"Happy Nation" is a song recorded by Swedish group Ace of Base from their debut album with the same name (1992). It was first released in Scandinavia in December 1992 and later released twice in the UK. The first appearance was in October 1993, when it peaked at number 42, it reentered the chart twelve months later at number 40.UK Singles Char
Official Charts Company
(Retrieved April 10, 2008) "Happy Nation" reached number-one on the singles charts of Denmark, Finland, France and Israel in 1993 and 1994. Its music video was directed by

Matt Broadley Matt Broadley is a Swedish director. He has made music videos for several songs that went #1 on the charts, like "All That She Wants" and "Mr. Vain". Career Broadley has directed many TV commercials and music videos. His clients include: * Al ...

. In 2008, the song was remade by Ace of Base for a remix kit. "Happy Nation" is a mid-tempo

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

song with strong influences from

reggae fusion Reggae fusion is a genre of reggae that mixes reggae and/or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, jazz, funk, soul, disco, electronic and latin. Origin Although artists have been mixing reggae with other genres from as ...

and

euro house A : Emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines instead of lyrics. It has core electronic "squelch" sounds that were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experi ...

. It was written by Jonas "Joker" Berggren and Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg and contains both English and Latin lyrics. The first verse is sung in Latin by Joker, and

Linn Berggren Malin Sofia Katarina Berggren (born 31 October 1970) is a Swedish singer-songwriter, best known as a former member of the pop music band Ace of Base. Having been interested and involved in music since her childhood, she formed the band in 1987, ...

sings the rest as the lead singer. The band has described the song, written as a response to reports of Ekberg's past associations with neo-Nazi skinheads, as an "

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

song and a hymn to life". Ekberg has also said the song is a response to "everybody talking about how bad everything is! ... I think hebest thing is to see hepositive."

Chart performance

"Happy Nation" was quite successful on the charts in Europe. Although not as big as "

All That She Wants "All That She Wants" is a song by Swedish group Ace of Base. It was released in Scandinavia in 1992 as the second single from their first studio album, ''Happy Nation'' (1992), and in the following year, it was released as the first single from ...

", the song managed to make some impact, reaching the number-one position in Denmark, Finland, France and Israel. It peaked within the top 5 in Lithuania (3), the Netherlands (5) and in the group's native Sweden, where it hit number four. Additionally, the single was a top 10 hit in Austria (6), Belgium (8), Germany (7) and Norway (6). In Iceland, it reached the top 20 (14), while in Italy and Switzerland, it was a top 30 hit (21 and 23). In the UK, it only reached the top 40, in its second run on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, peaking at number 40 on October 9, 1994. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, which was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries, "Happy Nation" charted at number 39 in May 1993. Outside Europe, the single made it to number-one in Israel, number 22 in New Zealand and number 80 in Australia. It did not chart in the US. "Happy Nation" was awarded with a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

in Germany with 250,000 singles sold and a

silver record Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical cond ...

in France, after 125,000 units were sold.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

editor Jose F. Promis complimented the song as "stellar". In an retrospective review,

Annie Zaleski Annie Zaleski is an American music journalist and author. Career Zaleski is a regular writer for mainstream media outlets such as The A.V. Club and NPR Music, and a columnist at ''Salon''. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio where she has won firs ...

of American online newspaper ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' noted that it takes influence from "

taut A taut object is one under tension. Taut is also a surname, and may refer to: * Bruno Taut (1880–1938), prolific German architect, urban planner and author * Max Taut (1884–1967), German architect Taut may also refer to: * Tauț, a commune i ...

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

". ''Fort Worth Examiner'' felt that it "provides a positive mindset for how we should relate to and live with one another." Swedish '' Göteborgsposten'' stated that the

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

-rhythms from "

" also "shows up" in the song, but "most of the sound is taken from European

synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

-based music."

Chuck Eddy Chuck Eddy (born November 26, 1960) is an American music journalist. Life and career Chuck Eddy was born in Detroit, Michigan. After starting his journalism career with ''The Village Voice'' and ''Creem'', where he published one of the first nati ...

from ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'' declared it "the record's saddest-sounding song". Andrew Balkin from ''

Kingston Informer Local World Holdings Ltd. was a large regional newspaper publisher in the UK that published around 100 print titles and more than 70 websites. It was formed in 2012 by David Montgomery, a former chief executive of Trinity Mirror, to buy the Dai ...

'' said that "the

Aces ACeS (PT Asia Cellular Satellite) was a regional satellite telecommunications company based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It offered GSM-like satellite telephony services to Asian market. The coverage area included Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Phili ...

downbeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

" on "Happy Nation" and "

Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or ''Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-Jo ...

", adding further that both songs "have a

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

feel about them and wouldn't be out of place on the dance floor, or setting the mood in a smoky club." In another article, the newspaper described it as "a luvvly bubbly song". In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

viewed it as "another piece of darkly brilliant dub reggae". Mario Tarradell from ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

'' stated, "Just try to shake the irresistible hook of "All That She Wants" and "Happy Nation": you won't succeed." When the single was released for the second time in the UK, Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated it three out of five, deeming it as a "fairly unambitious regga plod" that "will inevitably do better this time around, but it will still be one of their smaller hits." A reviewer from ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People ...

'' felt that the tune "prove Ace of Base to be more substantive than a mere

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

clone." Bob Waliszewski of ''

Plugged In Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations t ...

'' remarked that it "promotes brotherhood". James Hamilton from the '' RM'' Dance Update viewed it as a "rumbling

Boney M Boney M. was a German- Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group' ...

-ish 0-95.9bpm lurcher". Chuck Campbell from ''

Scripps Howard News Service The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...

'' called it a "reggae-paced" number. Sylvia Patterson from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' gave it two out of five. She added, "Much moodier than the unfeasibly catchy "All That She Wants" thing, thank goodness, this is sort of like

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...

's "

Shiny Happy People "Shiny Happy People" is a song by the American rock band R.E.M. from their seventh studio album, '' Out of Time'' (1991). It features guest vocals by Kate Pierson of the B-52's, who also appears in the music video. According to the singer Micha ...

" if it was by The Beloved, if you see what I mean. A pan-global religo-spook reverie with warbly Indian bits on and some whistling."

Edna Gundersen Edna Gundersen is an American journalist who was a longtime music writer and critic for ''USA Today''. Gundersen grew up in El Paso, Texas. She attained a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso and then wrote features and en ...

from ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' complimented it as a "cheery tune". ''

The Vindicator ''The Vindicator'' is a daily newspaper serving Youngstown, Ohio, United States and the Mahoning County region as well as southern Trumbull County and northern Columbiana County. ''The Vindicator'' was established in 1869. As of September 1, 2019 ...

'' stated that "the blend of melody and rhythm" in a song like "Happy Nation" "is all but irresistible".

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

of "Happy Nation" was directed by Swedish-based director

, who had previously directed the video of "

". It was shot in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden in January 1993. The video was later published on Ace of Base's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel in 2010 and had generated more than 100 million views as of August 2023.

Synopsis

The video begins with a lit candle, the flame of which blowing to the side. During Joker's verse, he sings flanked on both sides by a candelabrum, with

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Places Germany * Linn (Gangkofen), a part ...

's face and different ancient symbols and pictures moving in the background. These images include the peace symbol,

runic inscriptions A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of El ...

Egyptian hieroglyphs Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...

Indigenous Australian art Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving ...

the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

, the Zodiac signs, the yin yang symbol, the Crucifixion of Jesus,

Al-Fatiha Al-Fatiha (alternatively transliterated Al-Fātiḥa or Al-Fātiḥah; ar, ألْفَاتِحَة, ; ), is the first ''surah'' (chapter) of the Quran. It consists of 7 '' ayah'' (verses) which are a prayer for guidance and mercy. Al-Fatiha i ...

, and the book ''

The Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

'' by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

. After Joker's verse, the rest of the video focuses on Linn singing. She is mostly seen standing, but at one point she is seen sitting at a long wooden table, appearing to be deep in thought. At other times,

Jenny Berggren Jenny Cecilia Petrén, (née Berggren; born 19 May 1972), professionally known as Jenny Berggren and Jenny from Ace of Base is a Swedish mezzo-soprano singer and former lead singer in the Swedish pop band Ace of Base. Since 1995, she has also be ...

appears singing with Linn for a moment, even though, like in "All That She Wants", she didn't provide any vocals for this song. The background images continue to appear during this part, along with scenes of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

typing on a stationary computer, Jenny reading from an old book, Joker singing the background vocals, and other short clips featuring the band members. Old movie footage is also shown during Linn's section, such as an

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

exploding, people walking, and a tree falling down. When the music fades out, the lit candle shown at the start of the video is blown out.

Track listings

* 7" single # "Happy Nation" (Radio Edit) — 3:32 # "Happy Nation" (Album Version) — 4:11 * CD single - UK # "Happy Nation" (Radio Edit) — 3:32 # "Happy Nation" (12 inch Version) — 6:39 # "Happy Nation" (Album Version) — 4:11 * CD maxi # "Happy Nation" (Gold Zone Club Mix) # "Happy Nation" (Gold Zone 7" Edit) # "Happy Nation" (Gold Dub Edit) # "Happy Nation" (Moody Gold Mix)

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

* Vocals by Linn Berggren * Latin Choir by Jonas Berggren * Backing Vocals by John Ballard * Written by Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg * Produced by Jonas Berggren and Ulf Ekberg * Recorded at Tuff Studios

Release history

Other recordings

During the 6th series of ''

Så mycket bättre Så mycket bättre (, "So Much Better") is a Swedish reality television show that airs on TV4 (Sweden), TV4. The basic premise is that each artist attempts to do their own version of another artist's well-known songs, with each person getting an ...

'' in 2015,

Niklas Strömstedt Bo Anders Niklas Strömstedt (born 25 July 1958) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. Early life Niklas Strömstedt was born on 25 July 1958 in Lund as the first child of Margareta (née Henriksson) and Bo St ...

performed the song in Swedish as "Lyckolandet", with lyrics against racism and xenophobia.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1993 singles Ace of Base songs Eurodance songs Mega Records singles Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Israel SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Jonas Berggren Songs written by Ulf Ekberg Music videos directed by Matt Broadley Reggae fusion songs English-language Swedish songs Songs in Latin 1992 songs