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Eric Jackson

Professor Granillo

English 101

10 February 2019

Writing Assignment #1

Music is an essential part of human culture. It connects people and conveys a

languageless emotion that can be felt deep inside. Some songs can cause you to feel a rhythm

deep inside you that forces you to nod your head or even break out into dance. There are many

terms for such songs such as “jam” or “banger”, but some songs are meant to be experienced

more than expressed. To feel the beat of such a song and rhythmically tie your body to the words

and notes; these types of songs are called “bops”. There is one song though that I believe stands

above all other bops as the greatest bop of all time. Through its deft use of unique instrumentals

and deep lyrical mastery, “Take On Me” by A-ha is unequivocally the greatest bop of all time.

“Take On Me” was a single released in the 1980s by the Norwegian band A-ha. The track

had been originally released in music video form to dance clubs and on television a month before

it was available in stores. Soon after its release in the US with the accompanying music video on

MTV, the song blew up and reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the

list for twenty-seven weeks dropping to only tenth by the end of the year. It's one hit wonder

nature and instant success within the US as well as the fact that the song was originally intended

for dance clubs gives credence to the fact that this song was a true bop. Such performance shows

that the song most definitely caught the attention of people and its numbers are one of the

strongest indicators of my analysis. The undeniable fact is that “Take On Me” became a wildly
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successful song immediately following its release into dance clubs in the US, which is indicative

of its bop status while also demonstrating its musical superiority.

The song is lyrically and instrumentally fantastic in its composition and performance

which further solidifies its spot as number one bop of all time. For starters the song features a

rapid beat of 168 beats per minute a rate much higher than current hip hop songs (80-115 bpm).

This beat helps create a rhythm that gets your body moving by matching the heart rate achieved

by intense workouts. Another thing the song has going for it is its lyrics which are a plea for

love, a topic that is widely loved in the musical genre. This helps with mass appeal and makes

connecting the rhythm to the lyrics that much easier as they can both be associated with a

person's heart. Lastly and most important is the most unique aspect of the song in that it features

a vocal range of two and a half octaves. This is an incredible feat and causes this song to be

instantly recognizable for its mere ability to hit the note E5 in the falsetto section of its chorus. In

the end, the musical mastery and lyric genius in this song allow it to be instantly recognized and

loved. Moreover the structure of the song lends itself perfectly to bopping.

The final aspect of the song that must be mentioned is its immortalization in popular

culture and especially meme hood. The song has been used numerous times in popular culture

whether as a thematic score for the trailers of movies such as Ready Player One and The Lego

Movie. Another use of the song is in the film Deadpool 2 where it plays during an emotional

scene that mirrors the original MTV music video for the song. Its profound popularity also

presents itself through its many uses in internet memes. Most overtly, the over the shoulder turn

format that was popularized on vine. All in all it is impossible to deny that the song has a place

in current pop culture and continues to be the greatest thing we can bop to.