The son of Henny and Reidar Harket, and brother to Ingunn, Gunvald, Kjetil and Håkon, Morten grew up in Asker. Early musical influences include Uriah Heep, Queen, Johnny Cash, David Bowie and Peter Gabriel. Before joining a-ha in 1982, Harket appeared on the Oslo club scene as the singer for blues outfit Souldier Blue.
After a-ha took a break in 1994, Morten pursued a solo career, and has so far released four albums. Two of those albums were sung in Norwegian, but his 1995 album, Wild Seed, became more of an International success because of its English lyrics. Morten worked with Håvard Rem, a Norwegian poet, to write most of the songs. A Kind of Christmas Card and Spanish Steps were the most successful numbers. The rest were either easy, simple songs, or more profound ones, like East Timor, and Brodsky Tune, which had messages in them. His latest solo album is called Letter from Egypt and was released in 2008.
Morten holds the record for the longest single note, for a man, in a song, having held a note for 20.2 seconds in a-ha's 2000 song Summer Moved On. This overtook the previous record of 18 seconds held by Bill Withers on the song Lovely Day. The longest note held by a woman is 23 seconds by Barbra Streisand in her 1979 album "Barbra Streisand and Other Musical Instruments", song, "I Never Has Seen Snow".
Morten's new solo album "Out Of My Hands" is released. Morten's also touring in 2012 in South America, United Kingdom and parts of Europe.
http://www.mortenharket.com
Burn Money Burn
Morten Harket Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't like the wheels that you turn
You don't know the value of things
I still like your bells when they ring
Burn, money; burn
What I was taught is not what I learn
I don't need an IQ-score to beat
You could say that
Love's late for someone
You could say that
Love waits on someone
Sing, my heart; sing
I know that you can change anything
I cross the street and lean on the wind
The truth is like a whisper, laughing
Sting, my heart; sting
Our enemy must save their own skin
It just takes a spark to light across
If they could, they would want to be like us
The song Burn Money Burn by Morten Harket is a reflection on the value of money and the materialistic society that humans have created. The lyrics begin with the phrase "Burn, money; burn," which can be interpreted as a call to question the worth of money and criticize it. Harket expresses his distaste for the "wheels that you turn," referring to the capitalism and greed that drives the economic system in society.
The second stanza talks about the conflict between the knowledge that one is taught versus what they learn through life experience. He emphasizes that intelligence is not everything and that one can still succeed by following their heart's desire. The phrase "Love's late for someone," suggests that love may not come to someone at the expected time but waits on someone or a better opportunity. The chorus sings to the heart to listen and encourages it to believe in its ability to change anything. The third stanza emphasizes that the truth is like a whisper, laughing, and that our enemies must save their own skin. He likens the possibility of change to the spark needed to start a fire, believing that society has the ability to converge into a better, less materialistic world.
Line by Line Meaning
Burn, money; burn
I have no desire to accumulate wealth
I don't like the wheels that you turn
I disapprove of the methods used to gain money
You don't know the value of things
You fail to recognize the true worth of things beyond their monetary value
I still like your bells when they ring
I still appreciate the superficial pleasures that money can bring
What I was taught is not what I learn
I have deviated from the conventional wisdom that wealth equals success
I don't need an IQ-score to beat
I do not believe that academic intelligence equates to success in life
Take my heart, there's nothing to compete
I am not competitive in matters of the heart
You could say that
Love's late for someone
One might suggest that love arrives late for certain individuals
You could say that
Love waits on someone
You could also argue that love will eventually find its way to those who wait
Sing, my heart; sing
My heart is free to sing and express itself
I know that you can change anything
I have faith in the transformative power of love
I cross the street and lean on the wind
I embrace the uncertainty of life and allow myself to be carried by the winds of fate
The truth is like a whisper, laughing
The truth can be elusive and mocking at times
Sting, my heart; sting
My heart is not immune to pain
Our enemy must save their own skin
Our adversaries will prioritize their own self-preservation over all else
It just takes a spark to light across
A small action can trigger a larger movement
If they could, they would want to be like us
Our perceived enemies may secretly desire to emulate our way of life
Contributed by John H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Norma Gelfi
Tudo que Morten canta é perfeito anjo maravilhoso! 👐👆👍💕❤️
Norma Gelfi
Morten com sua voz maravilhosa encanta todas as músicas ele é completo!!!!💋💖❤️
Demétrio Garden
mais uma obra divina do Morten Harket....👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Maricela Xicohtencath
Me encanta 😍😍😍la voz ,es hermoso es un angel 💗🙏
Marya Portugal
Great singer.... Music beat and meaningful song! 🎶💟
DGames90
como peruano y de niño siempre me gusto este grupo lo escuche en los 1996 a mis 6 take on me que nunca supe como se decia pero me gusto al día de hoy es mi grupo favorito a mis 32 años sigo escuchando estas lindas canciones del grupo a ha y morten harket
Julie Stanton
Great talent - great voice!
Mohamed Ahmed
This song is soooo underrated...
aloisio antonio
Perfect song always Morten!
Mammeli04
I love this version of the song, even though the original is great as well.