This week, I am going to try something a little different... a song review. The song is one I have had the (mis) fortune of having heard several times either on the radio or blaring from various iPods around my house. That song is Lukas Graham’s "7 Years." It is a terrible, terrible song.
It is an autobiography told through a Hallmark slogan with a dull, deary beat playing in the background. It takes a story that should be relatable -- how the loss of a man’s father inspires his art -- and turns into something forgettable and admittedly confusing. That’s without considering the weirdness of the song.
For example, in the first stanza of the song, the narrator admits that he drank alcohol and smoked weed... at 11 years old. Now, I’m no developmental psychologist, but that sort of substance abuse can’t be good for his health or mental development. It’s not like this was a random encounter. The narrator implies this was a regular occurrence. You would think someone would take notice of this potentially dangerous behavior, yet the narrator implies twice that several of his childhood friends had died before he turned 20.
The other funny thing for a song about how his parents affected him is how he only mentions his parents three times, and only two of those three times are direct interactions with them. And in both of those two times they just give their son generic advice.
"Go find friends,” and "Get a wife, or you’ll be lonely.” This basically translates into, "Son, I am kind of getting worried about the fact that you come home either drunk or high when you go hang out with your fiends, but let's instead focus on your marriage prospects. You aren’t getting any younger!"
Maybe if you are so worried about your son being lonely, you should be more involved in his life than just dispensing vague platitudes. The generic advice of his parents encourages our narrator to write generic songs which attempt to “tell his story." But wait! Before the verse even ends, he informs his audience that he got a record deal, so "his story got told.” Great! Your quest is over. You overcame obstacles to make sure your story came to poorly written life!
Why does the song even continue? Well, all of sudden, the narrator shifts gears from talking about his new family and sudden success to wondering “if the world will be colder” when he's 60 and if he will "have children to warm him.” Dude! You just told us about your loving wife, and two beautiful children! I’m pretty sure you will have a big, loving family to comfort you in your old age. Seriously, it’s like this song is constructed entirely of clichés. As a review, I give this song one month out of "7 Years."
