Listen: The song that became A-ha's "Take On Me"

A-ha's "Take on Me" was born in 1981 as a song called "Miss Eerie" by A-ha members Pål Waaktaar's and Magne Furuholmen's previous band Bridges. "Miss Eerie" was actually the song's second name out of four total. The "Miss Eerie" 7" is included in a new book, A-Ha: Down to the Tracks. From Wikipedia:

['Miss Eerie"] included elements of what would later become "Take On Me", including the central synth riff, which Magne Furuholmen created when he was 15 years old. Initially the band felt the riff was too pop oriented for their band, thus the first version of the song was more "punky" in an attempt to offset the riff. The first take of the song was inspired in part by Doors member Ray Manzarek and his "almost mathematical but very melodic, structured way of playing". Waaktaar initially thought the song would be too pop to work with although Furuholmen recalled thinking it was "quite catchy". Soon after, Bridges disbanded. Waaktaar and Furuholmen relocated to London to try their hand in the music industry there, but returned to Norway after six months of disappointment. They were joined by singer Morten Harket and began working on demos, including a new version of "Miss Eerie", which was renamed "Lesson One" before it evolved into "Take On Me". In January 1983, the band returned to London in search of a recording contract. They intended the song to show off Harket's vocal range, which led to his vocals "doing this spiraling thing".