Foot of the Mountain (song)

"Foot of the Mountain" is a song by Norwegian band A-ha, released as the lead single from their ninth studio album of the same name (2009). It was used as the official anthem of the 2009 World Championships in Athletics held in Berlin.[1] The single reached number three in Germany, the band's highest-charting single in that country since "Take On Me" in 1985.[2]

"Foot of the Mountain"
Single by A-ha
from the album Foot of the Mountain
Released5 May 2009
RecordedMay 2009
Genre
Length3:57
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Roland Spremberg
A-ha singles chronology
"Cosy Prisons"
(2006)		 "Foot of the Mountain"
(2009)		 "Nothing Is Keeping You Here"
(2009)
Music video
"Foot of the Mountain" on YouTube

"Foot of the Mountain" was the most played song on Norwegian radio in 2009, with 122 hours, 32 minutes and 39 seconds of playing time, marking the first time a Norwegian artist has topped the list.[3]

Release

"Foot of the Mountain", was released exclusively as a download single in select territories of Mainland Europe.[4] In Germany, a physical two-track CD single was released. In the United Kingdom, a digital bundle was released.

Promotion

In May 2009, the band performed the song on the show Germany's Next Top Model[5] hosted by Heidi Klum and on The Dome alongside fellow Norwegian Alexander Rybak. On 11 June 2009 at 8:13 CEST the music video premiered simultaneously on four major German networks, namely ProSieben, Sat.1, kabel eins and N24. It was also made available for streaming on the major German website Myvideo.de.[2]

Music video

The music video for the track, co-directed by Olaf Heine and Mik Rahner, was shot in Berlin, Hamburg and along the Baltic coast of Pomerania. The video centers on singer Morten Harket, with brief cameo appearances by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen. In the documentary A-ha: The Success Story, songwriter Waaktaar-Savoy stated that although he loved living in New York, he "often wondered whether I would be happier out in the open, by the foot of the mountain", when asked about the song's chorus. In the same interview, co-writer Furuholmen said his contribution to the song, the verses, were about "urban clutter".[6] In the video, these angles are made a point of as Harket moves from a claustrophobic Berlin to the open landscapes of Pomerania. The video was made commercially available in Germany on a special edition of the Foot of the Mountain album.[1]

Track listings
  • German 2-track CD single
  1. "Foot of the Mountain" (Radio Edit) – 3:44
  2. "Foot of the Mountain" (Album Version) – 3:57[7]
  • UK digital bundle
  1. "Foot of the Mountain" (Radio Edit)
  2. "Foot of the Mountain" (Album Edit)
  3. "Foot of the Mountain" (Bohème7 Remix)
  4. "Foot of the Mountain" (Erik Ljunggren Remix)
  5. "Foot of the Mountain" (Video)

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[14] Gold 150,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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 "Foot of the Mountain".[15]

References
  1. Videos | The Official Website of A-ha Archived 2011-04-09 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Morten harket - - Det har vært helt fantastisk! - SEHER.NO : Norske
  3. Grønneberg, Anders (24 October 2010). "Dobbeltseier til a-ha". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 26 December 2010.
  4. "The Official Community of a-ha: News, Concert Info, Tickets, Biography and Photos". Archived from the original on 8 October 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  5. "The Swing Of Things » Blog Archive » A-ha appeared on german Top Model Finale". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  6. YouTube - A-ha - The Success Story - Part 1 (HD)
  7. "A-ha - discography - Foot of the Mountain". Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  8. "a-ha – Foot of the Mountain" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  9. "a-ha – Foot of the Mountain" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  10. "a-ha – Foot of the Mountain". VG-lista. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  11. "a-ha – Foot of the Mountain". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  12. "a-ha: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  13. "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts – 2009" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  14. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (A-ha; 'Foot Of The Mountain')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  15. 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).
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