Happy Anniversary: a-ha, “Did Anyone Approach You?”

14 years ago today, a-ha released the third single from their 2002 album, LIFELINES, which – just in case you’ve never heard of it, let alone heard it – was their seventh full-length studio release and a chart-topping album in both Norway and Italy.

Having come back in a big, big way with 2000’s MINOR EARTH | MAJOR SKY, a-ha wasted no time getting back into the studio to record a follow-up. The end result, LIFELINES, clearly tickled the fancy of the band’s fans just as much as the album that had preceded it, with the first single, “Forever Not Yours” topping the singles chart in Norway. The second single, “Lifelines,” wasn’t quite as successful, but the album’s title track did still manage to make it into the Norwegian top 20, climbing to #18.

For whatever reason, “Did Anyone Approach You?” didn’t seem to grab listeners in quite the same way: it failed to chart at all in Norway, and although it did manage to do so in Germany, it got no farther than #67. That said, the video turned out nicely – filmed by Lauren Savoy at Ullevaal Stadion, it was a document of the first concert on the LIFELINES tour – and the band thought highly enough of the song to include it on this year’s comprehensive compilation, Time and Again.