Produced by Alan Tarney
*Produced by Paul and Magne
ALLMUSIC REVIEW:
While not quite as strong as the band's debut, Scoundrel Days is still a-ha succeeding as a marketed "pretty boy" band which can connect musically and lyrically as much as any musical sacred cow. The opening two songs alone make for one of the best one-two opening punches around: the tense edge of the title track, featuring one of Morten Harket's soaring vocals during the chorus and a crisp, pristine punch in the music, and "The Swing of Things," a moody, elegant number with a beautiful synth/guitar arrangement (plus some fine drumming courtesy of studio pro Michael Sturgis) and utterly lovelorn lyrical sentiments that balance on the edge of being overheated without quite going over. Although the rest of the disc never quite hits as high as the opening, it comes close more often than not. A definite downturn is the band's occasional attempts to try and prove themselves as a "real" band by rocking out, as on "I've Been Losing You" — there's really no need for it, and as a result they sound much more "fake," ironically enough. Other songs can perhaps only be explained by the need to translate lyrics — "We're Looking for the Whales" isn't an environmental anthem, and neither is "Cry Wolf," but both also don't really succeed in using nature as romantic metaphor. When a-ha are on, though, they're on — "October" snakes along on a cool bass/keyboard arrangement and a whispery vocal from Harket; "Maybe Maybe" is a quirky little pop number that's engagingly goofy; while "Soft Rains of April" captures the band at its most dramatic, with the string synths giving Harket a perfect bed to launch into a lovely vocal, concluding with a sudden, hushed whisper. The '80s may be long gone, but Scoundrel Days makes clear that not everything was bad back then.
ALLMUSIC GAVE THE ALBUM 3 1/2 OUT OF 5 STARS.
SINGLES RELEASED FROM THE ALBUM: 1//I'VE BEEN LOSING YOU 2//CRY WOLF 3//MAYBE, MAYBE(ONLY BOLIVIA) 4//MANHATTAN SKYLINE
'Manhattan Skyline' is number 9 on Magne Furuholmen's top 10 A-ha songs. Magne: Full-on a-ha ambition. A song by Paul and one by me combined into one - our first pop symphony. In between 'Scoundrel Days' and 'Stay On These Roads' albums, 'The living Daylights' were released as a James Bond - single in 87.
CHART POSITIONS FOR THE ALBUM:
Number 1 in Norway
Number 2 in UK
Number 6 Swiss album charts
Number 11 in Italy
Number 74 in US
Number 4 in Germany
Number 9 in Austria
Number 33 in Canada
Number 11 in Sweden
(ONLY PIN - UP POSTERS
LOOKING DOWN AT ME...)
SOME PICTURES FROM THE 'SCOUNDREL' PERIOD;
CERTIFICATIONS:
UK: PLATINUM
GER: GOLD
BRA: PLATINUM
SWI: PLATINUM
FRA: PLATINUM
Source: Wikipedia
SALES FIGURE:
'SCOUNDREL DAYS' HAS SOLD MORE THAN 5.7 MILLIONS COPIES WORLDWIDE.
Source: The swing of things by Jan Omdahl.
MUSIC VIDEOS:
1//I'VE BEEN LOSING YOU
2//CRY WOLF
3//MANHATTAN SKYLINE
'THE LIVING DAYLIGHT' IS NOT ON THE SCOUNDREL DAYS ALBUM,HOWEVER THE VIDEO WAS RELEASED AS THE SINGLE FOR THE JAMES BOND MOVIE WITH THE SAME NAME IN 1987. DIRECTOR WAS STEVE BARRON THE SAME MAN THAT MADE THE MORE KNOWN 'TAKE ON ME' VIDEO FOR A-HA. BY THE WAY, HE (STEVE BARRON) WAS ALSO THE DIRECTOR ON 'CRY WOLF' AND 'MANHATTAN SKYLINE' FROM THE SCOUNDREL DAYS ALBUM.
AWARDS:
Bravo Gold OTTO Award – Best Popband of the Year 1986
The Per Gynt Award
Spelleman for Best Pop Album: Scoundrel Days
Spelleman The Jury’s Honorary Award
Montreux, the “IM&MC Gala”: “Best Group Video Award”
(British Industry Award) : “Cry Wolf”
Berolina Awards Berlin: Best International Group Award
Australian “Count Down Awards” : “Most Popular International Act” award
Azzurro Festivla in Bari, Italy: a-ha receives an award
Australian Video Awards : Award for “Hunting High and Low” music video
Source; a-ha.com
LYRICS:
SCOUNDREL DAYS
Was that somebody screaming?
It wasn’t me for sure
I lift my head up from uneasy pillows
Put my feet on the floor
Cut my wrist on a bad thought
And head for the door
Outside on the pavement
The dark makes no noise
I can feel the sweat on my lips
Leaking into my mouth
I’m heading out for the steep hills
They’re leaving me no choice
And see as our lives are in the making
We believe through the lies and the hating
That love goes free
For want of an option
I run the wind ’round
I dream pictures of houses burning
Never knowing nothing else to do
With death comes the morning
Unannounced and new
Was it too much to ask for
To pull a little weight?
They forgive anything but greatness
These are scoundrel days
And I’m close to calling out their names
As pride hits my face
See as our lives are in the making
We believe through their lies and the hating
That love goes free
Through scoundrel days
I reach the edge of town
I’ve got blood in my hair
Their hands touch my body
From everywhere
But I know that I’ve made it
As I run into the air
And see as our lives are in the making
We believe through the lies and the hating
That love goes free
Through scoundrel days
Magne Furuholmen / Paul Waaktaar-Savoy
© 1986 Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
THE SWING OF THINGS
You say the world’s an eventful place
You give me news I don’t want to know
You say that I should care
That I should speak my mind
Oh, but how can I speak of the world rushing by
With a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes
Oh, have we come to the point of no turning back
Or is it still time to get into the swing of things
Let us walk through this windless city
I’ll go on till the winter gets me
Oh, “sleep” you wrote “sleep, my dear”
In a letter somewhere
Oh, but how can I sleep with your voice in my head
With an ocean between us and room in my bed
Oh, have I come to the point where I’m losing the grip
Or is it still time to get into the swing of things
Oh, when she glows in the dark and I’m weak by the sight
Of this breathtaking beauty in which I can hide
Oh, there’s a worldful out there
Of people I fear
But given time I’ll get into
The swing of things
Yes, when she glows in the dark and I’m struck by the sight
I know that I’ll need this for the rest of my life
What have I done, what lies I have told
I’ve played games with the ones that rescued my soul
Oh, have I come to the point where I’m losing the grip
Or is it still time to get into the swing of things
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy
© 1986 Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
I'VE BEEN LOSING YOU
It wasn’t the rain that washed away
Rinsed out the colours of your eyes
Putting the gun down on the bedside table
I must have realised
It wasn’t the rain that made no difference
And I could have sworn it wasn’t me
Yet I did it all so coldly, almost slowly
Plain for all to see
Oh c’mon please now
Talk to me
Tell me; things I could find helpful
How can I stop now
Is there nothing I can do
I have lost my way
I’ve been losing you
I can still hear our screams competing
You’re hissing your s’s like a snake
Now in the mirror stands
Half a man I thought no one could break
It wasn’t the rain
That made no difference
Nervously drumming on: run away
But I want the guilt to get me
Thoughts to wreck me
Preying on my mind
So, please now
Talk to me
Tell me things I could find helpful
For how can I stop now?
Is there nothing I can do
I have lost my way
I’ve been losing you
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy
© 1986 Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
OCTOBER
Dawn awaits a sleepless, English town
Of coloured gray
Here I roam the streets without you
As summer fades away
Down in the city at nights
The cold wind blows
Wherever you may be right now
It must be getting late
You’re probably asleep already
I am wide awake
Down in the city at nights
“Don’t be lonely”
So you’ve told me
But don’t you worry now
Loneliness can be ignored
And time has shown me how
Down in the city at nights
I’m missing you so much
Down in the city
Down in the city
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy
© 1986 Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
MANHATTAN SKYLINE
We sit and watch umbrellas fly
I’m trying to keep my newspaper dry
I hear myself say, “My boat’s leaving now”
So we shake hands and cry
Now I must wave goodbye
Wave goodbye
You know
I don’t want to cry again
Don’t want to cry again
I don’t want to say goodbye
Don’t wanna cry again
I don’t wanna run away
I don’t want to race this pain
I’ll never see your face again
Oh but how
How can you say
That I didn’t try
You see things in the depths of my eyes
That my love’s run dry
No
We leave to their goodbyes
I’ve come to depend on the look in their eyes
My blood’s sweet for pain
The wind and the rain bring back words of a song
And they say wave goodbye
Wave goodbye
You know
I don’t want to fall again
I don’t wanna know this pain
I don’t want another friend
I don’t wanna try again
Don’t want to see you hurt
Don’t let me see you hurt
I don’t wanna cry again
I’ll never see your face again
How can you say that I didn’t try?
You know I did
You see things in the depths of my eyes
That my love’s run dry
(I don’t wanna cry again)
So I read to myself
A chance of a lifetime to see new horizons
On the front page
A black and white picture of
Manhattan Skyline
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy / Magne Furuholmen
© 1986 Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
CRY WOLF
“Night I left the city
I dreamt of a wolf”
He came from where the winds are cold
And truth is seen through keyholes
Strange longings never sleep
Now he’s come where no hearts beat
Cry wolf
Time to worry
Cry wolf
Time to worry now
You can start, but you cannot stop
You give in, but you can’t give up
You can tell all your desperate jokes
To a world that puts your
Love on hold
Cry wolf
Time to worry
Cry wolf
Time to worry now
The sunken-in eyes
And the pain in his cries
A shape in the dark
Cry wolf
Time to worry
Cry wolf
Time to worry now
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy / Magne Furuholmen
© 1986 Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
WE'RE LOOKING FOR THE WHALES
One left low left two who left high
They seem so hard to find
Three came twice took once the time
To search
We’re looking for a little bewildered girl
We’re looking for a little bewildered girl
We’re looking for the whales
Restlessness is in our genes
Time won’t wear it off
Born into this world with our eyes wide open
Girl
We’re looking for a little bewildered girl
We’re looking for a little bewildered girl
We’re looking for the whales
I found angels beached outside your doors
Don’t you set those lonely eyes on me
We’re looking for the whales
We’re looking for the whales
Magne Furuholmen / Paul Waaktaar-Savoy
© 1986 Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
THE WEIGHT OF THE WIND
Your face looked new against the town
You’ve come to lose some memories
Like you came to touch new grounds
But you want to lose
The weight of the wind
Rests hard on your shoulders
It’s bringing you down
The one that you love
Will never be found
You speak into the falling rain
Words you’d lost, but found again
I see their snakey arms entwined
So clear and cruel
In your jealous mind
But you’ve got to lose
The weight of the wind
Hard on your shoulders
Getting you down
The one that you love
Will never be found
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy
© 1986 Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
MATBE, MAYBE
Maybe you were joking
When you said that you were walking out on me
Maybe, maybe
Maybe I was joking
When I said that I was running out on you
Maybe, maybe
I could be wrong, so wrong
I could be wrong, so wrong
I could be wrong
I don’t know, but it’s been said
Decisions travel far from heart to head
Maybe, maybe
Maybe it was over
When you chucked me out the
Rover at full speed
Maybe, maybe oh baby
I could be wrong, so wrong
I could be wrong, so wrong
I could be wrong, so wrong
Magne Furuholmen
© 1986 Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
SOFT RAINS OF APRIL
The soft rains of April are over
The soft rains of April are over, over
Anybody home now
I am on the phone now, please
The soft rains of April are over
The ferry across the water to Dover, over
Anybody home now
I am on the phone, oh I’d like to go back
Is it raining back home
I’m so alone
Just got up today
And my thoughts are miles away
With you
Well, they gave me four years
Three more to go
Keep writing letters
Time’s passing so slow
So soft rains of April are over
The soft rains of April are over
Over
Magne Furuholmen / Paul Waaktaar-Savoy
© 1986 Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
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