Norwegian synth-pop band A-Ha’s ‘Take on Me‘ was played on the new episode of The Last of Us last night as Ellie is at the abandoned mall with Riley and gets to ride down an escalator for the first time in her life — The Last of Us, Episode 7, “Left Behind“.
A-Ha’s ‘Take on Me‘ was released by the Norwegian band back in 1984 as the lead single from their debut studio album Hunting High and Low.
It went on to become a huge international hit for the then largely unknown indie band, hitting #1 in Norway, Sweden and New Zealand.
That hit song became even bigger after the ‘Take on Me‘ music video was released. A video that featured both live footage and pencil sketch animation to glorious effect.
So popular was the video, it went into heavy rotation on MTV, was nominated for many awards, and has since earned over 1.6 billion views on YouTube alone.
The song also charted in 12 other countries, including the United States where its initial success on college and alternative radio stations shot ‘Take on Me‘ to #15 on the Billboard 200 chart.
The track was eventually certified Gold, Platinum or 2 or 3 x Platinum in 12 countries.
You can listen to A-Ha’s ‘Take on Me‘ from yesterday’s The Last of Us in the song’s fabulous music video, and on the band’s Hunting High and Low album.
Oh and yes, after several breakups throughout the last almost 40 years, A-Ha is still together.
Episode 7 of The Last of Us is now out on HBO.