I know, right? I believe my head exploded the first time I heard a lot of their stuff outside of Take on Me. Totally fell in love with all three of them for it. ❤
a-ha's dark nursery rhyme. There is an ethereal quality at play here that (on first listen) gives the goose bumps big old goose bumps. As Matt said when a band changes their sound or vibe they don't always get to take their fans with them. I just remember at the time (at least in my circle) we shouted "more". That said they don't do this kind of dark all the time and it's a good thing because when they do it's a treat. And the idea of a plague of Lucca's is terrifying!!!!
the spoken part by Morten in this song - My dream was this / Across the sky / A slate grey cloud / That filled the eye Locust. Locust was a fixture in the set list on both the memorial beach and lifelines tours 😘🇳🇴❤️🏴
I have been here all the way but just never commented (well, I didn't even remember my youtube password anymore 😛). I am one of those who think this is their best album and I am glad you are enjoying it. I find it "funny" that you give some thought to the titles of the songs beforehand and try hard to get the "meaning" of the lyrics, because that is something that I have never done, for some reason I was never into analysing the lyrics, so you do manage to give me some insights and point out new perspectives of the songs for me, even though I have been a fan since the 80s! 🙃 It has been an interesting ride, and I will be here for the rest. 😉
Hi Matt here is the first part of Locust by AHA - Don’t be afraid/ It’s a harmless moon/All we can do/ Is to assume/Our lives must Change/A change is due/ I hear you say/What are we gonna do - Chorus - I don’t know, make it / I don’t know, Shake it/ I don’t know break it down, What do you wanna do / I don’t know, break it / I don’t know, Shake it, I don’t know break it down. O’Weeping Night O’Grieving Sky O’ Rabbit Wind You just flew by
Another great reaction! Listening to beautiful music and your insightful comments is very rewarding. And as a keen Aha-fan I know there are still so many good songs coming up. Can’t wait for your thoughts on songs like “summer moved on”, “lifelines” and the synth-gem “The Bandstand”. Keep up the great work!
one of AHA’s most cinematic and captivating songs. Pal stated this was his favourite off this album . Written by Pal Waaktaar-Savoy. it’s very moody and atmospheric. The ambient intro and the sound of the rattlesnake sets the tone for this one. Stay Safe Matt and take care 😘🇳🇴❤️🏴
Fantastic eerie vibe from this song. It almost feels apocalyptic, with Morten's refrained tone hovering just above baseline. The spoken word section was Morten by the way...
don't be afraid.... it's a harmless moon )) yeah you really should read this poem. best album of the band if you ask me but actually being number 5 after having released the 4 before that makes this first round of theirs historical music wise.. more people start to realise this now only. wait until you hear lamb to the slaughter; how sweet it was and memorial beach. Maybe you'll understand why many fans wished they did not stop this soon and put one more album out expanding one step this outstanding musical evolution they went through. but on the other hand; what kind of masterpiece to finish such a first cycle.... it is perfect.
Very well said! I haven't seen a musical reactor analyze these last three superb songs from the album, real gems that are in my list of special and favorite tracks from A-ha... including Locust. Can't wait to see Matt's reactions! 😊🎶
When I rediscovered the work of A-ha almost 4 years ago, Locust is the song that made me aware of the very special musical atmosphere (rock-blues-atmospheric) of the album Memorial Beach . Admittedly, I was very pleased to discover the change in its more rock and organic sound from East of the Sun West of the Moon. But as for Memorial Beach, I think that all the elements were there to make it a unique, classic and even timeless album in the band's catalog... I sincerely think that A-ha was, in the 90s, musically on his X to use a popular expression in French! 😉😊🎶
Like in a dream I am taken back through the centuries to a time when people were left to the capriciousness of nature, where signals of the future were sought where they could be found, and where it was believed that misfortune was punishment for the group's actions. I can only imagine the past lying in a fog behind us somewhere.
@@mattsnider2667 I have to send it back to you. It's your philosophizing about the song title that makes me take a second look at the lyrics, which makes my brain kick in.
Like I said with "Cold As Stone," "Locust" is a song with an epic feel where there are no major tonal shifts. I think it's an underutilized technique. Don't get me wrong, I like crazy progressive rock time shifts and such, but this feels a little more impressive in its way.
This song I found quite riveting on first listen after buying the album back in 1993 and no less so today. It immediately brought to mind scenes from John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes Of Wrath”set in 1930s dust bowl America during the “Great Depression”. The eeriness and sense of foreboding continues throughout this track despite the apparently calm and dreamlike words sung by Morten as though he was completely detached and and merely an observer to the scene being played out…at the end his spoken words only emphasising this detachment . I think this lyrical poem proved beyond any doubt that a-ha were a band apart from their peer group…and creatively superior both musically and intellectually. The band lost a large number of fans with this album, sadly. Many still say this is their least favourite album, whilst strangely enough another group, in which I include myself…believes Memorial Beach to be the finest of their career to date.
Don't be afaid It's a harmless moon All we can do Is to assume Our lives must change A change is due I hear you say What are we gonna do I don't know - make it I don't know - shake it I don't know - break it down What are we wanna do I don't know - make it I don't know - shake it I don't know - break it down O' weeping night O' grieving sky O' rabbit wind You just flew by Grant me this Some small reward Don't announce The time of the final call My dream was this: Across the sky A slate-grey cloud That filled the eye ...a slate-grey cloud... Comes through the dust - Locust Dont' be afraid It's a harmless moon
It's really interesting to get a reaction to this album from someone who hasn't had years of emotional investment in a-ha prior to listening to it. As you can see from the comments, that emotional investment caused some of us to be disappointed in this new direction and some to be thrilled by it. It's really nice to see someone react to the songs for what they are and to judge them on their own merits without all that baggage us a-ha fans carry! For me, I think my initial judgement of this period was clouded by my teenaged snobbery towards anything that wasn't "proper" heavy metal, rock, punk, goth, grunge etc. When compared to the things I was listening to at the time (Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sisters of Mercy, Nirvana, Levellers, Rage Against The Machine etc) a-ha's attempt at something a bit darker, rockier, and alternative seemed a bit... lame. It's one thing liking melancholy synth pop alongside your heavy metal, but when the melancholy synth pop tries to be heavy metal, well... I wasn't impressed 😂 But with some extra years, extra wisdom, extra appreciation for different genres of music, I can see it differently now. I still don't play the whole album often, because when I'm in the mood for something darker and rockier I tend to go for something from that genre, but I do have quite a few MB songs on my best of a-ha playlist which gets listened to most days. Locust isn't on it, but it's a song that's grown on me with time and repeated listens, so maybe I'll revise that to - Locust isn't on it... yet.
I love this comment so much, and thanks for being here for this journey and offering your thoughts on the songs and albums. And I completely understand what you mean, I was a bit of a teenage-snob in the '90s too (as I got into punk, acid techno, and other underground musical styles and consequently cooled on pop music and "regular" rock for several years---until I got wiser and rediscovered some material later as an adult, part of which is what my initial decision to do reaction videos was all about, in fact!). Thanks again, really look forward to your comments now. :)
@@mattsnider2667 Aww thanks Matt. I'm really enjoying being here for the journey, and I plan on joining you on some others once a-ha is finished - Kate Bush, Duran Duran and the classical stuff are all on my list so far. I'm going to put in a request here - once you get your tech stuff sorted and start reacting to videos, I'd really love it if you carried on with your current style of reaction too, rather than replace it completely with video reactions. I love the simplicity and purity of it, it allows you to focus on what you're hearing on its own without the distraction of visuals. I haven't seen anyone else do it like this besides you, and I definitely prefer it.
@@elyssia7026 Thank you so much for this supportive comment, and you will be happy to know I've been told something nearly identical by over a dozen friends of the channel. So clearly it's a style that resonates with a lot of folks, and indeed, even if I eventually can react to videos, I'll always continue with the pure-music reactions too. Thanks again, very happy to read that.
![Shnootz - Reaction Video (Depeche Mode - Pleasure, Little Treasure [Glitter Mix])](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LThniMHW1AI/mqdefault.jpg)
![Shnootz - Reaction Video (Depeche Mode - Pleasure, Little Treasure [Glitter Mix])](/img/tr.png)
I Love this song, it only loses to How sweet it was - memorial beach forever!
so dreamy-moody-sometimes you just need this aspect of A-ha :)
I love all a-ha songs! This song takes me to another dimension
'Oh weeping night, Oh grieving sky, Oh rabbit wind, you just flew by, grant me this, some small reward, don't announce, the time of final call...'
amazing lyrics :)
Imagine that this is the same band that made Take On Me! Such diversity!
I know, right? I believe my head exploded the first time I heard a lot of their stuff outside of Take on Me. Totally fell in love with all three of them for it. ❤
Greatness right there :)
a-ha's dark nursery rhyme. There is an ethereal quality at play here that (on first listen) gives the goose bumps big old goose bumps. As Matt said when a band changes their sound or vibe they don't always get to take their fans with them. I just remember at the time (at least in my circle) we shouted "more". That said they don't do this kind of dark all the time and it's a good thing because when they do it's a treat. And the idea of a plague of Lucca's is terrifying!!!!
This is a little masterpiece
the spoken part by Morten in this song - My dream was this / Across the sky / A slate grey cloud / That filled the eye Locust. Locust was a fixture in the set list on both the memorial beach and lifelines tours 😘🇳🇴❤️🏴
I have been here all the way but just never commented (well, I didn't even remember my youtube password anymore 😛). I am one of those who think this is their best album and I am glad you are enjoying it. I find it "funny" that you give some thought to the titles of the songs beforehand and try hard to get the "meaning" of the lyrics, because that is something that I have never done, for some reason I was never into analysing the lyrics, so you do manage to give me some insights and point out new perspectives of the songs for me, even though I have been a fan since the 80s! 🙃 It has been an interesting ride, and I will be here for the rest. 😉
Hi Matt here is the first part of Locust by AHA - Don’t be afraid/ It’s a harmless moon/All we can do/ Is to assume/Our lives must Change/A change is due/ I hear you say/What are we gonna do - Chorus - I don’t know, make it / I don’t know, Shake it/ I don’t know break it down, What do you wanna do / I don’t know, break it / I don’t know, Shake it, I don’t know break it down.
O’Weeping Night
O’Grieving Sky
O’ Rabbit Wind
You just flew by
Another great reaction! Listening to beautiful music and your insightful comments is very rewarding. And as a keen Aha-fan I know there are still so many good songs coming up. Can’t wait for your thoughts on songs like “summer moved on”, “lifelines” and the synth-gem “The Bandstand”. Keep up the great work!
Thank you! I really appreciate that. Glad you're aboard for this a-ha journey, looking forward to the songs you mentioned! :)
love the Bandstand at Neuwind concert:)
one of AHA’s most cinematic and captivating songs. Pal stated this was his favourite off this album . Written by Pal Waaktaar-Savoy. it’s very moody and atmospheric. The ambient intro and the sound of the rattlesnake sets the tone for this one. Stay Safe Matt and take care 😘🇳🇴❤️🏴
Fantastic eerie vibe from this song. It almost feels apocalyptic, with Morten's refrained tone hovering just above baseline. The spoken word section was Morten by the way...
One of my fave a-ha songs. I love the backing vocals and the atmosphere they create.
Btw I hadn't known what you said about grasshoppers, Matt.
don't be afraid.... it's a harmless moon )) yeah you really should read this poem. best album of the band if you ask me but actually being number 5 after having released the 4 before that makes this first round of theirs historical music wise.. more people start to realise this now only. wait until you hear lamb to the slaughter; how sweet it was and memorial beach. Maybe you'll understand why many fans wished they did not stop this soon and put one more album out expanding one step this outstanding musical evolution they went through. but on the other hand; what kind of masterpiece to finish such a first cycle.... it is perfect.
Very well said! I haven't seen a musical reactor analyze these last three superb songs from the album, real gems that are in my list of special and favorite tracks from A-ha... including Locust. Can't wait to see Matt's reactions! 😊🎶
When I rediscovered the work of A-ha almost 4 years ago, Locust is the song that made me aware of the very special musical atmosphere (rock-blues-atmospheric) of the album Memorial Beach . Admittedly, I was very pleased to discover the change in its more rock and organic sound from East of the Sun West of the Moon. But as for Memorial Beach, I think that all the elements were there to make it a unique, classic and even timeless album in the band's catalog... I sincerely think that A-ha was, in the 90s, musically on his X to use a popular expression in French! 😉😊🎶
Like in a dream I am taken back through the centuries to a time when people were left to the capriciousness of nature, where signals of the future were sought where they could be found, and where it was believed that misfortune was punishment for the group's actions. I can only imagine the past lying in a fog behind us somewhere.
What an amazing comment. Thank you for sharing your insights and thoughts, Kari.
@@mattsnider2667 I have to send it back to you. It's your philosophizing about the song title that makes me take a second look at the lyrics, which makes my brain kick in.
A beautiful track that creates a very dreamy atmosphere but with a dry, strained element as well.
Like I said with "Cold As Stone," "Locust" is a song with an epic feel where there are no major tonal shifts. I think it's an underutilized technique. Don't get me wrong, I like crazy progressive rock time shifts and such, but this feels a little more impressive in its way.
This song I found quite riveting on first listen after buying the album back in 1993 and no less so today. It immediately brought to mind scenes from John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes Of Wrath”set in 1930s dust bowl America during the “Great Depression”. The eeriness and sense of foreboding continues throughout this track despite the apparently calm and dreamlike words sung by Morten as though he was completely detached and and merely an observer to the scene being played out…at the end his spoken words only emphasising this detachment . I think this lyrical poem proved beyond any doubt that a-ha were a band apart from their peer group…and creatively superior both musically and intellectually. The band lost a large number of fans with this album, sadly. Many still say this is their least favourite album, whilst strangely enough another group, in which I include myself…believes Memorial Beach to be the finest of their career to date.
Another wonderful comment, and great shout on the comparison with the atmosphere of Grapes of Wrath.
I love your comparison too. I am also on the Memorial Beach team 👍🏼❤️
Don't be afaid
It's a harmless moon
All we can do
Is to assume
Our lives must change
A change is due
I hear you say
What are we gonna do
I don't know - make it
I don't know - shake it
I don't know - break it down
What are we wanna do
I don't know - make it
I don't know - shake it
I don't know - break it down
O' weeping night
O' grieving sky
O' rabbit wind
You just flew by
Grant me this
Some small reward
Don't announce
The time of the final call
My dream was this:
Across the sky
A slate-grey cloud
That filled the eye
...a slate-grey cloud...
Comes through the dust -
Locust
Dont' be afraid
It's a harmless moon
It's really interesting to get a reaction to this album from someone who hasn't had years of emotional investment in a-ha prior to listening to it. As you can see from the comments, that emotional investment caused some of us to be disappointed in this new direction and some to be thrilled by it. It's really nice to see someone react to the songs for what they are and to judge them on their own merits without all that baggage us a-ha fans carry!
For me, I think my initial judgement of this period was clouded by my teenaged snobbery towards anything that wasn't "proper" heavy metal, rock, punk, goth, grunge etc. When compared to the things I was listening to at the time (Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sisters of Mercy, Nirvana, Levellers, Rage Against The Machine etc) a-ha's attempt at something a bit darker, rockier, and alternative seemed a bit... lame. It's one thing liking melancholy synth pop alongside your heavy metal, but when the melancholy synth pop tries to be heavy metal, well... I wasn't impressed 😂
But with some extra years, extra wisdom, extra appreciation for different genres of music, I can see it differently now. I still don't play the whole album often, because when I'm in the mood for something darker and rockier I tend to go for something from that genre, but I do have quite a few MB songs on my best of a-ha playlist which gets listened to most days. Locust isn't on it, but it's a song that's grown on me with time and repeated listens, so maybe I'll revise that to - Locust isn't on it... yet.
I love this comment so much, and thanks for being here for this journey and offering your thoughts on the songs and albums. And I completely understand what you mean, I was a bit of a teenage-snob in the '90s too (as I got into punk, acid techno, and other underground musical styles and consequently cooled on pop music and "regular" rock for several years---until I got wiser and rediscovered some material later as an adult, part of which is what my initial decision to do reaction videos was all about, in fact!). Thanks again, really look forward to your comments now. :)
@@mattsnider2667 Aww thanks Matt. I'm really enjoying being here for the journey, and I plan on joining you on some others once a-ha is finished - Kate Bush, Duran Duran and the classical stuff are all on my list so far.
I'm going to put in a request here - once you get your tech stuff sorted and start reacting to videos, I'd really love it if you carried on with your current style of reaction too, rather than replace it completely with video reactions. I love the simplicity and purity of it, it allows you to focus on what you're hearing on its own without the distraction of visuals. I haven't seen anyone else do it like this besides you, and I definitely prefer it.
@@elyssia7026 Thank you so much for this supportive comment, and you will be happy to know I've been told something nearly identical by over a dozen friends of the channel. So clearly it's a style that resonates with a lot of folks, and indeed, even if I eventually can react to videos, I'll always continue with the pure-music reactions too. Thanks again, very happy to read that.
@@mattsnider2667 That's great news!