All That She Wants (1992) – Ace of Base

On the weekend we were talking about another Swedish Europop centric band Roxette when cursory flashbacks of today’s featured song popped into my head. Finally the group name came to me and a I breathed a sigh of relief because this song All That She Wants by Ace of Base should have been in my music project from the outset. I remember distinctly when, where and with whom I was when I first heard this song. The experience follows closely my encounter with Bob Marley’s Mr. Brown which I wrote about recently:
I was in recess from my studies at the Academy as a late teen, I visited friends who lived in Coogee, a beach side suburb in Sydney. When we driving in our friend’s car along the windy roads following the coast, Paul our charismatic sidekick put today’s song on. I loved it straight off the bat.

All That She Wants is another one of those countless pop songs (in similar vain to Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now) where I much prefer the verses over the saturating chorus. This song has just two verses; I wish it had at least another verse in place of a chorus. But what the heck do I know because All That She Wants went to number 1 in 12 countries and certified platinum with over 1 million sales. This reggae-inspired style of Europop is about a woman who looks for many different sexual partners instead of a romantic partner. You could have less interesting subject matter…. I thought initially “baby” was synonymous with her desiring to get “knocked-up” instead of meaning “boyfriend”.

[Intro]
She leads a lonely life
She leads a lonely life

[Verse 1]
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 ya

[Chorus]
All that she wants is another baby
She’s gone tomorrow, boy
All that she wants is another baby, yeah
All that she wants is another baby
She’s gone tomorrow, boy
All that she wants is another baby, yeah

[Verse 2]
So, if you are in sight and the day is right
She’s the hunter, you’re the fox
The gentle voice that talks to you
Won’t talk forever
It is a night for passion
But the morning means goodbye
Beware of what is flashing in her eyes
She’s going to get ya

All That She Wants was released in Scandinavia in August 1992 as the second single from the group’s first studio album, Happy Nation (1992), and in the following year, it was released as the first single from the 1993 album The Sign in North America. I remarked to my son Jesus Mateo what a ‘looker‘ I thought the lead singer Malin Berggren was, which he was in concordance especially in their other big hit The Sign. Also she strikes some resemblance with one of the greatest Swedish singers in contemporary music Agnetha Fältskog during her apex years with ABBA.

References:
1. All That She Wants – Wikipedia

About observationblogger

“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand