I am binge re-listening to your a-ha reviews today Matt ;-). I don't always comment but I am here. I recall quite vividly being 14-15 years old and sitting by the a long window watching the rain pounding it against the backdrop of dark clouds and howling winds while listening to this song... there was just nothing as emotionally evocative around at the time. We had to wait for albums - we grew up with the change(s) in sound... and it shaped our lives because the thing with a-ha's songs are that the fingers of emotion touches you inside every single time. It gives "voice" to your feelings - and it stays with you - forever (as you can tell by the age of the fandom represented here!). I also listened to other bands (that you review) at the time, such as Alphaville, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, U2 etc etc., but I don't own all their albums... and that says something (yes I left out Duran Duran because I liked some songs but I was not a fan...). Once you get to see some of the videos you will also understand why everything was so magical. We owe them a great debt of gratitude. Love your reviews - thank you for doing them! EvE
Thank you so much for this comment, Eve! And indeed, I can only imagine how a-ha's catalog would have hit me and felt over their full timeline, so it's wonderful to hear from fans who've been on that ride and feel their music as much as anyone. Thanks for being a part of the a-ha journey with me, and cheers for the kind words!
I was told that the song is about a person in prison, that it might be a sequel to I've been losing you". Something that makes sense. "Well, they gave me four years, three more to go". The harsh introduction to the song says something about the place he is, and the desperation in his voice when he sings the phrase in question. That the song comes last on the album also fits with the fact that a year has passed since the murder.
AhkkariQ, your comment is a lot of what I was going to say, so I hope you don't mind if I build upon it. You stated it so well, I don't know that I could state it better. I especially liked your analysis of the months showing a possible timeline between the murder and the final song. I never realized there could be a hint there. I tried to find an underlying concept album with "Scoundrel Days" and it's possible it's there, but I'm not sure. "The Weight of the Wind" could easily be about two fugitives talking. "Manhattan Skyline" could be about fleeing the country. With that said, as I grew with this album I felt it was a soft concept at best, and possibly more symbolic than fiction; maybe the way that Coheed and Cambria tells personal tales through allegory. It's possible that the line "They gave me four years, three more to go," could reference their record contract and all the touring involved. That said, I also love listening to the album and imagining a tragedy involving a man murdering his lover in a momentary lapse and fleeing the crime and living through the five phases of grief until finally caught. I just can't fully fit every song into that scenario.
@@floydmcmondo Interesting thought that it could be a concept album. Most of the songs of this album were written before HHAL came out. Pål had as very young a dream of writing a rock opera. Do we see the contours of one here? It's not entirely obvious, but no doubt an interesting thought. Could it be that we have to disregard some of the songs? If you take it chronologically, you have a troubled soul in the first song, Scoundrel Days, which you have in the second song, The Swing of Things, too, and here a partner is present. They struggle with the relationship. In the third song the murder takes place. In the fourth song, October, the man feels the loneliness of having lost (murdered) the one he loved. In the fifth song, Manhattan Skyline, he escapes the country - the person he communicates with - could she be in his head? In the sixth song, Cry Wolf, he has nightmares. In the seventh song, We're looking for the Whales, the world realize the girl is missing, and a search takes place. In the eight song, The weight of the wind, there is a meeting between two fugitives - or maybe between the man and another person who knows what he has done, in the ninth song, Maybe Maybe, he ponders how and when he and the girl started drifting apart and in the last song he is in prison.
What a wonderful song! With once again a vocal performance that adapts so well to the music. The "overrrr" at the end ends this album "Scoundrel days" which is the first a-ha album I bought and one of my favorites. I listened to it so much at the time that I know it by heart.
This was a powerful way to end the original release of the album. As you say there are many themes of loneliness and being away from home on this album but the lyrics in this one take on a more moving meaning with the lines "Well they gave me four years, three more to go. Keep writing letters, time's passing so slow." Suddenly the title of the song becomes more of an ending than a rebirth.
Gave me some gloomy vibes reminiscent to the Moody Blues classics 'Nights in white satin''/'Tuesday afternoon' similarly melancholic mood but of a very impactful performance with Morten having 'ups and downs' with his voice getting at times either 'etherial' or punchy and 'demanding'' never ceasing to amaze me.BTW What a moving lyric the one you mentioned.And i always liked Morten's very last way of singing on the very last word of this album's very last song...'Oveeer'-------------------
p.s.5:00-5.40 If i'm not mistaken that 'rythmic' sound (that is reminiscent of a train passing by), must be the same synth instrument also used in DD's 'The Chauffer'(RIO album 1982).
Very fitting that the last word of the album is 'Over' I wonder if, when they were deciding on track order, that this would be the last song because of that reason? Looking forward to your reaction to a-ha's next album; 'Stay On These Roads', especially the title track and my favourite - 'This Alone Is Love' - and, and - I could go on...!
Would certainly make sense to me. Also I think the version of this album Philip shared with me might have some bonus tracks, because I don't think this track was the last one in the folder in question. Will obviously figure out in the next day or two as the a-ha reactions continue. Cheers!
@@mattsnider2667 Now you've made me think! I'm just looking at my CD version which ends with this. I'm going to have to dig out my original vinyl copy and see how that ends! The same applies to the next album. Looking at my 2 disc copy, the first disc has 15 tracks, which I presume is the album (going to have to check vinyl again!), but the 2nd disc has 20 tracks.
Another strong song to end the album with..that’s a feature on most of their albums you’ll find. Btw…these songs were all written in the U.K. not Norway, a-ha arrived in London in 1982 and the three of them continued to live in the U.K. for 12 or13 years, until they went on their first hiatus in the mid 1990s. Then Mags & Morten moved back to Norway and Pal went to live in the USA because his wife Lauren is American.
Right, I do appreciate that now (I just meant that Norway, like the UK and North America, are all northern-hemisphere countries). But cheers, appreciate the comments as always!
@@mattsnider2667 @Marjorie McBride Actually many of the songs on Scoundrel Days were written (or at least "sketched") in Norway before they ever travelled to London. Before they were even a-ha and before Pal and Mags met Morten. Their band at the time was called Bridges. Soft Rains of April is one of the songs that goes back to that time. Here it is as performed by their younger selves sans Morten. They certainly improved on it ruclips.net/video/B-BZ3Jlp1wc/видео.html
Haha, no worries. It does happen a lot. But yeah, I do have group/artist-specific playlists, so you could open the playlist and then keyword-search for songs if you know what you're looking for. Either way, thanks for checking out the videos! :)
![Shnootz - Reaction Video (a-ha - I've Been Losing You [Extended Version])](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LieXKA44F9o/mqdefault.jpg)
A SEVERELY underrated album by master songwriters. This song was the icing on the sonic cake.
I am binge re-listening to your a-ha reviews today Matt ;-). I don't always comment but I am here. I recall quite vividly being 14-15 years old and sitting by the a long window watching the rain pounding it against the backdrop of dark clouds and howling winds while listening to this song... there was just nothing as emotionally evocative around at the time.
We had to wait for albums - we grew up with the change(s) in sound... and it shaped our lives because the thing with a-ha's songs are that the fingers of emotion touches you inside every single time. It gives "voice" to your feelings - and it stays with you - forever (as you can tell by the age of the fandom represented here!).
I also listened to other bands (that you review) at the time, such as Alphaville, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, U2 etc etc., but I don't own all their albums... and that says something (yes I left out Duran Duran because I liked some songs but I was not a fan...).
Once you get to see some of the videos you will also understand why everything was so magical. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.
Love your reviews - thank you for doing them!
EvE
Thank you so much for this comment, Eve! And indeed, I can only imagine how a-ha's catalog would have hit me and felt over their full timeline, so it's wonderful to hear from fans who've been on that ride and feel their music as much as anyone. Thanks for being a part of the a-ha journey with me, and cheers for the kind words!
Morten Harket el mejor vocalista del mundo, desde Argentina mis felicitaciones por hacer conocer la música de los noruegos A-HA
Just one word for this song : hypnotic !
Amazing song
What a great song and what beautiful vocals
Yes, cinematic, terrific!!!
Um balé no espaço sideral. Só A-Ha.
Beautiful !
Oh, I remember this song...I really really like this one! Yes, it sounds like someone writing a letter from jail.
I was told that the song is about a person in prison, that it might be a sequel to I've been losing you". Something that makes sense.
"Well, they gave me four years, three more to go". The harsh introduction to the song says something about the place he is, and the desperation in his voice when he sings the phrase in question. That the song comes last on the album also fits with the fact that a year has passed since the murder.
Oh wow, that's a really tantalizing (if also dark/sad) interpretation! Cheers, appreciate that angle on this one.
AhkkariQ, your comment is a lot of what I was going to say, so I hope you don't mind if I build upon it. You stated it so well, I don't know that I could state it better. I especially liked your analysis of the months showing a possible timeline between the murder and the final song. I never realized there could be a hint there.
I tried to find an underlying concept album with "Scoundrel Days" and it's possible it's there, but I'm not sure. "The Weight of the Wind" could easily be about two fugitives talking. "Manhattan Skyline" could be about fleeing the country.
With that said, as I grew with this album I felt it was a soft concept at best, and possibly more symbolic than fiction; maybe the way that Coheed and Cambria tells personal tales through allegory. It's possible that the line "They gave me four years, three more to go," could reference their record contract and all the touring involved.
That said, I also love listening to the album and imagining a tragedy involving a man murdering his lover in a momentary lapse and fleeing the crime and living through the five phases of grief until finally caught. I just can't fully fit every song into that scenario.
@@floydmcmondo Interesting thought that it could be a concept album. Most of the songs of this album were written before HHAL came out. Pål had as very young a dream of writing a rock opera. Do we see the contours of one here? It's not entirely obvious, but no doubt an interesting thought. Could it be that we have to disregard some of the songs? If you take it chronologically, you have a troubled soul in the first song, Scoundrel Days, which you have in the second song, The Swing of Things, too, and here a partner is present. They struggle with the relationship. In the third song the murder takes place. In the fourth song, October, the man feels the loneliness of having lost (murdered) the one he loved. In the fifth song, Manhattan Skyline, he escapes the country - the person he communicates with - could she be in his head? In the sixth song, Cry Wolf, he has nightmares. In the seventh song, We're looking for the Whales, the world realize the girl is missing, and a search takes place. In the eight song, The weight of the wind, there is a meeting between two fugitives - or maybe between the man and another person who knows what he has done, in the ninth song, Maybe Maybe, he ponders how and when he and the girl started drifting apart and in the last song he is in prison.
The music casts masterpiece. Few groups can do it.👋
What a wonderful song! With once again a vocal performance that adapts so well to the music. The "overrrr" at the end ends this album "Scoundrel days" which is the first a-ha album I bought and one of my favorites. I listened to it so much at the time that I know it by heart.
This was a powerful way to end the original release of the album. As you say there are many themes of loneliness and being away from home on this album but the lyrics in this one take on a more moving meaning with the lines "Well they gave me four years, three more to go. Keep writing letters, time's passing so slow." Suddenly the title of the song becomes more of an ending than a rebirth.
Gave me some gloomy vibes reminiscent to the Moody Blues classics 'Nights in white satin''/'Tuesday afternoon' similarly melancholic mood but of a very impactful performance with Morten having 'ups and downs' with his voice getting at times either 'etherial' or punchy and 'demanding'' never ceasing to amaze me.BTW What a moving lyric the one you mentioned.And i always liked Morten's very last way of singing on the very last word of this album's very last song...'Oveeer'-------------------
p.s.5:00-5.40 If i'm not mistaken that 'rythmic' sound (that is reminiscent of a train passing by), must be the same synth instrument also used in DD's 'The Chauffer'(RIO album 1982).
Very fitting that the last word of the album is 'Over' I wonder if, when they were deciding on track order, that this would be the last song because of that reason? Looking forward to your reaction to a-ha's next album; 'Stay On These Roads', especially the title track and my favourite - 'This Alone Is Love' - and, and - I could go on...!
Would certainly make sense to me. Also I think the version of this album Philip shared with me might have some bonus tracks, because I don't think this track was the last one in the folder in question. Will obviously figure out in the next day or two as the a-ha reactions continue. Cheers!
@@mattsnider2667 Now you've made me think! I'm just looking at my CD version which ends with this. I'm going to have to dig out my original vinyl copy and see how that ends! The same applies to the next album. Looking at my 2 disc copy, the first disc has 15 tracks, which I presume is the album (going to have to check vinyl again!), but the 2nd disc has 20 tracks.
Another strong song to end the album with..that’s a feature on most of their albums you’ll find. Btw…these songs were all written in the U.K. not Norway, a-ha arrived in London in 1982 and the three of them continued to live in the U.K. for 12 or13 years, until they went on their first hiatus in the mid 1990s. Then Mags & Morten moved back to Norway and Pal went to live in the USA because his wife Lauren is American.
Right, I do appreciate that now (I just meant that Norway, like the UK and North America, are all northern-hemisphere countries). But cheers, appreciate the comments as always!
@@mattsnider2667 @Marjorie McBride Actually many of the songs on Scoundrel Days were written (or at least "sketched") in Norway before they ever travelled to London. Before they were even a-ha and before Pal and Mags met Morten. Their band at the time was called Bridges. Soft Rains of April is one of the songs that goes back to that time. Here it is as performed by their younger selves sans Morten. They certainly improved on it ruclips.net/video/B-BZ3Jlp1wc/видео.html
I keep recommending songs you have already done. Maybe I should just search your channel.
Haha, no worries. It does happen a lot. But yeah, I do have group/artist-specific playlists, so you could open the playlist and then keyword-search for songs if you know what you're looking for.
Either way, thanks for checking out the videos! :)