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Hunting High and Low

A-Ha

℗ 1985 Warner Brothers Records 7599 25300

A-Ha • 1985 • Hunting High and Low

Anyone who dismissed a-ha as a one-hit wonder must have missed out on the band's fine debut, Hunting High and Low. Though the band spawned many further hits across the rest of the world, "Take on Me" exploded in the States and the group never cracked the top of the charts again. It's a shame, because the album contains a handful of songs that nearly match the manic energy and emotional crack of its big hit. Further, it's a cohesive album with smart pace changeups, and it rarely fails to delight or satisfy a listener's need for a synth pop fix. The opening kick is a huge one: "Take on Me" is a new wave classic laced with rushing keyboards, made emotionally resonant thanks to Morten Harket's touching vocal delicacy. It didn't hurt in the era of MTV that the song's video was a hyperkinetic blend of mind-warping animation and filmed footage with a romantic thriller's heart. Harket's hunky physique and cheekbones also didn't hurt the video's chances at heavy rotation. Getting past that video, "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." is just as thrilling. Starting as a sad ballad, it explodes into something much more, as chugging guitars and operatic synths keep pace with Harket's evocative vocal stylings. If ever a 1980s song qualified as Wall of Sound, "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." would be it. The remainder of the album sees a-ha switching deftly back and forth between dramatic overtures and classic new wave keyboard motifs. "Train of Thought" and "Love Is Reason" are reminiscent of early Depeche Mode or Camouflage, but Harket's rich voice and flair make them purely a-ha. The band explores decidedly European terrain in the theatrical "Hunting High and Low" and dances a pop waltz with the sweet "Living a Boy's Adventure Tale," coming across like a marriage between the Blue Nile and Alphaville. Delightful song snippets "The Blue Sky" and "And You Tell Me" act as frosting on the cake or as glue between the theater and the dancefloor. One can't escape the feeling that Hunting High and Low is a product of the 1980s, but with highs like "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.," and no lows in sight, a-ha's debut is a treat worth relishing. — Tim DiGravina.

Участие в альбоме:

Тексты:

Take on Me

(Pal Waaktaar — Mags — Morten Harket)

We're talking away
I don't know what
I'm to say I'll say it anyway
Today's another day to find you
Shying away
I'll be coming for your love, OK?

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two

So needless to say
I'm odds and ends
But that's me stumbling away
Slowly learning that life is OK.
Say after me
It's no better to be safe than sorry

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two

Oh the things that you say
Is it live or
Just to play my worries away
You're all the things I've got to remember
You're shying away
I'll be coming for you anyway

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two

Train of Thought

(Pal Waaktaar)

He likes to have the morning paper's
Crossword solved
Words go up words come down
Forwards backwards twisted round
He grabs a pile of letters from a small suitcase
Disappears into an office
It's another working day

And his thoughts are full of strangers
Corridors of naked lights
And his mind once full of reason
Now there's more than meets the eye
Oh, a stranger's face he carries with him

He likes a bit of reading on the subway home
A distant radio whistling tunes that nobody knows
At home a house awaits him, He unlocks the door
Thinking once there was a sea here
But there never was a door

And his thoughts are full of strangers
And his eyes to numb to see
And nothing that he knows of
And nowhere where he's been
Was ever quite like this
And his thoughts…

And at heart
He's full of strangers
Dodging on his train of thought
Train of thought

Hunting High and Low

(Pal Waaktaar)

Here I am
And within the reach of my hands
She's sound asleep and she's sweeter now
Than the wildest dream could have seen her
And I Watch her slipping away
But I know I'll be hunting high and low

High
There's no end to the lengths I'll go to
Hunting high and low
High
There's no end to lengths I'll go

To find her again
Upon this my dreams are depending
Through the dark
I sense the pounding of her heart
Next to mine
She's the sweetest love I could find
So I guess I'll be hunting high and low

High
There's no end to the lengths I'll go to
Hunting High and Low
High
Do you know what it means to love

I'm hunting high and low
And now she's telling me she's got to go away
I'll always be hunting high and low
Hungry for you
Watching me tearing myself to pieces
Hunting high and low

High
There's no end to the lengths I'll go to
Oh, for you I'll be hunting high and low

The Blue Sky

(Pal Waaktaar)

I find it hard to breathe
As life just eats away
At the faces that surround me
They look tired today
The lady at my table
Doesn't want me here
I just want to talk to her

But would she laugh at my accent
And make fun of me
It doesn't seem like this
blue sky's here for me

There are no girls in here
As far as I can see
Only pin-up posters
Looking down at me
Watching papercups of coffee
Growing cold before my eyes
All the things I see
That make me realize

I'm in this big world without you
Nothing to my name
I never knew that
Blue sky meant such pain

I'm dying to be different
In the coffee shop
I've lived on borrowed strength
Now my supplies are cut
Though i'm older than my looks
And older than my years
I'm too young to take on
My deepest fears

Oh, I used to be confused
But now I just don't know
Since you left I've been watching
Blue skies come and go

Living a Boy's Adventure Tale

(Pal Waaktaar — Morten Harket)

I've fixed my dwelling for the night
Lights in pairs come passing by
where I hide
I need some time now on my own
Leave my loneliness alone
To lick my wounds
Night has found me just in time
to help me close my eyes
one more time

Living a boy's adventure tale
In so many ways
Living a boy's adventure tale
For so many days
I'm living a boy's adventure tale
Can't escape, if I wanted to
Living a boy's adventure tale
I may be dreaming but I feel awake

I've been lost in so many places
Seeked love in so many faces
A change of weather,
the rain pours down
My head in hands,
pressed to the ground
And where am I supposed to go now

Living a boy's adventure tale
In so many ways
Living a boy's adventure tale (aah)
Living a boy's adventure tale
a voice I hear
Living a boy's adventure tale
Singing a lullaby for me
Living a boy's adventure tale
Because of you
Living a boy's adventure
Oh you know it's true
Living a boy's adventure tale
In so many ways (aah)
For so many days
I love you. I love you
So many ways

The Sun Always Shines on T.V.

(Pal Waaktaar)

Touch me
How can it be
Believe me
The sun always shines on T.V
Hold me
Close to your heart
Touch me
And give all your love to me
To me…

I Reached inside myself
And found nothing there
To ease the pressure off
My ever worrying mind
All my powers waste away
I fear the crazed and lonely looks
The mirror's sending me
These Days
Please don't ask me to defend
The shamefull lowlands
Of the way I'm drifting
Gloomily through time
I reached inside myself today
Thinking there's got to be some way
To keep the troubles distant

Touch me
How can it be
Believe me
The sun always shines on TV
Hold me
Close to your heart
Touch me
And give all your love to me

And You Tell Me

(Pal Waaktaar)

Please don't hurt me
I have told you
All my love is all i've got
And tomorrow is the day
When I for your sake
I'm coming back

And you tell me
That i don't love you

Trying hard to make you jealous
Trying harder to make you stay
Days are longer
Night are crazy
It's so strange when you're away

And you tell me
That i don't love you

Because I love you
I will show you
All the faces
My love can have
So please
Let me come to you
And stay this time

And you tell me
That i don't love you
Oh you know
That it's just not true

Love is Reason

(Pal Waaktaar — Mags)

My breath was coming fast
And as i make a start
You turn to go
oh, oh
I'll do what you want me to
I'll cry at the thought of the loss of a heart

Love is reason
Love is reason
Love is reason
Love is reason enough

My morals are changing fast
I told you it wouldn't last
You turn and go
oh, oh
I'll be what you want me to be
I'd die at the thought of the loss of your heart

Love is reason
Love is reason
Love is reason
Love is reason enough

I Dream Myself Alive

(Pal Waaktaar)

Dream my self alive
I dream my self alive
But you can't deny
There's something dark
Against the light
All i can say
It doesn't have to be this way
We'll be chasing our tails madly
See days pass like wildfire
Right from the start
I knew this world would break my heart

I dream my self alive
Dream my self alive
I dream my self alive
Break my heart
And dream my self alive
What can it mean

I'm drawing pictures of the sea
Right from the start
I knew this girl would break my heart

Dream my self alive
Dream my self alive
I dream my self alive
Dream my self alive
Dream my self alive
I dream my self alive

Here I Stand and Face the Rain

(Pal Waaktaar)

Help me
I need your love
Don't walk away
The dark scares me so
We're nothing apart
Let's stay friends forever… forever

Here i stand and face the rain
I know that nothing's gonna be the same again
I fear for what tomorrow brings

Trust me
For whom i am
Place all your faith
Into these hands
I got nothing to say
But let's stay friends forever… forever

Here i stand and face the rain
I know that nothing's gonna be the same again
I fear for what tomorrow brings

Here i stand and face the rain
I know that nothing's gonna be the same again
I fear for what tomorrow brings

Here i stand and face the rain
Knowing nothing's gonna be the same again
Ahhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaa
Ahhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaa…

Here i stand and face the rain
Knowing nothing's gonna be the same again
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