In the beginning God made the sea
But on the 7th day He made me
He was tryin' 2 rest y'all when He heard the sound
Sound like a guitar cold gettin' down

7 comes with gospel-tinged harmonies that roll along to strumming acoustic guitars.

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

Date: Tuesday, October 13, 1992
Section: Living
Page: 3C

ALBUM REVIEW

POP'S PRINCE EXTENDS HIS PURPLE REIGN

HARRY SUMRALL, Mercury News Music Writer

O{+>

imagine

This was probably one of my least favorite tracks on the album, but the long intro live was awesome.

O{+>

18 7 (5:09)
Produced, Arranged and Performed by Prince and The New Power Generation
Recorded by Michael Koppelman, Dave Friedlander, Steve Noonan, Ray Hahnfeldt and Brian Poer at Paisley Park
Mixed by Keith “KC” Cohen, Michael Koppelman, Tom Garneau, Bob Rosa and Steve Beltran at Paisley Park
Additional Mixing at Larrabee West Studios

Composed by Prince; Published by Controversy Music, administered by WB Music Corp. ASCAP; Co-written by Lowell Fulsom and Jimmy McCracklin; Published by Powerforce Music/Budget Music BMI: Contains a sample of “Tramp” as performed by McCracklin and Fulsom, courtesy of Flair Records/Virgin Records America, Inc./Blues Interactions, Inc./Ace Records Ltd.

After recording the background vocals for “7,” Jevetta Steele asked Prince what the song meant. He only smiled. Maybe some answers don’t have words, but if 2gether we can love thru all space and time, does it really matter?

– Alan Leeds, 1993

(Alan Leeds worked as Prince’s tour manager and Vice President at Paisley Park Records from 1982 to 1992. He won a Grammy award in 1991 for his liner notes to James Brown’s STARTIME).

7 (Prince, Lowell Fulsom, Jimmy McCracklin) – 5:13

Released: November 17, 1992

7

CHORUS:
All 7 and we'll watch them fall
They stand in the way of love and we will smoke them all
With an intellect and a savoir-faire
No one in the whole universe will ever compare
I am yours now and U are mine
And 2gether we'll love through all space and time
So don't cry
One day all 7 will die

CHORUS

And I saw an angel come down unto me
And in her hand she holds the very key
Words of compassion, words of peace
And in the distance an army's marching feet (Hut 2 3 4, hut 2 3 4)
But behold, we will watch them fall

And we lay down on the sand of the sea
And before us animosity will stand and decree
That we speak not of love, only blasphemy
And in the distance, 6 others will curse me
But that's alright (that's alright), 4 I will watch them fall
(1 2 3 4 5 6 7)

CHORUS

(Never grow old)

And we will see a plague and a river of blood
And every evil soul will surely die in spite of
Their 7 tears, but do not fear
4 in the distance, 12 souls from now
U and me will still be here - we will still be here

There will be a new city with the streets of gold
The young so educated they never grow old
And ah… there will be no death 4 with every breath
The voice of many colors sings a song that's so bold
Sing it while we watch them fall (Fall)

CHORUS

(Never grow old)

© 1992 Controversy Music - ASCAP

Classic track, people (you know 'the others', the great unwashed) love '7' - it's a pretty well known single considering.

NouveauDance said:

Classic track, people (you know 'the others', the great unwashed) love '7' - it's a pretty well known single considering.

Indeed!

Classic!

This is one track, a lot people are surprised to hear comes from Prince.

Mayte - '7' promo video (1993)

© 1992 Warner Bros Records

Art.

I love this track.

Sometimes Princes music is above any kind of lable including 'music.' And the only way to decribe it is art.

just not a fan of the song that much. Although it does have a good vibe. The album is great just a little too long.

V10LETBLUES said:

Art.

I love this track.

Sometimes Princes music is above any kind of lable including 'music.' And the only way to decribe it is art.

Acoustic Version.

Music video

The video was shot on February 27, 1992. It begins with Mayte whispering "imagine" in Prince's ear, in the position they are in on the single cover. A scene from 3 Chains o' Gold is shown as well. It features Mayte belly-dancing. The video set is pictured on the album cover, along with a still shot from the video. There are little girls wearing yellow belly-dancing outfits almost identical to Mayte's. There are little boys wearing black outfits and eyebands identical to Prince's. This video is also notable for Mayte dancing with a sword on her head, which she would later do in live performances.

PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, October 13, 1992
Section: FEATURES YO!
Page: 35

PRINCE IS STILL KING
NEW ALBUM EXPANDS HIS PURPLE REIGN

by Jonathan Takiff, Daily News Staff Writer

PRINCE AND THE NEW POWER GENERATION
0{+>

It's anyone's guess who the object of Prince's scorn is in the intriguing psychedelic-rocker 7. "They stand in the way of love and we will smoke them all," he warns.

The video was quite terrible wasn't it though? Especially the long version.

Microphone gun. WTF? What's he doing in the giant test tube? Who wears a bolero hat inside a test tube?

OldFriends4Sale said:

V10LETBLUES said:

The video was quite terrible wasn't it though? Especially the long version.

Microphone gun. WTF? What's he doing in the giant test tube? Who wears a bolero hat inside a test tube?

Prince music and children just don't mix 2 me

Diamonds & Pearls had a bunch of kids in the videos too

OldFriends4Sale said:

V10LETBLUES said:

The video was quite terrible wasn't it though? Especially the long version.

Microphone gun. WTF? What's he doing in the giant test tube? Who wears a bolero hat inside a test tube?

Prince music and children just don't mix 2 me

Diamonds & Pearls had a bunch of kids in the videos too

I get what you mean, but don't mind the kids, it's everything else. If they would have kept it simple just the kids and ditched everything else it might have even bee kinda of cool.

I love everthing about the 1992 era,

and I deeply love the video to "7".

A "big single", it is one of the last truly brilliant single releases. (Maybe "Gold" was the last ?)..

I don't understand the comment above about the outfit in the music video, to me "7" is one of the best Prince music vdeos.

I love the mask, the acoustic heart guitar, Mayte is beautiful,

the kids in the video makes it all kind of unreal "magic" like in a wonderland..

the gun mic, it surprises me, the negative comment about it, cuz I have always loved it... so cool.

it's a trademark -- in a way like Prince's high heels, very cool. I liked it back then when Prince had all this wonderful "gear".

(I really love the big singles from 1991-1992, and "7" is one of them).

Great song, great video, great album. Prince had class and style back then, I love this era.

Imho, it was really cool back then.

I'm a huge fan of the gun microphone as well. Silly? Of course! But oh-so-fun, nevertheless. I would trade all the fly-swatter sleep masks in the world for a hat with chains hanging down in the face and a gun mic.

Great song, but I can understand why others dont like it.

Too complex maybe!?

OldFriends4Sale said:

Music video

The video was shot on February 27, 1992. It begins with Mayte whispering "imagine" in Prince's ear, in the position they are in on the single cover. A scene from 3 Chains o' Gold is shown as well. It features Mayte belly-dancing. The video set is pictured on the album cover, along with a still shot from the video. There are little girls wearing yellow belly-dancing outfits almost identical to Mayte's. There are little boys wearing black outfits and eyebands identical to Prince's. This video is also notable for Mayte dancing with a sword on her head, which she would later do in live performances.

I thought ole P had found his Soul Mate with her....

How did u get all those still shots?

callimnate said:

Great song, but I can understand why others dont like it.

Too complex maybe!?

type of subject/theme reminds me of Mountains,

It was after Lovesexy though that more than not, the imagery (at least to me) did become more complex, like Rainbow Children, love the music and the fictional story, but I don't understand the context.

V10LETBLUES said:

The video was quite terrible wasn't it though? Especially the long version.

Microphone gun. WTF? What's he doing in the giant test tube? Who wears a bolero hat inside a test tube?

Not a fan of this album or era. But I LOVE this song. Always have and always will. I never have really understood the lyrics and that video sucked. But that hook is ridiculous.