This week’s post I slightly different from the previous one. It is not related to travelling, clothes, shopping, or science.
This week I will be putting up here some old songs and some fun-facts around them. In general, I believe that no matter your age, you must have come across those songs at some point.
Now I decided to just give a few relevant information about the songs, but I will also be analysing their lyrics, as to what is my personal understanding out of it. It doesn’t mean that this is necessarily true, it is just my opinion.
I am mainly using Spotify for music-listening; however, I will post Youtube links here because it is worth watching the video clips as well.
It is very likely that you already know these songs, however in case you don’t you might wanna spend some time listening to these tunes. I was shocked when the other week I was making a music list and my cousin recognised the song just because he had seen the vine.
Take on Me from A-ha
“Take on me” is a love song and it was the second song in the top UK single in 1985. Thirty-five years later this song is still famous as you may hear it on the radio, at the pub, the karaoke bar, while shopping and even of course the popular vine.
Unlocking the inner meaning from the lyrics, the song is “accept me, give me a chance” but the lyrics are not straight forward. The song has gained several awards and it was remasters in 2019.
The song starts by describing the lover in being in a sort of uncomfortable situation because they are ashamed to express their feelings.
However, the decision has been made to declare their love and that leads us to the chorus where the lover seeks acceptance and a chance “Take on me, take me on”.
Time, is pointed out as the lover says “I will be gone in a day or two”. While on the second verse the lover mentions that he is stumbling away which sounds like he has a messy life, not being too confident about himself.
It also looks like that the lover is pessimistic mentioning “that slowly learning life is OK”. That might be an exaggeration because of being declined by a lover. The feelings of the other lover are not mentioned in this song apart from the fact that they are “shying away”!
Don’t you forget about me from Simple Minds
Another song released a month after “Take on Me” is this one. Although “Don’t you forget about me” only gained the 7th place in the UK singles at the time, it remains famous nowadays.
The song was used for the opening/closing for the movie “The Breakfast Club” and a few years later, the song played in many more movies.
The song is perhaps addressed to a lover as it involves several questions such as “Won’t you come see about me?” or “As you walk on by, will you call my name?”.
The singer wants to be seen as an understanding individual asking their lover to trust the any potential “troubles and doubts”.
There is also a reference on “tender things” which perhaps shows us that there is a past bond about the two lovers.
However, “Slow change may pull us apart” starts to introduce the fear of the lover for sudden life changes and therefore leads us to the chorus where the lover expresses the fear to be forgotten.
The bitter feeling, is probably expressed while he is “Rain keeps falling down” and the lover seems to be uncertain whether they are loved indeed as they ask “Will you remember me?” so the time seems to be an enemy for them.
The meaning of this song is great as the lover does not just simply wonder if they will be forgotten, but they also have imagined that in the future when their paths will cross again, whether the other lover would remember their name, or just walk away.
In the second verse, the lover seems to be caring about their feelings and their lovers feelings as well, but ends up highlighting that he does not want to be forgotten as they will “put them back to the heart”.
A little respect by Erasure
This song was released in 1988, and it received the 69th position in the UK singles in four years later, but it was number one in Scotland! This song was also in several movies and the lyrics indicate a lover situation.
The song starts very confident explaining that the lover is trying to become better, potentially after a break-up or decline since they mention a “broken heart”. Next comes the declaration “I am so in love with you, I will be forever blue”.
It makes me shiver the sound of this although it sounds way too promising. Eternal love s a veeeeery complex topic but the loves is still indicating to be in-love with them although the other lover makes them “work so hard about it”.
In the chorus, the lovers asks to “give a little respect” after they “hear you calling”. I am not sure whether the meaning here is that the other lover said something disrespectful to them, or the fact that the lover declined them but they keep calling them while they try to forget them, making their lives harder.
The second verse, the song become clearer. It seems like that the singer-lover is in love with someone who broke their heart.
What will happen if they lose momentum and give a chance, would the other love “open their arms out to them”? He is seeking peace and “make love, not war”.
The song is climaxed when the lover reveals “what religion or reason, make a man to forsake his lover”. That gives as a clue that perhaps the song was written because of a bad behaviour? A decline? What do you think ?
Punch-line, I think that overall, the songs has a real meaning as the lover keeps saying that they don’t know the reason why they got to work so hard for this love. And all the things mentioned above are just wonders.
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