Take On Me | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: N.C | N.C :||
||: Bm9 :|| x4
||: Bm | E | A | D C#m :||
| Bm | E | Bm | E |
Verse 1
| Bm | E | A | D C#m |
We’re talking away, no, I don’t know what I’m to say,
| Bm | E | A | D C#m |
I’ll say it anyway, today’s another day to find you,
| Bm | E | F#m | D |
shying away. I’ll be coming for your love, okay?
Chorus 1
| A | E/G# | F#m | D |
Take on me (take on me).
| A | E/G# | F#m | D |
Take me on (take on me).
| A | E/G# | F#m | D | (half time)
I’ll be gone,
| A | E/G# | D | E | (original count)
in a day.
Verse 2
So needless to say, I’m odds and ends but I’ll be,
stumbling away, slowly learning that life is okay.
Say after me, it’s no better to be safe than sorry.
Chorus 2
Take on me (take on me).
Take me on (take on me).
I’ll be gone,
in a day.
Solo
||: C#m | C#m | G | G :||
| Bm | Bm | E | E |
| Bm | E | Bm | E | (half riff repeated)
||: Bm | E | A | D C#m :||
| Bm | E | Bm | E |
Verse 3
Oh, the things that you say, yeah, is it life or just to play my,
worries away? You’re all the things I’ve got to remember,
you’re shying away, I’ll be coming for you anyway.
Chorus 3
||: A | E/G# | F#m | D :||
Take on me (take on me).
Take me on (take on me).
I’ll be gone,
in a day. (take on me, take on me)
(take me on, take on me)
I’ll be gone (take on me, take on me)
In a day (take me on, take on me)
(Take on me, take on me)
(Take me on, take on me)
(Take on me)
Take On Me Chords: Learn the progressions
Perhaps surprisingly, this is great fun to play on the guitar. I’ve tabbed out that (awesome) intro and main riff which you’ll need to get 100% right to impress keyboard players.
Here’s a link to the TAB lesson: Take On Me – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Once you can do it, all you need is the chord chart below to remind you of how to play Take On Me. Let’s look at each section using Roman Numerals. In the key of A, the intro looks like this:
||: Bm (II) | E (V) | A (I) | D (IV) C#m (III) :||
Because it starts on chord II and the I chord is in the middle of the chord progression, it feels as if we never want to stop, very clever.
The chorus feels as if it is slowing down, partly because of the beat but also the chords which are I – V/3 – VI – IV. This progression is more resolved as the I chord starts the journey.
| A (I) | E/G# (V/3) | F#m (VI) | D (IV) |
After repeating this twice, we actually do slow down as the third time is played using half tempo. When the verse comes back we feel very energetic and ready to listen to what is about to happen next.
The final line of the chorus ends on a IV – V, like this:
| A | E/G# | D | E |
This leaves us with just one more chord progression to investigate and it is the most odd one. The solo section goes to C#m (that’s chord III), and then to a G, that’s a bVIIx.
This is followed by a bunch of II – V’s before we play the riff again. Here’s the full solo progression with Roman Numerals.
||: C#m (III) | C#m | G (bVIIIx) | G :||
| Bm (II) | Bm | E (V) | E |
| Bm | E | Bm | E | (half riff repeated)
||: Bm | E | A (I) | D (IV) C#m (III) :||
| Bm | E | Bm | E |
Here’s a chord chart with all sections and structure, bring this to the gig, and have the TAB you practised memorised!
Take On Me Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Take On Me Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Take On Me iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Take On Me was rerecorded and had two music videos made before it became a hit!
A-ha’s Take On Me was an enormous worldwide success for the Norwegian synth poppers, hitting the top spot in eleven countries.
It wasn’t instant though, they had to record and release it twice, complete with a groundbreaking music video before it happened, but when it did, the band became world-famous overnight.
I’m sure the rerecording helped but the video surely was the main reason. Directed by Steve Barron, who also made Money For Nothing, Summer Of ’69, Billie Jean, Run To You, Electric Avenue, and many more it was maybe Take On Me that is his best work.
Set in a world going between cartoons and the real world, Morten Harket and Therese Bunty Bailey fall in love as they get chased by some kind of evil motorcycle gang.
The video took 16 weeks to complete using a technique called rotoscope. This involves painting over film frames which look great but are incredibly time-consuming. For Take On Me, 3000 images were produced.
In the playlist above, there’s a 3 part documentary telling the story of how the video for Take On Me was created by the people who made it.
Take On Me Chords | Related Pages
Take On Me | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Take On Me by A-ha using TAB and chord analysis.
| Bm | E | A | D C#m |
We’re talking away, no, I don’t know what I’m to say…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
A-ha tunes
Norwegian 80s pop/new wave band A-ha had to re-record both their signature song and video before the world woke up to their smash hit.
Their best tunes include Hunting High and Low, The Sun Always Shines On TV, and of course, Take On Me.
A-ha on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Take On Me chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
