B-side "Mame Bamba" Length 5:07 | Released 7 June 1994 | |
Format 12" vinyl, CD single, CD maxi Recorded Power Station, Stockholm, Power Play Studios, New York Genre World, trip hop, afrobeat | ||
"7 Seconds" is a song composed by Youssou N'Dour, Neneh Cherry, Cameron McVey and Jonathan Sharp, released in 1994 as a single performed by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry. It reached the top three in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Portugal, Germany, The Netherlands, Australia, Russia and Poland, and climbed to the top position in France, Switzerland, Finland and Italy; "7 Seconds" stayed at No. 1 for 16 consecutive weeks on the French Singles Chart, which was the record for the most weeks at the top at the time. The single also remained at the top position on the Italian Singles Chart for nine consecutive weeks in the autumn of that year. All instruments on the track were produced and arranged by the Swedish music producer Christian Falk, who also played bass on the track.
Contents
The song also appeared on N'Dour's album The Guide (Wommat), released shortly after the single. In 1996, it was included on Neneh Cherry's album Man. The song was featured in the 1998 movie Northern Skirts and 2005 Uwe Boll-directed movie Alone in the Dark. "7 Seconds" was also performed at Live 8 by Dido and Youssou N'Dour in 2005, at Hyde Park in London, UK. "7 Seconds", the title referring to the first moments of a child's life, as Cherry put it, "not knowing about the problems and violence in our world".
Lyrics and music
7 Seconds is trilingual as N'Dour sings in 3 languages, a West African language called Wolof, French and English. Cherry only sings in English.
The song
"7 Seconds" tells about first seven seconds in the life of a newborn, arguably unaware of problems in the world.
Music video
The black and white music video was directed by Stéphane Sednaoui. It features people of different ethnicities walking by while the two are singing. When they sing the chorus, different kinds of people's faces appear.
Formats and track listings
- "7 Seconds" – 4:10
- "Mame Bamba" by Youssou N'Dour – 4:57
- "7 Seconds" (R & B to the hip hop drop mix) – 6:24
- "7 Seconds" (Dub Mix) – 6:07
- "7 Seconds" – 4:10
- "Life (Adouna)" by Youssou N'Dour – 4:57
- "7 Seconds" (R & B to the hip hop drop mix) – 6:24
- "7 Seconds" – 6:07
- "7 Seconds" (radio edit) – 4:06
- "Life (Adouna)" by Youssou N'Dour – 4:02
- "7 Seconds" (R & B to the hip hop drop mix) – 6:23
- "7 Seconds" (dub mix) – 6:07
- "7 Seconds" (radio edit)
- "7 Seconds" (LP version)
- "7 Seconds" (new old mix)
- "7 Seconds" (dub mix)
- "7 Seconds" (hip hop mix)