Songfacts®:

• Neneh Cherry wrote this and recorded it as a duet with Senegalese artist Youssou N'Dour. Cherry is best known by many for her 1989 transatlantic Top 10 hit "Buffalo Stance."
• Neneh Cherry (from her website): "'7 Seconds' is about the first positive 7 seconds in the life of a child just born not knowing about the problems and violence in our world."
• This won the 1994 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song for writers Youssou N'Dour, Neneh Cherry and Cherry's husband Cameron McVey.
• Three different languages were used in this song: English, French and Wolof, which is a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania.
• This reached the Top 3 in most European countries and sold 3 million copies worldwide. In France it was top of the charts for 16 consecutive weeks, a record at the time. Neneh Cherry commented on its success to The Independent March 26, 2004: "That tune grew on its own, completely out of proportion. It was out there doing its own thing. But that is a dream when you write a song."
• Sengalese singer Youssou N'Dour is one of the most celebrated African musicians in history. He began singing traditional music at the age of twelve and joined the Star Band at the age of sixteen. He helped make mbalax, the national dance music of Senegal and The Gambia, popular in Africa.