Happy Nation

I doubt the lyrics are that sinister in meaning. But I don’t think they are lighthearted either. To me, the song is about the ideas of democracy and tolerance (as opposed to autocracy – “no man's fit to rule the world alone”), and that they are endangered in today world (“tell them we've gone too far”). I think the “travelling in time” is about making the old mistakes again.

According to Wikipedia, Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg of Ace of Base deeply regrets his earlier affiliation with a Swedish nationalist political party and a white power band. He said of that time, "I really regret what I done. I closed that book. I don't want to even talk about it, that time does not exist in me any more. I closed it and I threw the book away."

In the music video, symbols of Christ, Buddha, the peace symbol, and the Yin/Yang symbol predominate as symbols of what good things should be pursued. A picture of a nuclear explosion accompanies the song's first statement of "Tell them we've gone too far."

There are a few symbols that might be ignorantly assumed to be Satanist, but a more knowledgeable person would recognize them as Buddhist religious symbols. Only by assuming that everything other than Christianity is devilish can you construe these things as Satanist or devil-worshiping.

The lyric "no man's fit to rule the world alone" rejects of the idea of a born leader (such as "The Furor"). The lyrics "dream of (the) perfect man / a situation leading to sweet salvation" reference the Christian concept of a heavenly afterlife and the Buddhist concept of enlightenment; thus, they are advocacy for a self-improving effort towards perfection, not some racist concept of perfection-by-birthright.

I interpret this song to be Ulf's rejection of national socialist views of what makes a "Happy Nation" in favor of traditional, moral, and peaceful terms.

Do you guys honestly think that this song is promoting Nazism? If anything, it's speaking out against Hitler's ideas. If you want to look at it as if it's referring to the rise of the Nazis in Europe (and I doubt the song is meant to be that specific), then pay attention to the lyrics:

"(praise, all people praise) (the greatest in all time) (and praise my soul) (the greatest in all time)"

The dictator (Hitler, in your interpretation, addressing the people).

"happy nation living in a happy nation where the people understand and dream of the perfect man a situation leading to sweet salvation for the people for the good for mankind brotherhood"

Sarcastic in tone. This is what the dictator tells the masses, and the message the brainwashed masses repeat. They believe that what they're doing is what is best for humanity, which in fact they're doing the exact opposite.

"ideas by man are only that will last and over time we've learned from the past"

We've seen the same thing over and over again. A man or men claiming to be leading us to peace, when in fact he's usually leading us in the exact opposite direction.

"that no man's fit to rule the world alone"

This one is fairly obvious. No single human being is capable of ruling the world. Again, this contradicts everything Hitler stood for -- Hitler intended to reign over as much of Europe as possible.

"a man will die but not his ideas"

Again, easy to understand. You cannot kill an idea, whether it's a good one or a bad one. In fact, killing a man for his ideas will often turn him into a martyr, and only strengthen his cause.

"we're travelling in time travelling in time"

This one is open to interpretation, but I suspect that it refers to history repeating itself over and over again, which is metaphorically represented by traveling back in time. Again, returning to your Nazi interpretation, what Hitler did in WWII was, sadly, not a unique event. The same genocide has been seen through-out history, almost always beginning in the exact same way -- a man promising peace and prosperity.

"tell them we've gone too far tell them we've gone too far"

This line, above all, seems to contradict the idea that this is promoting Nazism. In the quest for a perfect world, the leader will often tell the people that sacrifices must be made. However, using Hitler as an example, the mass genocide committed under his reign was beyond any necessary sacrifice. He, like all dictators, "went too far". Much, much, MUCH too far.

"happy nation come through"

The population desperately attempts to justify everything by telling themselves that, eventually, the ends will justify the means. The repetition of the "tell them we've gone too far" lines suggests that, no, the ends do not justify the means.

Of course, I'm still of the opinion that the lyrics are meant to be open to interpretation, allowing for anything from a peaceful deity returning to the people to a warning against trusting men who promise peace and prosperity, especially if it comes with any kind of sacrifice. The song is definitely NOT promoting Nazism.

are you people brain-damaged?

The first verse, for one thing, is probably some general spiritual stuff; Latin often omits direct objects, so it just says "praise, all people praise", but it doesn't say WHO you are praising because you're supposed to know. Which is kind of nice because you can insert God in there or whoever you like, whatever reflects your religion or spirituality.

secondly, to the tard who thinks the song has promotes hitler (what?!):

1. "over time we've learned from the past that no man's fit to rule the world alone" Gee, these lyrics CLEARLY promote a dictator. Oh wait, no they don't.
2. it's "dream of perfect man", not "the perfect man" but in any case this means mankind, and by perfect, they mean people who can live in harmony and who idealize improving themselves (as you could tell by the rest of the song if you would, you know, listen to it).

Good lord, how could anyone think of friggin' Hitler or accuse this band of Satanism (yes!! people have done this!)? They're just a new agey europop band! All I can think is that some people are overzealous religious nuts who never learned to interpret what they're reading, because they think knowing how to read only means being able to see letters and know what the word is, and they stopped paying attention in English class after that. :P

Well, I'm going to go the other way and since Jen and Linn of AoB used (or still do, don't know) to sing in church, I'm going to take it like a Hymn ... sounds bible like ...

That said ... instead of think of Hitler (haha), I'm going to go the spiritual way and think of The Man aka God or its equivalent.

I agree with Aldryg (above) interpretation, speacially the "traveling in time" thing.

A thought provoking but positive song. People too dumb to find out what the Latin phrases are at the beginning ought not comment. This song warns of the tendency of the masses to follow dictators but also exhorts the nations to have faith in God. Ideas outlive the life of the person who originated them - whether for positive or negative change. Come through - into salvation. Only faith in God can bring the brotherhood humankind dreams of. The Antichrists always promise peace and safety to the masses...

Do NOT click this link unless you LOVE Ace of Base :

connecthook.wordpress.com/2015/01/30/happy-nation-live/

This is about Ulf rejection of the nationalist party, yes but:

As i read throught those scary comments here i gotta say this: For all those who are ideologist themselfs: It is an obvious rejection towards any ideology, including faith. It turns against black and white thinking of anykind, and is not contrasting a "good" ideology vs. a "bad" one. "Salvation" is a promise made by man. "No man is fit to rule the world alone", ----> No idea is fit to rule the world alone. It depicts multiple religions representing "ideologies" that have lead people into blindly following a leader or concept. If you know about ace of base, you should know that they are critical towards -organized- faith.

Trying to turn this into a "god is great"-hymn is ideological thinking in its-self. The dark tune and the lyrics are obviously trying to show: There is no such thing as a "happy nation" - there are only nations where all those who are unhappy, are beeing ignored or repressed.

By the way, it's not like nationalists are never christians.

what is the meaning of the first paragraph?!?! looks like latin but in hebrew has a frightening meaning....

do you really think it has something to do with hitler and nazism? scary.

There is an occult theme to the lyrics that is intended to pass over the majority\'s minds.