Stay on These Roads (song)

"Stay on These Roads" is a song by Norwegian band A-ha. It was their first single from the album of the same name and was released in early 1988. It achieved success in many European countries.

"Stay on These Roads"
Single by A-ha
from the album Stay on These Roads
B-side"Soft Rains of April" (Original Mix)
Released14 March 1988
Format
Length
  • 4:46 (Single Version)
  • 6:08 (Extended Remix)
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Alan Tarney
A-ha singles chronology
"The Living Daylights"
(1987)		 "Stay on These Roads"
(1988)		 "The Blood That Moves the Body"
(1988)

Release and reception

"Stay on These Roads" was released in the spring of 1988 and became the most successful single from the Stay on These Roads album, along with "The Living Daylights" on the UK charts. The song did not hit the national charts in the United States, but was a significant hit across Europe. It went to number seven in Germany, number three in France and Iceland, and number two in Ireland. In Norway, the song was the band's fourth number one single. "Stay on These Roads" was A-ha's seventh and final top five showing in the United Kingdom, reaching number five on the chart edition of March 27, 1988. It would also prove their last top ten hit in the country for almost two decades, as they did not score another UK top ten hit until eighteen years later in 2006.

A Roland D-50 was used on this song—the sound patch is called "Staccato Heaven"—the wind sound during the instrumental was made on either a Roland Juno 60 or Juno 106 synthesizer.

The versions on the 7" vinyl and the 3" CD single ("7 inch Version") are identical to the album version.

A-ha played the song at Oslo Spektrum on 21 August 2011, performing for a national memorial service dedicated to the victims of the 2011 Norway attacks.[1]

Music video

The official music video was directed by Andy Morahan and was filmed in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. The band are riding on the bikes and take a break in a petrol station.

The song length is four minutes and forty-six seconds.

Formats and track listing

7": Warner Bros. / W 7936 United Kingdom
  1. "Stay on These Roads" - 4:46
  2. "Soft Rains of April" (Original Mix) - 3:18
  • Track 1 is the "Album Version".

12": Warner Bros. / W 7936T United Kingdom
  1. "Stay on These Roads" (Extended Remix) - 6:08
  2. "Soft Rains of April" (Original Mix) - 3:18
  • Also released as a 12" picture disc (W 8405TP)

7": Warner Bros. / 7-27886 United States
  1. "Stay on These Roads" (U.S. 7'' Edit) - 3:54
  2. "You'll End Up Crying - 3:18
  • Track 1 is exclusive to this version

CD: Warner Bros. / W 7936CD United Kingdom
  1. "Stay on These Roads" (7" version) - 4:46
  2. "Soft Rains of April" (Original Mix) - 3:18
  3. "Take on Me" - 3:50
  4. "Cry Wolf" - 4:05

Album releases

This track was released on nine albums by A-ha:

Date Album Track Time
1988-05-01 Stay on These Roads 01 of 10 4:45
1991-11-04 Headlines and Deadlines - The Hits of A-ha 14 of 16 4:46
2005-02-21 The Singles: 1984–2004 09 of 19 4:46
2005-04-11 The Definitive Singles Collection 1984–2004 09 of 18 4:45
2008-07-29 A-ha Live at Vallhall – Sight & Sound series CD & DVD set.
2008 release of the 2001 concert		 10 of 19
(cd1 of 2)
2009-07-19 25 12 of 20
(cd1 of 2)		 4:45
2011-04-25 Ending on a High Note: The Final Concert 06 of 16 (on single CD release) 4:55
2016-03-18 Time and Again: The Ultimate a-ha 08 of 19
(cd1 of 2)		 4:48
2017-10-06 MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice 08 of 11 (cd1 of 2) 6:18

Charts

References
  1. "a-ha.com: A-ha will perform as part of a national memorial service". A-ha.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  2. "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 17 January 2014". imgur.com. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  3. ""Stay on These Roads", Austrian Singles Chart" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  4. ""Stay on These Roads", Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart" (in Dutch). ultratop.be. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  5. ""Stay on These Roads", French Singles Chart" (in French). lescharts.com. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  6. ""Stay on These Roads", German Singles Chart" (in German). charts.de. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  7. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 10 (29. apríl 1988)" (PDF) (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir. Retrieved 26 July 2018. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  8. "Irish Single Chart, database". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  9. ""Stay on These Roads", Norwegian Singles Chart" (in Norwegian). norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  10. ""Stay on These Roads", Swedish Singles Chart" (in Swedish). swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  11. ""Stay on These Roads", Swiss Singles Chart" (in German). hitparade.ch. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  12. ""Stay on These Roads", UK Singles Chart". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  13. "1988 Belgian Flanders Singles Chart" (in Dutch). ultratop.be. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  14. "1988 Year End Eurocharts" (PDF). Music & Media. January 1, 1988. p. 30. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  15. Habib, Elia (2002). Muz hit. tubes (in French). Alinéa Bis. pp. 61–62. ISBN 2-9518832-0-X.
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