a-ha – Take On Me: A Time Travel to 1985, The Future That Synthpop Dreamed Of
Some songs don’t just contain melody—they contain time itself. In the summer of 1985, I was pulled into such a moment in time.
Prologue: Opening the Door of Time
July 1985, I first heard that sound at Tower Records in downtown Chicago. Inside the store, fluorescent lights blazed brightly, and LPs and cassette tapes were arranged in plastic cases. It was sound leaking from a Walkman worn by an employee, and in that moment, I stopped in my tracks.
On the streets, DeLoreans and Pontiac Firebirds were passing by, and people wore jackets with big shoulder pads and high-waisted jeans. It was the era when MTV was reaching its prime, and music videos were becoming an art form beyond mere promotional tools.
The moment that synthesizer riff flowed out, it felt like a signal from the future. In the mid-80s, we were all dreaming of the bright future that technology would bring. And a-ha’s music was the soundtrack to exactly that dream.
The Power of This Song in That Era
Looking at the a-ha – Take On Me historical background, 1985 was a time when the Cold War was at its peak, but simultaneously when pop culture was spreading globally. MTV’s influence was at its zenith, and a new form of art combining music and visuals was being born.
The sound created by these three young men from Norway was revolutionary for its time. The futuristic sound created by synthesizers and drum machines, combined with Morten Harket’s distinctive falsetto, opened up a completely different world from existing rock music.
When interpreting the a-ha – Take On Me lyrics, this song goes beyond a simple love song to carry meaning like an invitation to a new world. It contained the longing for adventure and curiosity about the unknown world that existed in the hearts of young people in the mid-80s.
The music video also used rotoscoping techniques to blur the boundaries between reality and animation, visually implementing the fantasy that the young generation of that time dreamed of. This became an artistic work beyond simple promotional footage.
Why I Still Listen to This Song
Even now, nearly 40 years later, whenever I listen to this song, I regain that excitement from back then. It’s not simple nostalgia, but that pure anticipation for the future. In the mid-80s, we really believed that a better world was coming.
Listening to this song now, I realize that much of the future we dreamed of then has become reality. Cell phones, the internet, digital music… But at the same time, we’ve lost something. That pure sense of anticipation.
The recurring melody in this song is like a signal traveling back through time. It allows us to temporarily return from the complicated present to the simpler past. And in that past, we find the courage to dream again.
a-ha – Take On Me left me with this message –
“Never lose the courage to believe that the future can always be more beautiful than the present”
Do you have a time machine song that takes you to a specific era? Share your time travel experiences in the comments below.
Tags: a-ha, Take On Me, 1980s, Synthpop, MTV, Music Video, 80s Culture, Time Travel, Retro
