Summer Moved On

"Summer Moved On" is a song by Norwegian band a-ha, released as the group's first single in more than six years. The lead single from their sixth studio album, Minor Earth Major Sky (2000), the song was released in Europe on 25 March 2000 and was given a UK release on 22 May 2000. It was originally hastily written after a-ha agreed to a one-time reunion at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in 1998. The song became a number-one radio hit in much of Europe, including topping the chart in the band's native Norway, and the band has continued to record and perform together to significant international success, though that success has not extended to the United States, where their recent work has gone unreleased. The song sold 2,500,000 copies worldwide. On the song, Morten Harket achieved the European record for the longest note held in a top 40 pop song; Harket sustains a chest voice note for 20.2 seconds (eight measures).[1]

"Summer Moved On"
Single by a-ha
from the album Minor Earth Major Sky
B-side"Barely Hanging On"
Released25 March 2000 (2000-03-25)
Length
  • 4:36 (album edit)
  • 4:06 (radio edit)
LabelWEA
Songwriter(s)Paul Waaktaar-Savoy
Producer(s)Andreas "Boogieman" Herbig and Roland Spremberg
A-ha singles chronology
"Shapes That Go Together"
(1994)		 "Summer Moved On"
(2000)		 "Minor Earth Major Sky"
(2000)
Music video
"Summer Moved On" on YouTube

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from music critics. A reviewer from Evening Herald described it as a "soaring and powerful ballad".[2] Sylvia Patterson from NME wrote, "And now they're back! Swoon! And they're still REALLY GOOD, if not quite The Revolution. Demolition string-quaver quiver-pop-a-ruddy-kimbo as Morten trills 'staaaaay!!!' and a thousand moonbeams dart from black skies of nu-pop baloney on a clifftop everglade under a wind-machine in Rio like 'NSync and all the rest of it never happened. Or, if you like, it's a bit James Bond, 'cos they did the James Bond theme tune once, they were that good. Sigh."[3]

Track listings

Charts

Release history
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
Europe 25 March 2000 (2000-03-25) CD WEA [18]
United Kingdom 22 May 2000 (2000-05-22)
  • CD
  • cassette
 [19]

MTV Unplugged appearance

In 2017, A-ha appeared on the television series MTV Unplugged and played and recorded acoustic versions of many of their popular songs for the album MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice in Giske, Norway, including "Summer Moved On" (featuring Alison Moyet).[20][21]

References
  1. "Record Breakers and Trivia : Singles : Miscellany". everyhit.com. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  2. Evening Herald. 23 May 2000. p.25. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  3. Patterson, Sylvia. "This Week's Singles 13th May 2000". NME. Archived from the original on 11 July 2000. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  4. "a-ha – Summer Moved On" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  5. "a-ha – Summer Moved On" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  6. "a-ha – Summer Moved On" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  7. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 17, no. 18. 29 April 2000. p. 7. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  8. "a-ha – Summer Moved On" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  9. "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 17, no. 29. 15 July 2000. p. 9. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  10. "Irish-charts.com – Discography a-ha". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  11. "a-ha – Summer Moved On" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  12. "a-ha – Summer Moved On". VG-lista. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  13. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  14. "a-ha – Summer Moved On" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  15. "a-ha – Summer Moved On". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  16. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  17. "Swiss Year-End Charts 2000" (in German). Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  18. Stavenes-Dove, Siri (1 April 2000). "a-ha, It's Those Norwegians Again" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 17, no. 14. p. 1. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  19. "New Releases – For Week Starting May 22, 2000: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 20 May 2000. p. 29. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  20. Hoftun Gjestad, Robert (23 June 2017). "Etter 30 år med "tension" fant a-ha tonen igjen i kampen mot en felles fiende" [After 30 years of "tension", A-ha found their sound again, in their fight against a common enemy]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian Bokmål).
  21. "MTV Unplugged - Summer Solstice (2017)". a-ha. October 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
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