7 Seconds (song)
Encyclopedia
"7 Seconds" is a song composed by Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

, Neneh Cherry
Neneh Cherry
Neneh Mariann Cherry is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, and occasional DJ and broadcaster...

, Cameron McVey
Cameron McVey
Cameron Andrew McVey is a British music producer, best known for his work with Neneh Cherry, Massive Attack, Portishead, All Saints, and Sugababes.-Family:...

 and Jonathan Sharp. Released as a single by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry, the song was a huge international hit in 1994. It remained on the charts for nearly half a year and reached the top three in many countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Russia and Poland. The single stayed at #1 for 16 consecutive weeks on the French Singles Chart, which was the record of the most weeks at the top at the time. The song was a track on N'Dour's album The Guide (Wommat), released shortly after the single. In 1996 it was included on the Neneh Cherry album Man.

The song was featured in the 1998 movie Northern Skirts
Northern Skirts
Northern Skirts is a 1999 German-language film directed by Barbara Albert. It was an international co-production between Austria, Germany and Switzerland. It was Austria's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd Academy Awards, but did not manage to receive a nomination....

and 2005 Uwe Boll
Uwe Boll
Uwe Boll is a German director, producer and screenwriter, whose work includes several films adapted from video games. He finances his own films through his Boll KG production company. He is often cited as the worst director of all time.-Early life:...

-directed movie Alone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark (2005 film)
Alone in the Dark is a 2005 horror film, loosely based on Infogrames' popular video game series of the same name. It is directed by Uwe Boll, and stars Christian Slater as supernatural detective Edward Carnby and Tara Reid as the scientist assisting him...

. "7 Seconds" was also performed at Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...

 by Dido
Dido (singer)
Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong , known as Dido, is an English singer-songwriter.Dido shot to worldwide success with her debut album, No Angel...

 and Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

.

Lyrics and music

The song is trilingual: N'Dour sings Wolof
Wolof language
Wolof is a language spoken in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and is the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family...

, the Senegalese language, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 (plus singing chorus in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

), Cherry sings English.

Music video

The black and white music video is directed by Stéphane Sednaoui
Stéphane Sednaoui
Stéphane Sednaoui is a French-American photographer, director and producer whose work includes music videos, art projects, photographic essays, portrait photography, fashion photography and photojournalism....

. It features people of different races walking by while the two are singing. When they sing the chorus, different kinds of people's faces appear. The idea was later copied in many different video clips by other artists.

Formats and track listings

  • CD maxi
  1. "7 Seconds" — 4:10
  2. "Mame Bamba" by Youssou N'Dour
    Youssou N'Dour
    Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

    — 4:57
  3. "7 Seconds" (R & B to the hip hop drop mix) — 6:24
  4. "7 Seconds" (Dub Mix) — 6:07

  • CD maxi (June 7, 1994)
  1. "7 Seconds" — 4:10
  2. "Life (Adouna)" by Youssou N'Dour
    Youssou N'Dour
    Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

    — 4:57
  3. "7 Seconds" (R & B to the hip hop drop mix) — 6:24
  4. "7 Seconds" — 6:07

  • CD maxi (June 7, 1994)
  1. "7 Seconds" (radio edit) — 4:06
  2. "Life (Adouna)" by Youssou N'Dour
    Youssou N'Dour
    Youssou N'Dour is a Senegalese singer, percussionist and occasional actor. In 2004, Rolling Stone described him as, in Senegal and much of Africa, "perhaps the most famous singer alive." He helped develop a style of popular music in Senegal, known in the Serer language as mbalax, a type of music...

    — 4:02
  3. "7 Seconds" (R & B to the hip hop drop mix) — 6:23
  4. "7 Seconds" (dub mix) — 6:07

  • UK CD single (660508-2)
  1. "7 Seconds" (radio edit)
  2. "7 Seconds" (LP version)
  3. "7 Seconds" (new old mix)
  4. "7 Seconds" (dub mix)
  5. "7 Seconds" (hip hop mix)

Peak positions

Chart (1994) Peak
position
Swedish Singles Chart 3
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 3
Austrian Singles Chart 3
Canadian Singles Chart 15
Dutch GfK
GfK
The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health...

 Singles Chart
2
Dutch Top 40
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...

2
Eurochart Hot 100 8
French SNEP Singles Chart 1
German Singles Chart 3
Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...

3
Italian FIMI Singles Chart 1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 7
Norwegian Singles Chart 4
Polish Airplay Chart 3
Swiss Singles Chart 1
UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

3
US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

98


End of year charts

End of year chart (1994) Position
Austrian Singles Chart 10
Dutch Top 40 8
French Singles Chart 1
Swiss Singles Chart 2

Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
Austria (IFPI) Gold December 21, 1994 15,000
France (SNEP
Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique
The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...

)
Gold October 28, 1994 250,000
Germany (IFPI) Gold 1994 250,000
Switzerland Gold 2004 25,000


Chart successions

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