Discussion Leader Presentation
A-Ha released Take On Me in 1985. The band is considered to be a one-hit wonder. Take On Me is considered to be about a girl that the lead singer, Morten Harket, wanted to be with. The song is Harket’s attempt to convince the girl to give him a chance on him, to “take him on.”
The music video shows a girl going in and out of a 2-D world, symbolizing her going in and out of consideration of taking a chance on Harket.
The video we viewed is actually the second music video made for the song. The first was a simple video of the band members singing the song against a blue background. In this video, the live-action footage was traced with a frame-by-frame process called rotoscoping. It took 4 months to rotoscope the 3,000 frames in the video.
The video uses a romantic fantasy plotline. A young woman, who is played by Bunty Bailey, falls for the male lead of the video played by lead singer Morten Harket. The more time she spends with Harket, the more she wants to be with him. She becomes blinded by the enjoyment she has in the 2-D world that is obviously separate from reality.
Course In General Linguistic Ferdinand de Saussure
Through his lyrics, Harket uses de Saussure’s speech/la parole to verbally demonstrate why this girl should take a chance on him. The lyrics represent the language itself, the speech/la parole that de Saussure describes. The lyrics serve the purpose of Harket directly communicating to the girl as to why she should go out with him. Through the music video, Harket is using de Saussure’s language/la langue to visually show why the girl should take him on. According to de Saussure, langue is “the internal structure of the language, not the language itself.” The video serves as the internal structure and representation of the language itself. The lyrics themselves are the
The different realities in the video, both the 2-D world and the real world, represent two different signs. In the 2-D world, Harket is a sign for what the girl wants. In the real world, he is a sign for what she knows she can’t have. The opposite signs in each reality represent the tribulations of young love that Harket is struggling with, as proved by the lyrics of the song.
Mythologies Roland Barthes
In his essay, Mythologies, Roland Barthes defines “myth,” and how it affects how we as humans perceive and consume media. He says that myths help to convey messages and communicate. Every form of media that we consume has some sort of myth that conveys some sort of message or meaning of the media, whether it be a headline, a film, a novel, etc. In Take On Me’s music video, Harket references back to Barthes’ description of myths, in that he is displaying a false version of himself that seems more appealing in order to convince the girl to go out with him. The girl, of course, believes what she sees because she is infatuated and developing feelings for Harket. The myth in this video is Harket’s ability to bring the girl into this imaginary world, and the girl consumes and believes that myth because of her feelings for Harket, and her desire to be with him.
Harry Styles released Satellite in May 2022 as part of his third album Harry’s House. The highly anticipated album went on to win Album of the Year at The Grammys. The song seems to be about wanting someone that you cannot have. However, Harry Styles fans have also compared the song to what it feels like to be “the therapist friend,” and wanting to be there for someone important in your life.
The video follows a robot trying to find a satellite that he saw on the news while backstage at a Harry Styles concert.
The video features footage of Harry and his band backstage and on stage before showing the robot, named Stomper, through California as it searches for the satellite. When it finally finds the robot after realizing it is in the sky, Stomper lays in a field next to Harry and slowly, his battery dies as they both look up at the sky.
The song seems to be about wanting someone that you cannot have. However, Harry Styles fans have also compared the song to what it feels like to be “the therapist friend,” and wanting to be there for someone important in your life. The video plays into the first idea by showing Stomper going in circles (like a satellite) while trying to find the satellite. Styles writes “Spinning out, waitin for ya to pull me in // I can see you’re lonely down there // Don’t you know that I am right here.” Styles clearly wrote these lyrics for someone to hear, likely someone he wanted to be close to but could not, whatever the reason may have been.
Course In General Linguistic Ferdinand de Saussure
The langue, or the unspoken language in this music video, is Stomper’s dedication to finding the satellite that he saw. Both Stomper’s dedication represent the speech/la parole, and the lyrics that Styles wrote are the speech because they are Styles’ direct translation of his feelings of wanting to be there for someone that he cannot have. Music videos are generally an additional form of media that provide a langue for the artists’ original speech. In both Satellite and Take On Me, the visual aspect allows the artist(s) to add on to the original speech/la parole that they had written by providing a representation of “the internal structure of a language, not the language itself,” as de Saussure described.
Mythologies Roland Barthes
In the video, Stomper ventures to find the satellite after seeing it on the TV backstage at one of Harry Styles’ concerts. There seems to be a hint of romantic interest behind Stomper and the satellite, which can be compared to Disney’s 2008 film, Wall-E.
The upbeat pace of the song, as well as the music video following Stomper on his search for his satellite, seem to serve as a “myth” that Stomper and his satellite will have a happy ending. Upon initial viewing, viewers might be awaiting Stomper finding his satellite because of the myths and signs providing false hope for a happy ending. Unfortunately, when Stomper realizes his satellite is in the sky and he cannot get to it, he sits in a field next to Harry Styles and looks up at the sky, before realizing that his battery is running low. He accepts it and looks back towards the sky, towards the satellite that he was dedicated to finding. He spends what he knows will be his last moments as close to his satellite as possible, knowing he will never be able to have what he so badly wanted.
Discussion Questions
The upbeat tune of Satellite gives the myth that the plot of the music video will have a happy ending. In what ways do song lyrics or beats provide false signs about the true meaning of the song (i.e. a sad song that sounds happy)?
Satellite and Take On Me have similar themes of wanting something you cannot have. Harry Styles’ hit song, As It Was, has been compared to Take On Me for having a similar sound. Besides theme and sound, how can songs be related to one another?
Take On Me and Satellite also have similar auras of being written to someone that the respective artists want to be close to. However, the aura of Take On Me may be overlooked as it is such a popular and catchy tune that listeners may sing along without digesting the lyrics. Similarly, it is unclear if Satellite was written for a friendship or relationship, or even a familial relationship. However, fans have interpreted the lyrics through many different lenses. In what ways can the auras of a song change?