Take On Me | Through the Shattered Lens

“Say after me
It’s no better to be safe than sorry”

The 1980’s was a decade of excess in every sense of the word, but it was also the decade that gave birth to so many one-hit wonders. One such wonder was a song that I never failed not to like no matter that I grew older. Even now I would sing-along to this song whenever I come across it on-line or I find a mixtape of it.

“Take On Me” by the Norwegian synthpop band A-ha was a simple enough song, but when heard by way of it’s groundbreaking music video which combined live-action scenes with rotoscoped pencil sketching of the video it became an instant classic. The video was just like most music videos of the 1980’s in that it tried to wrap a story around the song though most of the time I had no idea what was going on.

Despite the video making little sense I still consider it a nostalgic favorite of mine from the days when MTV actually played music videos.

Tonight marked the end of one of my favorite TV shows. It was the little spy-comedy show that could. The show powered through the last three seasons of less and less episodes with the threat of cancellation always above. The show I’m talking about is Chuck and to say that my tv world is a little less awesome now that the series finally ended tonight with it’s 2-hour series finale would be an understatement.

This series finale also brought back to my attention a song from my youth that has always been a guilty pleasure that’s become used as a joke or cynically deconstructed by hipsters in this day and age. This series brought back A-Ha’s “Take On Me” as covered by the show’s resident disturbingly hilarious musical duo, Jeffster. Instead of using it as a joke or something for people to laugh at the show used the song in a way that fit the bittersweet feeling fans over the show’s final moments.

I will forever remember this song as one of the many awesome songs which became part of Chuck.

Take On Me

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 life or
Just a 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