The Sign

"The Sign" is a song by Swedish group Ace of Base from their first North American studio album, The Sign (1993), and their re-released debut studio album, Happy Nation (1992), titled Happy Nation (U.S. Version). The song was released by Arista and Mega as a single in Europe on 1 November 1993 and the US on 14 December 1993. It was written by band member Jonas Berggren, who also produced the song with Denniz Pop and Douglas Carr. "The Sign" is a techno-reggae, Europop, and pop ballad with lyrics describing a couple contemplating the state of their relationship. "The Sign" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six non-consecutive weeks in the United States, which allowed Ace of Base to become the first Swedish group to simultaneously have a number one song and album on the Hot 100 and Billboard 200 respectively. Consequently, the song was ranked as the number one song of 1994 on Billboards year-end chart. It also reached number one in 14 countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, and New Zealand, and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Mathias Julien directed its music video. "The Sign" was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2023, Billboard magazine ranked it among the 500 best pop songs of all time. Background and development Ace of Base originally released their debut studio album Happy Nation in 1992, which did not include "The Sign", as it was intended to be for their next album. The head of Arista Records, Clive Davis, heard the song's demo, and in turn passed it to Swedish producers Douglas Carr and Denniz Pop, as he wanted something different from Happy Nation. The demo only contained the song's instrumental, which Pop thought that the verse was the chorus. In contrast to their 1992 single "All That She Wants", Pop knew what he wanted to do with the song from the beginning. "The Sign" was recorded at Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. Ace of Base members Linn and Jenny Berggren re-arranged the song like they wanted to, so that it would become a duet between both women. Jenny played around with the chords at the end and composed the harmonies around it. In an interview with Idolator, Jonas Berggren stated that Jenny and Linn split the chorus into two parts, with the former singing the second and fourth parts. He acknowledged that it "was hard to sing" since there was no breathing time.