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eastofthesuns · 4 years

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okay! for my first fun musical post i’m gonna talk about my top twenty songs by a-ha, which i ranked using this sorter! (that i made, everybody go nuts. i’ll make one for yall if you got requests)

20: we’re looking for the whales off the album scoundrel days

this song has such a cool straightforward beat! it starts with a drumbeat that reverbs a little if you get what i mean, and then almost immediately starts in on the vocals. i really like how each time they use the word ‘girl’, it gets a bit faster

19: move to memphis off the album memorial beach

move to memphis is super cool. it starts off with a kick drum, followed by a really low synth and a deep guitar chord. “you were the one that taught me better...” is a really cool line, just from the way morten sings it, real low and gruff sounding

18: between your mama and yourself off the album memorial beach

this song is absolutely sick, and i’m surprised it didn’t rank higher. “the thing is babe...” i really vibe with the bass in this song, it really carries the song on, chugging away through the whole thing. i REALLY love the bridge where almost all the instrumentation drops out.

17: locust off the album memorial beach

this song is fuckin’ haunting. i’m not kidding. it starts with just a low riff, then some really slow cymbals (i think) kick in. locust is a real slow ballad, and i think about this song quite a lot. i listen to it when i have a big change in my life. “i know we’ll break it down...” “oh weeping eye, oh creepin’ sky...”

16: love is reason off the album hunting high and low

this song is super overshadowed by a lot of the other songs on this album. (take on me i’m looking at you). the high pitched synths really make this song. “love is reason enough.”

15: this alone is love off the album stay on these roads

i looove this one. the way morten’s vocals have that slight echo to them.. oof. “and all of us who are traveling by trapdoors...” the part after that line where the song gets slightly more intense is genius. i also really vibe with that minor key echoy synth. a song i listen to when i gotta have a good cry cause that shit’s healthy sometimes!!

14: hurry home off the album stay on these roads

this song is a fun one. it doesn’t sound that way when it starts, but when it speeds up... WOW. “hurry home, freight train runnin.’ jesus christ a fucking bop. “no more runnin’ (he’s doin’ right!”

13: forest fire off the album cast in steel

okay the SYNTHS IN THE BEGINNING. and then it just zooms straight into piano which then drops into guitar. “watch it flare up, ooooo... we are flames in the forest fire...” the higher vocals on this one really get me, and they show off morten’s range really well, too.

12: stay on these roads off the album stay on these roads

another ballad. this one makes me so fucking sad at the beginning and as it goes on i always feel like i’ll get through whatever rough patch i’m going through. morten really uses his high pitched vocals in this one. “stay on these roads, we shall meet, i know...” the ending chorus is fantastic and i urge you to listen to at least that part.

11: here i stand and face the rain off the album hunting high and low

the female vocalist they used on the beginning of this track kicks me in the face every time. then it goes into a nice classic synthy a-ha bop. “help me, i need your love, don’t walk away, the dark scares me so...”

10: take on me off the album hunting high and low

do i really need to talk about this one? classic synths, catch beat, that’s all. “tak on me, take me on”

9: (seemingly) nonstop july off the album east of the sun, west of the moon

ah, this song. the palm muted guitar at the beginning that slowly gets joined by morten’s vocals, very pleasing to listen to. a-ha really don’t do many acoustic tracks like this, and i wish they would, because this shit is phenomenal. “walking by strangers, stranger than me...” a-ha are really good at writing lyrics that i have to sit on and puzzle over and i love the challenge.

8: forever not yours off the album lifelines

at the time of writing this post, lifelines has just recently had a remaster and been rereleased on platforms, and boy the drums in this song... wow. “i’ll soon be gone now, forever not yours.”

7: memorial beach off the album memorial beach

a nice slow piano ballad that makes me think of that piano bit from the movie up. this song also makes me cry. i listen to this one when i feel stuck and need to feel better about life. “so we walk down to memorial beach, where things began...” morten’s vocals on this one are a little rougher and i love that shit morten please do more of that in your solo stuff.

6: rolling thunder off the album east of the sun, west of the moon

i vibe with the fact that they start this song with the sounds of a thunderstorm and how the thunder kind of makes the beat. i’m pretty sure this one is in a major key, so it’s nice and warm sounding. “if your world should crumble...” the chorus hits different on this one, it is just a nice feel good song.

5: did anyone approach you? off the album lifelines

the synths on this track make me think of a video game and morten’s voice is really whispery in the verses, then he kinda belts in the chorus. the chorus is a line of questions that are left unanswered and the steady beat is really pleasing to listen to. the whole song sort of feels like a rushed interrogation. “did anybody feel you? did anybody deal you? did anybody make you do some things now? did anyone approach you? did anybody coach you? did anybody tell you what to say now? hopeless, it's not hopeless, doubtful, but not hopeless at all.” the second chorus is another line of unanswered questions, while the verses are morten telling the viewer things he’s observed about them. very fun song.

4: you’ll end up crying off the album stay on these roads

i think the reason this song is so high is because of how different it is, there’s a ton of strings and a horn, plus the overdubbed vocals makes it super interesting.

3: the living daylights off the album stay on these roads

this one is VERY fun. i tend to put this one on when i gotta hype myself up. “heyeyeyey,the living daylights!!” i really like the drums in this one

2: east of the sun off the album east of the sun, west of the moon

another acoustic track!! this one is probably the saddest, in my opinion. morten’s vocals on the chorus REALLY shine. the rest of the song he uses a really deep voice, and in the final chorus he really hits those high notes. stunning. fabulous, ethereal. plus that fucking key change, HELLO!! “ oh, never going to get there later, you know I want to get there soon, never going to get there, baby, onn a desert road to home.”

and finally,

1: living a boy’s adventure tale off the album hunting high and low

this song fucking hits every emotional chord there is. i can listen to it angry, sad, happy, whatever. it is their best track, i love it dearly. the beginning is just that “aahhh....” echoy vocal that sets the key for the whole song, jesus. the high note towards the end fucking KILLS ME every time. if you listen to one song off this list, make it this one. “i've been lost in so many places, seeking love in so many faces...” i think this one trumps the rest because i relate to it the most. i’m always looking for someone to care about me, always looking for more. this song helped me realize that i can be comfortable with being alone, i can get along with myself. nobody is ever going to love me more than i can love myself.

that’s my list. if you’re curious, here is the corresponding spotify playlist!

#a-ha #morten harket #paul waaktar-savoy #magne furuholmen #music #1980s #eastofthesuns

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