Quick, who recorded the 1971 hit song, &8220;Signs?&8221; You know the one. Part of the chorus is: &8220;Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind.&8221;

The song reached No. 3 on the Billboard chart, yet few people remember who wrote it or why.

A Canadian band called the Five Man Electrical Band recorded the tune. Band member Les Emmerson wrote the song while driving down the sign-cluttered Route 66 on his way to California.

Just as obscure and baffling in Natchez is the city&8217;s often-controversial sign ordinance.

The truth is, lots of careful research and consideration was put into the 1994 sign ordinance.

In the 12 years since its inception, perhaps few other city codes have caused as much controversy and ill will.

But also, perhaps no ordinance has had the impact &8212; even if not fully realized &8212; on the look and the feel of the city.

The city has attempted to massage the ordinance through the years to make the city more &8220;business friendly.&8221; Some of these changes have been good, some bad. Talk of changing the law has begun again recently.

To our knowledge, no one has ever shown evidence that the city&8217;s restrictive sign ordinance has prevented a business from locating in Natchez.

Before city leaders begin to mess with something, we urge them to use extreme caution, and perhaps, ask a few of their predecessors who were on the board in 1994 and knew the &8220;why&8221; of how the &8220;lyrics&8221; were written.