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| "Velvet" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Savoy | |
| from the album Mary Is Coming | |
| Released | May 1996 [1] |
| Recorded | c. 1996 |
| Genre | Rock |
| Length | 4:35 [2] |
| Label | Warner Bros. |
| Songwriter(s) | |
"Velvet" is a song by Savoy, a band fronted by A-ha's guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, from their debut studio album, Mary Is Coming (1996). Savoy's version was released as a single in the United States, but received minimal airplay.
| "Velvet" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by A-ha | ||||
| from the album Minor Earth Major Sky | ||||
| Released | September 2000 | |||
| Recorded | 2000 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:01 | |||
| Label | WEA | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) |
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| A-ha singles chronology | ||||
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A-ha's version of "Velvet" replaced Savoy's guitars with sitars. Their version, which served as the third single from Minor Earth Major Sky , was released to radio stations in Germany (and in other European countries such as Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands) in September 2000 and was released to German record stores on 6 November (one week later in other parts of Europe). Originally, "The Sun Never Shone That Day" was to be released in Norway instead of "Velvet", but it was later decided that "Velvet" would also be released in Norway.
The backing vocals were performed by Simone Larsen of the Norwegian band D'Sound.
A-ha's music video for "Velvet" portrays the band as murder victims, opening with Morten Harket as a dead man in a bathtub: a girl killed him by electrocution, dropping a plugged hairdryer in the tub. Throughout the video he is taken to the morgue, tagged, etc., all the while singing the lyrics. Paul Waaktaar-Savoy plays his guitar while apparently dead from a gunshot to the head (shot by a girl who looks very similar to the girl who killed Morten), and Magne Furuholmen's body is found in a freezer. All three continue singing and playing while being brought to the morgue, and within it. Some scenes in the morgue controversially suggest necrophilia. [3] The director of this video was Harald Zwart, who also directs Hollywood movies. Zwart, a fellow Norwegian, chose this song to be a part of his new film at the time, One Night at McCool's .
The so-called "licking version" of this video appears on the international DVD release of One Night at McCool's, as well as on the DVD enclosed with the deluxe edition of 25 , where it is labeled as "European Cut". The "licking version" got its name because it features the older nurse seen near the end of the video licking Morten's lips instead of kissing him.
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Germany (Official German Charts) [4] | 48 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [5] | 92 |
a-ha is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, Magne Furuholmen, and Morten Harket, the band rose to fame during the mid-1980s.
Harald Zwart is a Dutch-Norwegian film director.
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy is a Norwegian musician and songwriter. Waaktaar-Savoy is best known for his work as the main songwriter and guitarist in the Norwegian pop band a-ha, which has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. He has written or co-written most of the band's biggest hits, including "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.", "Hunting High and Low", "Take On Me", the 1987 James Bond theme "The Living Daylights" and the ballad "Summer Moved On". In addition, Waaktaar-Savoy is also a painter.
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Necrophilia has been a topic in popular culture.
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