| "Take On Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Single release of first recording | ||||
| Single bya-ha | ||||
| B-side | "And You Tell Me" | |||
| Released | 19 October 1984 (1984-10-19) | |||
| Studio | RG Jones, London[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | ||||
| A-ha singles chronology | ||||
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| "Take On Me" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single bya-ha | |
| from the albumHunting High and Low | |
| B-side | "Love Is Reason" |
| Released | 5 April 1985 (1985-04-05) (UK) |
| Genre | |
| Length |
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| Producer | |
| Music video | |
| "Take On Me" onYouTube | |
"Take On Me" is a song by the Norwegiansynth-pop banda-ha. The original version, recorded in 1984 and released in October of that year, was produced byTony Mansfield and remixed byJohn Ratcliff. The 1985 international hit version was produced byAlan Tarney for the group's debut studio album,Hunting High and Low (1985). The recording combinessynth-pop 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 theUK Singles Chart in October. In the United States in October 1985, the single toppedBillboard's Hot 100, bolstered by the wide exposure onMTV of directorSteve Barron's innovativemusic video featuring the band in alive-action pencil-sketch animation sequence. The video won six awards and was nominated for two others at the1986 MTV Video Music Awards.
"Take On Me" originated fromPål Waaktaar's andMagne Furuholmen's previous bandBridges, who first composed a number called "Miss Eerie" when they were 15 and 16 years old, but felt too much like a bubblegum ad.[3][4][5] 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.[6] The first take of the song was inspired in part byDoors memberRay Manzarek and his "almost mathematical but very melodic, structured way of playing".[7] Waaktaar considered the song too poppy for their intended dark style, but Furuholmen recalled thinking it was "quite catchy".[6]
Soon after Bridges disbanded, Waaktaar and Furuholmen relocated to London to try to break into the music industry there, but after six months they returned to Norway.[3] They were joined by their school friend, singerMorten Harket, who heard the song and said the keyboard riff had the character of a universal hit sound. The three 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,A-ha returned to London in search of a recording contract.[3] They intended the song to show off Harket's vocal range, which led to his vocals "doing this spiralling thing".[7]
The band moved into an apartment in London and began contacting record companies and publishing houses. After a few meetings with variousA&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.[8] They decided to record new demos, and chose the studio of musician and producerJohn 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 withWarner Bros. Records UK.[8]
The trio met with producer Tony Mansfield, an expert in the use of theFairlight CMI, 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.[8]
The instrumentation included aYamaha DX7 andPPG Wave, with Furuholmen playing the main melody on aRoland Juno-60. ALinnDrumdrum machine was used on the second and third releases, with acousticcymbals andhi-hat overdubbed. Harket sang the lead vocal using aNeumann U 47 microphone as well as aNeve microphone pre-amp and Neve equaliser.[1]
In 2020, former Warner Brothers UK and Reprise executiveAndrew Wickham appeared in A-ha's official anniversary documentaryA-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 likeRoy Orbison? I thought, this is unbelievable."[9]
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, producer Alan Tarney was commissioned to refine the song. The new recording achieved a cleaner and more soaring sound and acoda 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.[8]
Wickham placedA-ha on high priority and applied a lateral strategy with further investment. Ayeroff's co-worker John Beug suggested they should base the video on a student animated short he had seen, called "Commuter", by Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger. DirectorSteve Barron shot and edited the video, where some of the segments were then drawn over by Patterson, while Reckinger did the mattes, creating a revolutionaryrotoscope animatedmusic video which took six months in total to make.[10][11] The single was released in the US one month after the music video, and immediately appeared in theBillboard Hot 100[8] and was a worldwide smash, reaching No. 1 in numerous countries.
AllMusic journalist Tim DiGravina described "Take On Me" as "anew wave classic laced with rushing keyboards, made emotionally resonant thanks to Morten Harket's touching vocal delicacy."[2]
"Take On Me" is asynth-pop song that includes acoustic and electric guitars and keyboards,[12][13] written at atempo of 169 beats per minute.[14] The lyrics are a plea for love[15] and constructed in averse–chorus form with abridge before the final chorus. The song is written in thekey ofA major with achord progression 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 avocal range of over two and a halfoctaves.[14] He sings the lowestpitch in the song, A2 (the tonic), at the beginning of the chorus, on the first syllable of the phrase "Take On Me".[14] As the chorus progresses, Harket's voice hits ever higher notes, reaching afalsetto[12][16][17] and hitting the song's highest note, E5, (the dominant) at the end.[14]Rolling Stone has thus noted the song as "having one of the hardest-to-sing choruses in pop history".[7] A mix of a drum machine, theLinnDrum,[18][19] acoustic guitars, and electronic instrumentation serves as the song'sbacking track.[12]
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.
The second video, directed by film directorSteve Barron, is the far more widely recognised video for the song. It was filmed in 1985 at Kim'scafe, which is located on the corner of Wandsworth Road and Pensbury Place inWandsworth, southwest London, and on a sound stage in London.[20] The cafe scenes feature the English actressBunty Bailey, who became a-ha singer Morton Harket's girlfriend following the shoot.[21] The video used a pencil-sketch animation and live-action combination calledrotoscoping, in which the live-action footage is traced using a frame-by-frame process to give the characters realistic movements.[22][23] Approximately 3,000 frames were rotoscoped, which took 16 weeks to complete.[24][25] The idea of the video was suggested byWarner Bros. executiveJeff Ayeroff, who was pivotal in making "Take on Me" a globally recognised music hit.[26]
The music video was remastered to2160p (4K) in 2019 from the original35mm film and released onYouTube, while retaining its original URL and upload date of 6 January 2010. The remaster also contains new sound effects (revving motorbikes etc.) not featured on the original clip.[27] On 17 February 2020, the music video reached one billion views on YouTube. Prior to that date, only four songs from the 20th century had reached that mark ("November Rain" and "Sweet Child o' Mine" byGuns N' Roses, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" byNirvana, and "Bohemian Rhapsody" byQueen)—making "Take On Me" the fifth video from that time period to do so, and the first Scandinavian act to achieve this.[28][29][30] By 20 September 2024, the music video had received 2 billion views on YouTube, making it the first music video from the 1980s to achieve this milestone.[31][32]
In 2019, Morten Harket and Bunty Bailey reunited at the cafe in Wandsworth where part of the video was shot (known as the Savoy cafe in 2019, and the Turkish Chef Mediterranean Restaurant in 2025), 34 years after the video was made.[21]
The video's main theme is a romantic fantasy narrative.[33] It begins with a montage of pencil drawings in a comic-book style representing motorcyclesidecar racing, in which the hero (Morten Harket) is pursued by two opponents (Philip Jackson andAlfie Curtis).
In a café, a young woman (Bunty Bailey) is reading the comic book depicting the race. As she 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 café, the waitress returns to find the woman missing. Believing the customerleft 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 largepipe wrench. 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. He remains in the comic book as the opposing racers menacingly close in on him. The woman, now back in the real world and found lying beside the trash bin to the surprise and confusion of café guests and staff, retrieves the comic from the bin and runs home.
She attempts to smooth out the creases of the crumpled pages in order to read 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; eventually falling to the floor in his attempts to shatter his two-dimensional barrier. (This scene is largely patterned after a climactic scene in the 1980 filmAltered States.[20]) He escapes from the comic book by becoming human, and as he stands up he breaks into a smile. The woman also smiles as she rushes towards him.
The story is concluded in the opening of "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." music video.[34]
At the1986 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, andViewer's Choice—and was nominated for two others,Best Group Video andVideo of the Year.[35] It was also nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Video at the13th American Music Awards in 1986.[36]
The second music video was produced by Limelight Productions.[24] The crew of the video were directorSteve Barron,[24] producer Simon Fields,[24] cinematographerOliver Stapleton,[37] editor Richard Simpson from Rushes Film Editing,[38] and animatorsMichael Patterson and Candace Reckinger.[38]
The music video and song have often been referred to in cover versions, films, TV programmes and video games. TheFamily Guy episode "Breaking Out Is Hard to Do" includes a licensed, re-edited version of the video.[39]Volkswagen created a television advertisement inspired by the video.[40] The video was also one of the first to be made into a so-calledliteral music video.[41] The visuals of the video were used as an homage forParamore's music video for "Caught in the Middle".[42]
In 2021,Rolling Stone listed "Take On Me" at number 14 on their list of the 100 greatest music videos.[43]
In September 2025, At the @bmi London Awards 2025, a-ha's Take On Me was among the artists recognized for reaching 10 million plays on US radio[44]
"Take On Me", mixed by Tony Mansfield, was originally released in 1984 but failed to make an impact in the United Kingdom.[8] This release peaked at number 3 in Norway[45] but failed to reach audiences abroad.[8][46][47] The group re-recorded the song with the help of producer Alan Tarney,[8][20] releasing the new version in 1985.
In the United States, Warner Bros. invested in the 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.[48] Wide exposure onMTV[46] helped propel the single to the top ofBillboard's Hot 100, reaching number one in the issue dated 19 October 1985 (its fifteenth week on the chart).[49] It remained on the chart for twenty-seven weeks[50] and ranked ten in the 1985 year-end chart.[51] 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.[52] To celebrate 65 years of theHot 100, in 2023Billboard staff ranked the 500 Best Pop Songs that graced the chart since 1958, placing the song at number 26.[53]
"Take On Me" was released for the third time in the United Kingdom in September 1985.[46] The record debuted on theUK Singles Chart at number 55 and in late October reached number 2, where it remained for three consecutive weeks, held off the top spot by Britain's biggest single of the year,Jennifer Rush's "The Power of Love". On 14 August 2020, it was certifiedgold by theBritish Phonographic Industry (BPI).[54]
In Norway, A-ha's native country, "Take On Me" re-entered theVG-lista singles chart, reaching number one a year after it was first released.[55] The single was largely successful elsewhere, reaching the top of theEurochart Hot 100 for nine weeks, topping the singles charts in many countries, including Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland,[56][57][58][59][60] and reaching the top three in France and number two in Ireland.[61][62]
| Region | Date | B-side | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | 19 October 1984 (original version) | "And You Tell Me" | [63] |
| United Kingdom | 5 April 1985 | "Love Is Reason" | [64] |
| United States | 17 June 1985 | [65] | |
| United Kingdom | 16 September 1985 (re-release) | [66] |
7-inch: MCA / MCA-9146 United Kingdom (1984)
12-inch: MCA / MCA-9146T United Kingdom (1984)
7-inch: MCA / MCA-9006 United Kingdom (1985)
12-inch: MCA / MCA-9006T United Kingdom (1985)
7-inch: MCA / MCA-29011 United States (1985)
12-inch: Warner Bros. / PRO-A-2291 (Promo) United States (1985)
Credits adapted fromSound on Sound.[1]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium (BRMA)[104] | Gold | 100,000[104] |
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[105] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[106] | 3× Platinum | 270,000‡ |
| France (SNEP)[104] | Gold | 500,000* |
| Germany (BVMI)[107] | Gold | 500,000^ |
| Italy (FIMI)[104] 1985–1986 sales | Gold | 300,000[104] |
| Italy (FIMI)[108] since 2009 sales | 2× Platinum | 200,000‡ |
| Japan (RIAJ)[109] | Gold | 100,000* |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[110] | 6× Platinum | 180,000‡ |
| Portugal (AFP)[111] | 5× Platinum | 125,000‡ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[112] | 3× Platinum | 180,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[113] Physical | Gold | 500,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[54] Digital sales since 2004 | 5× Platinum | 3,000,000‡ |
| United States Digital | — | 1,463,000[52] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
In 2017, A-ha appeared on the television seriesMTV Unplugged and played and recordedacoustic versions of many of their popular songs for the albumMTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice inGiske, Norway, including "Take On Me".[114]
| "Take On Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byReel Big Fish | ||||
| from the albumBASEketballandWhy Do They Rock So Hard? | ||||
| Released | 1998 (1998) | |||
| Recorded | 1998 | |||
| Genre | Ska punk | |||
| Length | 3:14 | |||
| Label | Mojo | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Reel Big Fish singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Take On Me" onYouTube | ||||
In 1998,ska punk bandReel Big Fish covered "Take On Me" for the filmBASEketball. The song was later released on theBASEketball soundtrack and the international version of their albumWhy Do They Rock So Hard?[115][116] The band also performs the song at concerts.[117] Reel Big Fish released a video clip for "Take On Me", directed by Jeff Moore,[118] 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 albumOur Live Album Is Better than Your Live Album and live DVD'sYou're All in This Together andReel Big Fish Live! In Concert![119]
| "Take On Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byA1 | ||||
| from the albumThe A List | ||||
| B-side | "I Got Sunshine" | |||
| Released | 28 August 2000 (2000-08-28) | |||
| Length | 3:46 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriters |
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| A1 singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Take On Me" onYouTube | ||||
On 28 August 2000,[120] British-Norwegian boy bandA1 released a cover of "Take On Me" for their second studio album,The A List.[121] Despite being panned by music critics, who called it a "lame cover version"[122] and a "note for note copy" that seems like "a re-release of the original";[123] it was commercially successful, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and Norway.[124][125]
The music video was directed by Stuart Gosling. It features A1 entering a computer world by putting onvirtual reality glasses after finding out about a deadlycomputer virus. After flying for a distance, they find the virus and destroy it, saving humanity.[126] The video was inspired by the 1982 live-actionscience fiction filmTron.[127]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Norway (IFPI Norway)[149] | Gold | |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[150] | Silver | 200,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
On 27 August 2015, fellow Norwegian musicianKygo released a remixed version viaiTunes to help promote the rollout of theApple Music streaming service. His version foregoes the iconic keyboard riffs and instead features a new one.[151] The style of his version has been described astropical house.[152] 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).
In the 2015 video gameMetal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, a cassette of "Take On Me" can be obtained as a secret collectible.
A version of this song was performed on the series finale, "Chuck vs. The Goodbye", of the television showChuck which aired on 27 January 2012. The song was performed byScott Krinsky andVik Sahay of "Jeffster" – a fictional band consisting of their characters Jeffrey Barnes ("Jeff-", for Jeffrey), portrayed by Krinsky, and Lester Patel ("-ster", for Lester), portrayed by Sahay.
A cover byD. A. Wallach was featured in the filmLa 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.[153] The cover was released as part of the albumLa La Land: The Complete Musical Experience.[154]
American rock bandWeezer included a cover version of the song in their 2019 covers compilationThe Teal Album. An accompanying music video was released on 12 February 2019, in which rock bandCalpurnia—led by frontmanFinn Wolfhard ("Mike" in theNetflix original seriesStranger Things) who also plays a younger version of Weezer's own frontman,Rivers Cuomo—performs the cover. 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; the video features camera work that pays homage to the original video by a-ha.[155] 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 nameWeezer 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.[156] The cover version, set a semitone lower than the original version (i.e.A-flat major), was also used in the closing scene ofThe SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, whereinBikini Bottom was turned into a "sea snail refuge".
On 11 October 2019, the Dutch DJsLucas & Steve released "Perfect", a single that greatly adopts on the music of "Take On Me". The single features on the vocals of the DutchX Factor fifth season winnerHaris Alagic known by the mononym Haris. Released onSpinnin' Records in the EDM and deephouse style, it was accompanied by an official music video.[157] The song was greatly successful on the Dutch Singles Chart as well as on the Polish Airplay Chart and also appeared on theTipparade of the Belgian charts. There was a successful "Perfect (LUM!X Remix)" released.
In a scene in the video gameThe Last of Us Part II (2020), an acoustic version of "Take On Me" is played, sung byAshley Johnson. In the second season episode ofHBO’sThe Last of Us,Day One, an acoustic version of the song is sung byBella Ramsey.
The song "Feel This Moment", performed by American rapperPitbull featuring American singerChristina Aguilera, samples the instrumental riff of "Take On Me".[158]
The debut single ofK-pop boygroupZerobaseone, "In Bloom", samples "Take On Me".[159]
Upon release, the song "Blinding Lights" bythe Weeknd has been frequently compared to "Take On Me",[160] including by both the Weeknd[161] and Morten Harket himself,[162] although the song contains no direct samples or cover elements.
The song is also heard in the Universal PicturesDespicable Me 3 &The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
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