"You're All the Things I've Got to Remember"

I remember 1985 . . . when I turned 14; I was madly in love with a guy named Morten Harket. He was a work of art. I had saved all the pennies I had to buy his band's album. I had heard Take on Me when it was released in October, and I saved until my birthday to buy the tape. Choir traveled to the nearest big city for a performance and a trip to the mall. I found the first music store, bought the album, and listened to my tape in a walk-man all the way home. And my world was never the same, because for the first time in my life I knew what it felt like to truly connect to a music group, to live in another person's voice. There was something haunting about the way Morten's voice spoke to my core when he sang Hunting High and Low.

I suppose we could write off my obsession with the group to teenage

hormones, but I am well past that stage, and the music still effects me the way it did at 13. There is something special in the way these three men weave music, something extraordinary happens. A-ha. Nothing else to say. Even my fourteen year old ears knew they were hearing something unique, something that would inspire others.

It has been several years since a cold December day when I fell in love with the man and his group's music. One of my new favorite groups, Coldplay, claims that A-ha is their greatest inspiration. I am not surprised. They were always a bigger deal in Europe than they were in the States. I have checked in every year or so to see if anything new was being released. I am still a little lovesick (in a healthy way) over Morten. Yes, teenage angst and painting worthy men make a lovely joining, but there is something more, something that makes

me love music more than I did before I heard them. For the first time I dreamt of faraway places like Norway, and I could see a different world from the little town I was being raised in.

Well, here I am 25 years after that cold winter night still listening to A-ha in the dark. In some ways nothing has changed. I can still hear my old Hunting High and Low album and remember what it was like to have the sound of Norwegian harmonies filling my bedroom. I can still look at Morten and think that God made art into man. His voice still makes me smile, and the vocals still surprise and delight. Now I have a daughter, and she is crazy for my favorite group too. With the release of their newest album 25, A-ha is Ending on a High Note. The group is retiring, and they will end it all in Oslo on a cold December night, much the way it all began (at least for me). Their last single is my daughter's favorite song! How apropos. So a taste of what started it all, and the last delicious bite are posted below for your listening pleasure. Thank you boys, for 25 years, and 10 albums of absolutely wonderful music. "It was sweeter than the wildest dream" of youth, and music, and artistic joy. Farvel . You will be missed.