The Sign (Ace of Base)
Lyrics
I've got a new life
You would hardly recognize me I'm so glad
How could a person like me care for you?
Why should I bother when you're not the one for me?
I saw the sign
And it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
Love is demanding without understanding
Yeah I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
And no one's gonna drag you up
Under the pale moon
For so many years I've wondered who you are
How could a person like you bring me joy?
Under the pale moon where I see a lot of stars
I saw the sign
And it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
Love is demanding without understanding
Yeah I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
And no one's gonna drag you up
To get into the light where you belong
I saw the sign
And it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
Love is demanding without understanding
Yeah I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes
I saw the sign
And no one's gonna drag you up
Banter
NB: Banter that happens during the song is especially common in the 90s/early 00s shows, and I have attempted to notate where these spoken interludes appear as best I can. Try to imagine them said in a rhythm with the song, or just go listen to the extra-deranged ones, because it's hard to make the cadence of it all make sense as transcribed.
- [intro] Yes, those of you who've seen me before know it's time. If you'd have thought hard enough you'd have left the room, 'cause I can see ya, once, when people wouldn't sing my song with me, I made them bring the house lights up, I went chasing after the [bridge? british?], in the rough trade shop, they don't like it when you come at 'em and tell 'em to sing along. Makes 'em very nervous. This is my favorite song. It was #1 in a number of countries, but as we all know, Tasmania was not one of them. [inaudible] subsumed under the Australian chart. It was #1 in Australia.
[first verse and chorus]
Now, I see some of you moving your lips. Maaaaaan, who do you think you're fooling?! You think I didn't go to grade school? And have some dude with an acoustic guitar come to class and ask me to sing Woody Guthrie songs, that I didn't feel like singing because people were always saying I sang too much anyway? And you move your lips, man, I've been there! So I want you to sing, as though, you were certain that the messiah would arrive tomorrow, and the only people to be subsumed into heaven would be those who sang along with a song by a certain Swedish band! [second verse and chorus, which are sung with vigor by the audience]. (1996-08-30)
- I have, for nigh on twenty years, tried to parse the meaning of the end of that chorus and I have come up with hands full of sand between my fingers. Tried to force it to bear meaning. It’s a fool’s errand. It is an accomplishment to take words and extract meaning from them as if they were small little globules of protein, adrift in the universe, waiting to feed something. (2011-03-25)
- I look at 'The Sign' as a song about people seeing signs where there are none. That’s the whole deal with 'The Sign'. It's about hallucinating something but looking at it and understanding the things that, if they're true for you, are as true as anything in the world and you are entitled to them and if people say you're not, you don't have to listen to them. Rachel and I had been engaged in a project of explaining...that the whole thing that was then sort of rising — this concept of appreciating things ironically — was a lot of horseshit. That you just like stuff that you like and you don't say, 'Oh, I like this because it's so dumb,' because you're kidding yourself and lying to others when you do that. It means "I like it because I like it." (2011-06-26 Rhino's)
- Now I know what you're saying to yourselves. Any of you who've seen me before, are saying, "Yawn. This song was left in the setlist, did you hear this one?" And like, you know, nothing personal or anything, but it's a tough act to follow, and it's a tough act to follow with one you didn't write, you know? So, what's the deal with that? You save it up for last, you do your job, you punch the clock, you go home. It's an easy thing to figure out. And here you are, five years down the road, and the entire world has forgotten about the song that climbed to number one in 40 different countries. It was number one in England... It was number one in Belgium... The Blues Explosion was NOT number one in Australia. ACE OF BASE was number one in Australia. Oh yeah! You remember Ace of Base! They got so screwed by a record contract, people'll be talking about it in the industry for years to come. 'Cause they signed this thing, right? It said, "You will make for us, three records." Now, they were all friends at the time, and they enjoyed doing what they did, and in their home town of Gothenburg, they were saying to each other, "Three records?! Shoot! I'll go make thirty!" You know? So, "Gimme that paper! I will sign that paper!" And then, they made the record, those songs that had already been written back when they were teenagers, and they toured, oh yeah, yeah, they hit the road in a small, small vehicle. And they stayed on tour for seven consecutive months, give or take, give or take a couple of months. And they found when they got out of the car, they couldn't stand the sight of one another. So they told the record label, "You know, um, we appreciate it and everything, but, um, well... we've broken up." And the record label says, "Oh no you haven't." So their second album vanishes almost without a trace. Almost without a trace! And if it weren't for me, the entire world would forget about Ace of Base, and go about their business. But I like those people! I like Jenny! I like Joker! I like Linn! I like Buddha!
[first verse and chorus]
Now, what's funny about this for me is, you know, we started doing this song when it was still on the charts. And we'd go to shows in Boston and New York, and people'd say, "Oh John, I don't-- I don't listen to the radio." And you'd say, "Well, you know, they play it on MTV every ten minutes." And they say, "Oh, no no, I don't-- you know, I don't have a lot of time, and besides, when I do, I don't watch the MTV," you know, guys? And I say to them, "Don't lie to me! Do not lie to me! You know this song! And you want to sing this song! Somewhere deep down within you, there's somebody who would have gone into dance clubs, but, like me, you knew you danced real poopy! And you didn't want strangers telling you! It was bad enough when your friends told you! So you didn't dance, and you didn't sing. Well, no one's gonna tell! And there's no film in that camera!" When I come to the second chorus, if there's a one of you who doesn't sing, I personally will open fire! (date unverified, maybe 1997-07-16, on Youtube)
- You can sing it now, or you can sing it later. But the time will come that you will have to sing it and you'll wish you had practiced with me. (undated)
- I want you to sing like you're sending Naval ships off to war, because in a way you are. (undated)
Live Performances
Footnotes