Music / Happy Nation

Where the people understand
And dream of perfect man

No one's gonna drag you up
To get into the light where you belong
^{Click for the Happy Nation (U.S. Version) cover} 

When she woke up late in the morning light
And the day had just begun
She opened up her eyes and thought
"Oh, what a morning."
It's not a day for work
It's a day for catching tan
Just lying on the beach and having fun
She's going to get you

—"All That She Wants"

Happy Nation is the first studio album recorded by Swedish pop group Ace of Base. It was released through Mega Records in Denmark on 2 November 1992, and spread through Europe via PolyGram throughout 1993.

The album was re-titled as The Sign for release in North America through Arista Records on 23 November 1993. The re-arrangement was simultaneously released in Europe on the same day through PolyGram as Happy Nation (U.S. Version).

For the original recording, sisters Jenny and Linn Berggren, their brother Jonas "Joker" Berggren, and Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, were heavily influenced by a reggae band that was recording at a studio near where they lived at the time. After some bureaucratic missteps, producer Denniz PoP, who was trying to sign them at Mega, got them to record a song for him.

That song, "All That She Wants", a reggae-infused song about a promiscuous woman that they had been working on for a year at that point, would net them their first record deal, and be a cornerstone for the coming album.

The original album blew up in a major way. It was #1 in most major European markets, including the United Kingdom (double-Platinum), France (Diamond), and Germany (triple-Platinum).^note These numbers include the U.S. Version of Happy Nation, but not The Sign.

In their native Sweden, it peaked at #3.

As their popularity grew in Europe, Arista found out about them, and brought them to the United States. For that release, a few changes were made. A remix of their debut single, "Wheel of Fortune", was dropped; a few songs were re-recorded, and three other tracks were dropped entirely. They added a new song written solo by Joker, as well as a cover of the song "Don't Turn Around", originally made popular by Tina Turner. The latter would end up being the only song on either album not written by either Joker or Buddha (most were written by both), though Buddha would add a touch of customization to it.

That is when the album, and the band, really exploded.

The album was the big hit of 1994 worldwide. In the United States, it went nine-times Platinum. It would top the year-end Billboard 200 album chart for 1994 after spending 26 consecutive weeks within its top three spots. It was also certified Diamond in Canada.

Happy Nation and its U.S. Version produced seven singles in Europe: "Wheel of Fortune", "All That She Wants", the Title Track, "Waiting for Magic", "The Sign", "Don't Turn Around", and "Living in Danger". In North America, The Sign released four singles: their Title Track, "All That She Wants", "Don't Turn Around", and "Living in Danger". It yielded three Top 10 hits in the UK and the US; "The Sign" topped the Billboard Hot 100, while "All That She Wants" topped the pop chart in the UK. They'd each go #2 in the other major market.

Together, they have sold 23 million copies worldwide. The Guinness Book of Records listed it in 1995 as the best-selling debut studio album in music history, at that point at 19 million copies. Billboard lists them together among the biggest-selling albums of all time.

In 2016, Russian label Mirumir put together an Ultimate Edition which combined all the tracks of the various versions of Happy Nation in a multi-album vinyl release, along with the various digital bonus tracks collected over the years.

Tracklist for Happy Nation:

1. "Voulez-Vous Danser" (3:17)
2. "All That She Wants" (3:30)
3. "Münchhausen (Just Chaos)" (3:27)
4. "Happy Nation" (4:11)
5. "Waiting for Magic" (5:17)
6. "Fashion Party" (4:10)
7. "Wheel of Fortune" (3:52)
8. "Dancer in a Daydream" (3:37)
9. "My Mind" (mindless mix) (4:09)
10. "Wheel of Fortune" (original club mix) (3:58)
11. "Dimension of Depth" (1:45)
12. "Young and Proud" (3:54)
13. "All That She Wants" (Banghra version) (4:14)

Tracklist for The Sign:

1. "All That She Wants" (3:30)
2. "Don't Turn Around" (3:48)
3. "Young and Proud" (3:54)
4. "The Sign" (3:08)
5. "Living in Danger" (3:44)
6. "Dancer in a Daydream" (3:39)
7. "Wheel of Fortune" (3:54)
8. "Waiting for Magic" (Total remix 7") (3:49)
9. "Happy Nation" (4:13)
10. "Voulez-Vous Danser" (3:21)
11. "My Mind" (Mindless mix) (4:10)
12. "All That She Wants" (Banghra version) (4:14)

Tracklist for Happy Nation (U.S. Version):

1. "All That She Wants" (3:30)
2. "Don't Turn Around" (3:48)
3. "Young and Proud" (3:56)
4. "The Sign" (3:08)
5. "Living in Danger" (3:41)
6. "Voulez-Vous Danser" (3:17)
7. "Happy Nation" (4:13)
8. "Hear Me Calling" (3:48)
9. "Waiting for Magic" (total remix 7") (3:50)
10. "Fashion Party" (4:10)
11. "Wheel of Fortune" (3:52)
12. "Dancer in a Daydream" (3:37)
13. "My Mind" (mindless mix) (4:08)
14. "All That She Wants" (Banghra version) (4:14)
15. "Happy Nation" (Remix) (3:45)
16. "Giving It Up" (Ace Version) (3:29)

"Trope for yourself, it's a wonderful thing:"

• The Cover Changes the Meaning: Just backing the key of "Don't Turn Around" down 1 1/2 notes makes the song much sadder. And the lines added by Buddha provide a different perspective with the same feeling. While the original Tina Turner version is a bittersweet-to-triumphant ballad about a woman putting on a brave face at the end of a relationship, the Ace of Base version is an unambiguously sad song about two people being too proud to recognize that such end might be a mistake.
• Face on the Cover: Jenny and Linn are both on the cover of The Sign, and thus the U.S. version of Happy Nation.
• Reggae: A heavy influence in many of the songs, especially the hits.
• Title Track: Has the unique distinction of two title tracks: "Happy Nation", and "The Sign".