Songfacts®:

• Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King producer Rob Cavallo explained this song to Relix magazine: "Dave plays an electric guitar with a delay pedal on it. He has this cool Matchless amplifier and he started to play this riff just from out of nowhere; that original guitar performance is the one we still use and the basis for the song. We called it 'Seven' because it's in 7/4 time."
• The band debuted this at a show in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2009.
• In a 2009 interview with Acoustic Guitar magazine, Matthews spoke about his inclination towards unusual rhythms: Sometimes I write specifically because I know Carter [Beauford, DMB's drummer] will be able to bring the strange rhythm out. In a song like 'Seven,' I was writing that one, all the while knowing that Carter would be able to play that, make it clear. But still what I'm playing makes it like a march already. And then Carter plays it - I like the way he plays because he can make something that's an odd time sound perfectly reasonable."
• During the initial touring in support of the album, Matthews let Tim Reynolds take over guitar duties on "Seven" while Matthews focused on singing. "I guess if I wasn't lazy, I could learn to play that lick and sing easily at the same time," he said. "There's a looseness about the way that some licks are delivered that I can manage on some songs, but on that one I haven't yet - I have the luxury of someone to cover it for me. I played it on the record but having Tim there to cover it - except when he's soloing, then I jump in - makes a big difference. I don't feel obligated to be a killer guitar player, I guess."