Take On Me

Pencil-sketch music video

"Take On Me" is the 1985 synth-pop hit by Norwegian band a-ha, known for its distinctive keyboard riff and Morten Harket's falsetto vocals.

The song's groundbreaking music video, blending pencil-sketch animation with live action, became iconic on MTV and helped define 1980s pop aesthetics.

The phrase itself suggests accepting a romantic challenge: I'll be gone in a day or two.

Related
  • ahaExclamation of realization
  • synthesizerElectronic sound-generating instrument
  • 1985Specific calendar year
  • MTVYouth-oriented video network
  • pencilGraphite writing instrument

sketch · rotoscope · animation · pencil sketch · comic · Norway · new wave · eighties · music video · chase · newspaper · romance · love song · reach · hand · pull · breakthrough · iconic

Categories
Opposites
production style

Take On Meunplugged

Disconnected from power

Blackbird · Wish You Were Here · lo-fi · stripped-down · acoustic ballad

musical energy/mood

Take On MeBlack

African descent identifier

funeral dirge · ballad

vocal approach

Take On MeRing of Fire

Pacific tectonic boundary zone

Johnny Cash · Old Man River · Sixteen Tons · spoken word · Leonard Cohen

Family

take, takes, taken, taking, taker, takers, uptake, intake, overtake

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Positive · Everyday, not technical · Rated G