally became the worldwide smash hit still widely recognised today. In 1984, he was the international vice-president for Warner Bros Records America, and their A&R man in London. He said, "I got a call from Terry Slater... I couldn't believe my ears (at the band's audition) when I heard Morten Harket sing. I thought, how can somebody who looks like a film star sound like

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

? I thought, this is unbelievable." Wickham immediately signed A-ha to Warner Brothers America, after learning several previous attempts had failed to make "Take On Me" a commercial success. The next release was not successful either and featured a very ordinary performance video. He authorised considerable investment in the band: on Slater's recommendation, renowned producer Alan Tarney was commissioned to refine the song. The new recording achieved a cleaner and more soaring sound and a

coda Coda or CODA may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Movie coda, a post-credits scene * ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television *''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...

section instead of the earlier quick fade-out; the song was soon completed and re-released in the UK, but the record label's office in London gave them little support, and the single flopped for the second time. Wickham placed the band on high priority and applied a lateral strategy with further investment.

directed a revolutionary

rotoscoping Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced ov ...

animation

which took six months to create, using professional artists. The single was released in the US one month after the music video, and immediately appeared in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was a worldwide smash, reaching No. 1 in numerous countries.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

journalist Tim DiGravina described "Take On Me" as "a new wave classic laced with rushing keyboards, made emotionally resonant thanks to Morten Harket's touching vocal delicacy."

Composition

"Take On Me" is a

song that includes acoustic and electric guitars and keyboards, written at a very fast

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 169 beats per minute. The lyrics are a plea for love and constructed in a

verse–chorus form Verse–chorus form is a musical form going back to the 1840s, in such songs as "Oh! Susanna", "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", and many others. It became passé in the early 1900s, with advent of the AABA (with verse) form in the Tin ...

with a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

before the final chorus. The song is written in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

with a

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

of Bm7–E–A–D–E in the verse, A–C♯m7/G♯–F♯m–D in the chorus, and C♯m–G–C♯m–G–Bm–E in the bridge. Harket demonstrates a

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

of over two and a half

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

s. He sings the lowest pitch in the song, A₂ (the tonic), at the beginning of the chorus, on the first syllable of the phrase "Take On Me". As the chorus progresses, Harket's voice hits ever higher notes, reaching a

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

and hitting the song's highest note, E₅, (the dominant) at the end. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' has thus noted the song as "having one of the hardest-to-sing choruses in pop history". A mix of a drum machine, the

, acoustic guitars, and electronic instrumentation serves as the song's

backing track A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, sometimes of purely rhythmic accompaniment, often of a rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live music ...

Music videos

First video

The first release of "Take On Me" in 1984 includes a completely different recording; this mix was featured in the first video, which shows the band singing with a blue background.

Second video

The second video, directed by film director

, is the far more widely recognised video for the song. It was filmed in 1985 at Kim's

Cafe A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

(now called Savoy Cafe) (corner of Wandsworth Road and Pensbury Place, London SW8), and on a sound stage in London. The video used a pencil-sketch animation and live-action combination called

, in which the live-action footage is traced using a frame-by-frame process to give the characters realistic movements. Approximately 3,000 frames were rotoscoped, which took 16 weeks to complete.Billboard vol. 97 no. 26 (29 June 1985), p. 37. The idea of the video was suggested by

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

executive

Jeff Ayeroff Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff (born January 20, 1947) is an American record executive who has worked for A&M, Warner Records, Virgin U.S., Work Group, Apple, and Shangri-La Music. He founded Rock the Vote in 1990 in response to a censorship campaign aga ...

, who was pivotal in making "Take on Me" a globally recognised music hit. The critical and commercial result was emphatic. In addition to an incalculably high view count from heavy rotation it received on

when it was originally released (as well as other music television channels), the music video has received more than 1.4 billion (1,483,559,293) views on YouTube and has received a 4K video restoration with more than 8.6 million likes. The music video was remastered to

2160p 4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) is the dominan ...

(4K) in 2019 from the original

35mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

and released on YouTube, while retaining its original URL and upload date of January 6, 2010. On 17 February 2020, the music video reached one billion views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Prior to that date, only four songs from the 20th century had reached that elusive mark ("

November Rain "November Rain" is a song by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Written by the band's lead vocalist Axl Rose, it was released as a single in 1992 from their third studio album, ''Use Your Illusion I'' (1991). "November Rain" peaked ...

" and "

Sweet Child o' Mine "Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses. It appears on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction''. In the United States, the song was released in June 1988 as the album's third single, topping the ''Billboard'' ...

" by

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

, "

Smells Like Teen Spirit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled ''Neve ...

" by

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

, and "

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack ...

" by

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

) — making "Take On Me" the fifth video from that time period to do so, and the first

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n act to achieve this.

Plot

The video's main theme is a romantic fantasy narrative. It begins with a montage of pencil drawings in a comic-book style representing motorcycle

sidecar A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...

racing, in which the hero (Morten Harket) is pursued by two opponents ( Philip Jackson and Alfie Curtis). It then cuts to a scene in a cafe, in which a young woman (

Bunty Bailey Therese "Bunty" Bailey (born 23 May 1964) is an English former model, dancer and actress. Bunty started her career as a dancer in the dance group '' Hot Gossip'' in the early 1980s. She became known as the girl in the music videos of a-ha's singl ...

) is reading the comic book. As the woman reads, the waitress brings her coffee and the bill. The comic's hero, after winning the race, seemingly winks at the woman from the page. His pencil-drawn hand suddenly reaches out of the comic book, inviting the woman into it. Once inside, she, too, appears in the pencil-drawn form as he sings to her and introduces her to his black-and-white world which features a sort of looking-glass portal where people and objects look real on one side and pencil-drawn on the other. Back in the cafe, the waitress returns to find the woman missing. Believing the customer left without paying the bill, she angrily crumples the comic book and throws it into a bin. This causes the hero's two opposing racers to reappear as villains, one of them armed with a large

pipe wrench A pipe wrench is any of several types of wrench that are designed to turn threaded pipe and pipe fittings for assembly (tightening) or disassembly (loosening). The Stillson wrench, or Stillson-pattern wrench, is the usual form of pipe wrench, e ...

. The racers smash the looking glass with the pipe wrench, trapping the woman in the comic book. The hero punches one of the thugs aside and retreats with the woman into a maze of paper. Arriving at a dead end, he tears a hole in the paper wall so that the woman can escape as the menacing opposing racers close in on him and they raise their pipe wrench to his face. The woman, now back in the real world and found lying beside the bin to the surprise of cafe guests and staff, retrieves the comic from the bin and runs home where she attempts to smooth out the creases to learn what happens next. The next panel shows the hero, lying seemingly lifeless, and the woman begins to cry. However, he then wakes up and tries to break out of his comic-book frames. At the same time, his image appears in the woman's hallway, seemingly torn between real and comic form, hurling himself repeatedly left-and-right against the walls as he attempts to shatter his two-dimensional barrier. (This scene is largely patterned after a climactic scene in the 1980 film ''

Altered States ''Altered States'' is a 1980 American science fiction body horror film directed by Ken Russell and based on the novel of the same name by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. The film was adapted from Chayefsky's 1978 novel and is his f ...

''.) He escapes from the comic book by becoming human and stands up. Smiling, the woman runs towards him. The story is concluded in the opening of " The Sun Always Shines on T.V." music video.

Awards

At the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, the video for "Take On Me" won six awards— Best New Artist in a Video, Best Concept Video, Most Experimental Video, Best Direction in a Video, Best Special Effects in a Video, and Viewer's Choice—and was nominated for two others,

Best Group Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Group (also known as the MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video) is given to recording artists at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). The award was introduced at the inaugural ceremony in 1984 by vocalis ...

and Video of the Year. It was also nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Video at the 13th American Music Awards in 1986. The second music video was produced by Limelight Productions. The crew of the video were director

, producer Simon Fields, cinematographer

Oliver Stapleton Oliver David Whiteside Stapleton (born 12 April 1948), BSC is an English cinematographer. Life and career He graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1970 with a degree in psychology and from the National Film and Television School (NFT ...

, editor Richard Simpson from Rushes Film Editing,Laurent Labuche: ''A-ha, la vérité sur un groupe de légende''. Paris 2003, p. 47 and animators

Michael Patterson Michael Patterson may refer to: *Michael Patterson (animator), American director and animator, creator of MC Skat Kat *Michael Patterson (English footballer) (1905 – after 1931) *Michael Patterson (Australian footballer) (1941–2002), AFL player ...

and Candace Reckinger.

Influence

The music video and song have often been referred to in cover versions, films, TV programmes and video games. The ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'' episode " Breaking Out Is Hard to Do" includes a licensed, re-edited version of the video.

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

created a television advertisement inspired by the video. The video was also one of the first to be made into a so-called

literal music video A literal music video, also called a literal video version, is a satirical remix of an official music video clip in which the lyrics have been replaced with lyrics that describe the visuals in the video. Literal video versions are usually based o ...

.} The visuals of the video were used as an homage for

Paramore Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...

's music video for " Caught in the Middle". An incomplete list of pop-culture references can be found below.

Chart performance

"Take On Me" was originally released in 1984, mixed by Tony Mansfield, but failed to make an impact in the United Kingdom. This release peaked at no. 3 in Norway but failed to reach audiences abroad. The group re-recorded the song with the help of producer Alan Tarney, releasing the new version in 1985. In the United States, Warner Bros. invested in the revolutionary second video for "Take On Me", which used Tarney's version of the song. The new video was released to dance clubs and television a month before the record was available in stores or played on the radio. Wide exposure on

helped propel the single to the top of ''Billboards Hot 100, reaching number one in the issue dated 19 October 1985 (its fifteenth week on the chart). It remained on the chart for twenty-seven weeks, and ranked ten in the 1985 year-end chart. As of June 2014, the song has sold 1,463,000 digital copies in the US after it became available for download in the digital era. "Take On Me" was released for the third time in the United Kingdom in September 1985. The record debuted on the

at no. 55 and in late October reached no. 2, where it remained for three consecutive weeks, held off the top spot by Britain's biggest single of the year,

Jennifer Rush Jennifer Rush (born Heidi Stern; September 28, 1960) is an American pop and rock singer. She achieved success during the mid-1980s with several singles and studio albums including the million-selling single " The Power of Love", which she co-w ...

's " The Power of Love". On 14 August 2020 it was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI). In Norway, A-ha's native country, "Take On Me" re-entered the

VG-lista VG-lista is a Norwegian record chart. It is presented weekly in the newspaper '' VG''. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continents around the world. The data are collected by Nie ...

singles chart, reaching a new peak of number one, a year after it was first released. The single was largely successful elsewhere, reaching the top of the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

for nine weeks, topping the singles charts in 26 countries, including Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland, and reaching the top three in France and number two in Ireland.

In popular culture

The song's popularity has resulted in tributes and mostly visual parodies since its release. The song appeared in the 1997 film ''

Grosse Pointe Blank ''Grosse Pointe Blank'' is a 1997 American black comedy action film directed by George Armitage from a screenplay by Tom Jankiewicz, D. V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink and John Cusack. It stars Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin and Dan Aykroyd and follo ...

''. Also in 2005, the song is featured in the ninth episode of season 4, titled " Breaking Out is Hard to Do", of ''

''. When

Lois Lois is a common English name from the New Testament. Paul the Apostle mentions Lois, the pious grandmother of Saint Timothy in the Second Epistle to Timothy (commending her for her faith in 2 Timothy 1:5). The name was first used by English C ...

asks

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

to have a carton of milk, an animated hand invites Chris in and pulls him in as the song's intro starts to play. Once inside the animated pencil world, the group leader of a-ha, Morten Harket, sings the chorus. Like in the music video, two men are chasing them both. When Chris and Harket start running away from them to a dead end, Chris pushes against the wall, crashing behind a tray of eggs. In the 2012 series finale of the TV show ''

Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...

'', Jeff and Lester play the song in order to stop a bomb from detonating in a concert hall. In 2013, the BBC did a visual parody of the music video for BBC Children in Need. To help promote the video, it features cameos from

Sinitta Sinitta Malone (born 19 October 1963), known mononymously as Sinitta, is an American-born British singer, actress and television personality. She initially found commercial success in the mid-1980s with the single "So Macho" and had several ot ...

The Hairy Bikers The Hairy Bikers are collectively David Myers and Si King. The pair of British celebrity chefs have presented numerous television shows, mostly for the BBC but also for the Good Food channel, that combine cooking with a motorcycling trav ...

Cheryl Fergison Cheryl Fergison (born 27 August 1965) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Heather Trott in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' a role in which she starred in from 2007 until 2012. Career After training at Rose Bruford ...

Sophie Raworth Sophie Jane Raworth () (born 15 May 1968) is an English journalist, newsreader and broadcaster working for the BBC. She is a senior newsreader and is one of the main presenters of BBC News (mainly ''BBC News at Six'' and ''BBC News at Ten''). S ...

and

Warwick Davis Warwick Ashley Davis (born 3 February 1970) is an English actor. He played the title character in ''Willow'' (1988) and the ''Leprechaun'' film series (1993–2003), several characters in the ''Star Wars'' film series (1983–2019), most nota ...

. In the same year,

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

released the single "

Feel This Moment "Feel This Moment" is a song by the American rapper Pitbull, featuring American singer Christina Aguilera. The song was released on February 22, 2013, as the fourth single from the album by Mr. 305, Polo Grounds Music and RCA Records ''Global Warm ...

", featuring

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

, which interpolates the synth riff of "Take On Me". In the 2017, season 3 episode of The Leftovers, "G'day Melbourne," the song features prominently at various points, including in its original version during the episode credits. In one of the scenes of the 2018 movie ''

Deadpool 2 ''Deadpool 2'' is a 2018 American superhero comedy film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the sequel to ''Deadpool'' (2016) and the eleventh installment overall in the ''X-Men'' film series. T ...

'', in which Wade Wilson (alias ''Deadpool'') and his fiancée Vanessa meet again, an acoustic version of the song plays. In the 2018 video game ''

Just Cause 4 ''Just Cause 4'' is a 2018 action-adventure game developed by Avalanche Studios and published by Square Enix's European subsidiary. It is the fourth game in the ''Just Cause'' series and the sequel to 2015's ''Just Cause 3'' and was released f ...

'', there is an

easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...

that pays tribute to the song's music video, which can be found on a half-built building in a town located on the Solis Island, west of Paso Ventoso. Going down to the second floor of the building, parts of the world will change to resemble pencil sketches on white paper, similar to the

of the song. In a 2020 episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' titled "

The 7 Beer Itch "The 7 Beer Itch" is the fifth episode of the The Simpsons (season 32), thirty-second season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 689th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox ...

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

realizes that he has romantic feelings for a character called Lily; "the two look into each other's eyes in a psychedelic mix of animated styles." It includes a rotoscope-style segment that references the music video of the song. In the 2020 game ''

The Last of Us Part II ''The Last of Us Part II'' is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Set five years after ''The Last of Us'' (2013), the game focuses on two playable charac ...

'', when Ellie finds a guitar in Seattle, she sings the song while playing the guitar. The song was later used in the official trailer for the ''Last of Us'' television show which is based on the game from 2013. In the 2019, season 4 finale of '' The Magicians'', the cast sings the song in a style of a hymn to honor their deceased friend. In the 2021 holiday season, an

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

TV commercial has a family called "The Handbell Hammerschteins" playing the opening riff on handbells. In 2022, in season 3 of the Japanese animated series Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, a modified version of the song and its animation style was featured on the intro of episode 11. In this scene, Kaguya was looking onto a poster then Miyuki's hands invites her inside.

Track listings

7": MCA / MCA-9146 United Kingdom (1984) # "Take On Me" (Original version) – 3:18 # "And You Tell Me" – 1:48 * Track 1 is produced by Tony Mansfield and remixed by John Ratcliff with A-ha. 12": MCA / MCA-9146T United Kingdom (1984) # "Take On Me" (Long version) – 3:46 # "And You Tell Me" – 1:48 # "Stop! And Make Your Mind Up" – 2:57 * Track 1 is produced by Tony Mansfield and remixed by John Ratcliff. 7": MCA / MCA-9006 United Kingdom (1985) # "Take On Me" (Single version) – 3:49 # "Love Is Reason" – 3:04 * Track 1 is produced by Alan Tarney. * Track 1 is the same version as the album version. 12": MCA / MCA-9006T United Kingdom (1985) # "Take On Me" (Extended version) – 4:50 # "Love Is Reason" (LP version) – 3:04 # "Take On Me" (Single version) – 3:49 * Track 1 & 3 are produced by Alan Tarney. * Track 3 is the same version as the album version. 7": MCA. / MCA-29011 United States (1985) # "Take On Me" – 3:46 # "Love Is Reason" – 3:04 * Track 1 is produced by Alan Tarney. * Track 2 is produced by John Ratcliff with A-ha. 12": Warner Bros. / PRO-A-2291 (Promo) United States (1985) # "Take On Me" (Long version) – 4:47 (a.k.a. "Extended Version") # "Take On Me" (Single version) – 3:46 * Track 1 & 2 are produced by Alan Tarney.

Credits and personnel

– lead vocals *

– synthesisers, backing vocals *

– guitars, synthesizers, drum programming, backing vocals *Neill King –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

(1984 version) *

– production * John Ratcliff - production and re-mixing (1984 version) *

Barry Grint Barry Stephen Grint (born April 1959) is an English mastering engineer and member of the mastering group of the Music Producers Guild (MPG). Grint has worked on over 20 UK Number One records and more than 100 UK Top Ten hits. Projects for art ...

– mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

''MTV Unplugged'' appearance

In 2017, A-ha appeared on the television series ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

'' and played and recorded acoustic versions of many of their popular songs for the album ''

MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice ''MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice'' is a live album by the Norwegian band a-ha, released on 6 October 2017 as part of the ''MTV Unplugged'' series. It was recorded live at the Harbour Hall at Ocean Sound Recordings in Giske, Norway, on 22 and ...

'' in

Giske Giske is an island municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality lies north-northwest of the town of Ålesund in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The municipal centre is Valderhaugstrand. Other population centres i ...

, Norway, including "Take On Me".

Notable cover versions

Reel Big Fish version

In 1998,

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. (sometimes spelled skacore) is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardc ...

band

Reel Big Fish Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Orange County, California. The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold-certified album ''Turn the Radio Off''. Soon af ...

covered "Take On Me" for the film ''

BASEketball ''BASEketball'' is a 1998 American sports comedy film co-written and directed by David Zucker and starring ''South Park'' creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with Yasmine Bleeth, Jenny McCarthy, Robert Vaughn, Ernest Borgnine, and Dian B ...

''. The song was later released on the ''

'' soundtrack and the international version of their album ''

Why Do They Rock So Hard? ''Why Do They Rock So Hard?'' is the third full-length studio album by the ska punk band Reel Big Fish. This is the only Reel Big Fish studio album where the band line-up has not changed from the previous album. Aaron Barrett has said in two i ...

'' The band also performs the song at concerts. Reel Big Fish released a video clip for "Take On Me", directed by Jeff Moore, and features the band playing the song while walking down an aisle in the stadium, and playing a game of BASEketball interlaced with clips from the film. An alternative video for the song's international release that contained only the stadium aisle footage was also released. Reel Big Fish also included a live version of the song in their live album ''

Our Live Album Is Better than Your Live Album The following is a complete discography of the band Reel Big Fish. Studio albums Live albums Compilations EPs *''Keep Your Receipt EP'' - July 1, 1997, Mojo Records/Jive Records *''Sold Out EP'' - 2002, Mojo Records/Jive Records (#62 UK) *' ...

'' and live DVD's ''You're All in This Together'' and '' Reel Big Fish Live! In Concert!''

Track listing

*CD single #"Take On Me" – 3:02 #"Alternative Baby" – 2:56 #"Why Do All the Girls Think They're Fat?" – 2:22

Personnel

*Aaron Barrett –

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

, guitar, lead vocals, synthesizer *Grant Barry –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

* Andrew Gonzales – drums *

Scott Klopfenstein Scott Allen "Scotty" Klopfenstein is an American musician and a former member of the band Reel Big Fish. He sings and plays trumpet, guitar, and Keyboard instrument, keyboard. Before joining Reel Big Fish, Klopfenstein played trumpet in Nuckle ...

– celesta, keyboards, trumpet, vocals *Dan Regan – screams, trombone *

Tavis Werts Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Orange County, California. The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s during the Third wave ska, third wave of ska with the release of the gold-certified album ''Turn the Radi ...

–

flügelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

, trumpet *Matt Wong – bass guitar, vocals

A1 version

On 28 August 2000, British-Norwegian boy band A1 released a cover of "Take On Me" for their second studio album, '' The A List''. Despite being panned by music critics, who called it a "lame cover version" and a "note for note copy" that seems like "a re-release of the original"; it was commercially successful, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and Norway.

Music video

The music video was directed by Stuart Gosling. It features A1 entering the computer world by putting on

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

glasses after finding out about a deadly

computer virus A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a compu ...

. After flying for a distance, they find the virus and destroy it, saving the world. The video was inspired by the 1982 live-action

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action-adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer a ...

''.

Track listings

* UK CD1 # "Take On Me" – 3:31 # "

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

Medley (I Feel Fine / She Loves You)" – 3:20 # "I Got Sunshine" – 3:41 # A1 multimedia trailers * UK CD2 # "Take On Me" (UK 2K Mix) – 3:25 # "Take On Me" (Metro extended club mix) – 6:02 # "Take On Me" (D-Bop Saturday Night Mix) – 7:52 # "Take On Me" (video) * UK cassette single # "Take On Me" – 3:31 # "I Got Sunshine" – 3:41

Charts

Weekly charts Year-end charts

Certifications

Kygo remix

On 27 August 2015, fellow Norwegian musician

Kygo Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll (born 11 September 1991), known professionally as Kygo (), is a Norwegian DJ and music producer. He garnered international attention with his December 2013 remix of the track "I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran and his December 201 ...

released a remixed version via

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

to help promote the rollout of the

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

streaming service. His version foregoes the iconic keyboard riffs and instead features a new one. The style of his version has been described as

tropical house Tropical house, also known as trop house, is a subgenre of house music, and a derivation of tropical music, with elements of dancehall and Balearic house. Artists of the genre are often featured at various summer festivals such as Tomorrowland. T ...

. As of April 2021, the song has amassed more than 15 million listens on YouTube and 36 million listens on Spotify. The remix preserves Harket's original vocals (albeit with processing effects and a different arrangement).

D. A. Wallach version

A cover by D. A. Wallach was featured in the film ''La La Land''. Wallach makes an appearance as the lead singer of a 1980s pop cover band that features Sebastian Wilder, one of the film's two protagonists. The cover was released as part of the album '' La La Land: The Complete Musical Experience''.

Weezer version

American rock band

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

included a cover version of the song in their 2019 covers compilation ''

The Teal Album ''Weezer'', also known as the ''Teal Album'' or just ''Teal'', is the twelfth studio album by the American rock band Weezer. It was released digitally on January 24, 2019, through Crush Music and Atlantic Records, with a retail release on March ...

''. An accompanying music video was released on 12 February 2019, in which rock band Calpurnia—led by frontman

Finn Wolfhard Finn Wolfhard (born December 23, 2002) is a Canadian actor and musician. He gained recognition for playing Mike Wheeler in the Netflix series ''Stranger Things'' (2016–present). His film roles include Richie Tozier in the film adaptation of ...

("Mike" in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

original series ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Prod ...

''), here, playing a younger version of Weezer's own frontman,

Rivers Cuomo Rivers Cuomo ( ; born June 13, 1970) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer. Cuomo was raised in a number of Buddhist communities in the Northeast U.S. until the age of 10, wh ...

. The video, set in 1985 in the "Cuomo Residence", shows Wolfhard (as Cuomo) and the rest of Calpurnia, lip-syncing to the song while "rehearsing" it in the residence's living room. Near the end of the video, Wolfhard is shown sitting at a desk in his bedroom, scribbling possible names for his new band on a page of a notebook (the name ''Weezer'' is shown as option No.3). He then turns the page to draw what would become Weezer's band logo. The video also features some scenes of Calpurnia playing, filmed with the rotoscoping technique that made the original A-ha video famous. The cover version, set one key lower than the original version (as in

A-flat major A-flat major (or the key of A-flat) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats. The A-flat major scale is: : Its relative minor is F minor. Its parallel minor, A-flat minor, ...

), was also used in the closing scene of '' The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run'', wherein Bikini Bottom was turned into a "sea snail refuge".

Lucas & Steve adaptation

On 11 October 2019, the Dutch DJs

Lucas & Steve Lucas & Steve is a Dutch DJ duo formed by Lucas de Wert and Steven Jansen from Maastricht. History The duo was formed in 2010 and joined Spinnin' Records in December 2014. They released many singles on the sub-label Spinnin' Deep. In 2014, t ...

released "Perfect", a single that greatly adopts on the music of "Take On Me". The single features on the vocals of the Dutch ''X Factor'' fifth season winner

Haris Alagic Haris Alagic professionally known as Haris, is a Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist of Bosnian descent. He started his career in 2013 by winning the fifth season of Dutch series of the ''X Factor''. Career ''X Factor'' Alagic won the Dutch ...

known by the mononym Haris. Released on

Spinnin' Records Spinnin' Records is a Dutch electronic music record label founded in 1999 by Eelko van Kooten and Roger de Graaf. In September 2017, Warner Music Group acquired Spinnin' Records for over $100 million. Background Van Kooten is the son of former ...

in the EDM and deephouse style, it was accompanied by an official music video.Spinnin' Records YouTube: Lucas & Steve - "Perfect" (feat. Haris) [Official Music Video]
/ref> The song was greatly successful on the Dutch Singles Chart as well as on the Polish Airplay Chart and also appeared on the

Tipparade The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

of the Belgian charts. There was a successful "Perfect (LUM!X Remix)" released. Track listing #"Perfect" (2:56) pinnin' Records#"Perfect" (LUM!X Remix) (3:07) pinnin' Records#"Perfect" (Club Mix) (4:51) pinnin' Records #"Perfect" (Gabry Ponte Remix) (3:46) pinnin' Records Charts

References