In the year two-thousand and four-and-twenty, word spread across the realms of music of a most wondrous revival — the Norwegian minstrels known as A-Ha did take their immortal hymn “Take On Me” and breathe upon it new life, wrought in the softer tones of the acoustic.
Where once the song did soar with bright thunder of synthesizers and swift tempo, now it was stripped bare, gentle as twilight upon still waters. In this form, the words and melody shone as pure flame, unburdened by adornment, so that the listener might drink deeply of its true spirit.
This quiet marvel has reached near unto ninety million hearts through the glass window called YouTube, where pilgrims gather from every land to behold its beauty. There, countless souls have been lulled into calm, finding in its softness a balm for weary days.
Yet let not the people forget whence this song first sprang. In the autumn month of October, in the year nineteen hundred and four-and-eighty, “Take On Me” first touched the winds of the airwaves. Crafted by the hands of A-Ha, guided by Tony Mansfield, then reshaped by John Ratcliff, and at last perfected by Alan Tarney, it stood as jewel upon their first album. Though at first the climb was fraught with trial, the hymn soon ascended to the second place upon the noble charts of Britain, in the year nineteen hundred and five-and-eighty, securing A-Ha’s name among the eternal voices of song.
Thus is the tale of “Take On Me”: born in the fire of the eighties, crowned in the halls of history, and reborn once more in humble acoustic garb. It is proof that a true melody, like a river, may ever change its course yet never lose its power to move the soul.
