Synopsis

Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry perform against a stark black-and-white New York backdrop as pedestrians and close-up portraits pass through the frame. The video favors faces, gestures, and fleeting encounters over a conventional narrative, creating a visual portrait of an urban population. Its imagery reflects the song's meditation on innocence, prejudice, and the world's violence, while the contrast between N'Dour's and Cherry's performances reinforces the track's cross-cultural character.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed in New York City and uses black-and-white photography throughout.

• Its central visual device is a montage of people from different ethnic backgrounds, with faces becoming especially prominent during the chorus.

• The song was written as an anti-racist statement. The title refers to the first moments of a child's life, before the child can understand prejudice or violence.

• "7 Seconds" combines Wolof, French, and English. N'Dour sings in Wolof and French, while Cherry's contribution is in English.

• The recording was made at Power Play Studios in New York, linking the video's city setting to the song's production history.

• The single became a major international hit after its release in 1994. It reached No. 3 in the United Kingdom and remained at No. 1 in France for 16 weeks.

• The song won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Song in 1994.

• The track appeared on N'Dour's 1994 album The Guide (Wommat) and later on Cherry's 1996 album Man.