"The Blood That Moves the Body" is a song by Norwegian band A-ha, released on 6 June 1988 by Warner Bros. Records as the second single from the band's third studio album, Stay on These Roads (1988). The song was written by bandmember Pål Waaktaar and produced by Alan Tarney. It peaked at number one in Iceland, and was a top 20 hit in Belgium, Ireland, Italy and South Africa. The music video was directed by Andy Morahan and filmed in Austria and France. On 30 March 1992, the song was re-released with the remixes by Alan Tarney. The video remained unchanged. The dark, enigmatic lyrics of this song have been attributed to many things, including teen suicides in Japan and literary references to Eyes of a Blue Dog. The "Two-Time Gun Remix" was later included on A-ha's 2010 compilation album, 25, which features all of the band's hits, across two CDs.

Critical reception

Bob Stanley from NME wrote, "In the absence of any Stock Aitken Waterman product this is far and away the best chart pop single of the week. Morten Harket's voice ranges from gruff 'n' moody to its more familiar velveteen lilt, backed by a string arrangement John Barry would be proud of — very good indeed."

Music video

The accompanying music video for "The Blood That Moves the Body" was directed by Andy Morahan and filmed in and around Hotel Regina Louvre in Paris, France. Some additional scenes were filmed in Vienna.

Track listings

Note 1: Track 1 is also known as "Extended Remix" or "Extended Mix". Note 2: Also released as a 12" picture disc (W 7840 TP) Note: Remixes by Alan Tarney. Note: Remixes by Alan Tarney. Note: Remixes by Alan Tarney.

Charts