♪ (rock music) ♪
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- "Once I was seven years old, my mama told me,
'Go make yourself some friends or you'll be lonely.'
Once I was seven years old."
- This is like Lukas Graham or something, "7 Years."
I love this song.
- I don't know the song, the title, or the artist.
♪ Once I was seven years old ♪
That's the only part of the song that I actually know.
- Mom says, "Go out and make yourself some friends
or you'll be lonely." That's some pretty good advice.
- Maybe it's a very shy little person.
Mom wants her kid to be happy.
- That's a lot of pressure for a little seven-year-old.
But I think it's easier when they're younger to make friends.
- Don't be afraid to put yourself out there
and just kind of like be who you are.
- "It was a big, big world, but we thought we were bigger.
Pushing each other to the limits, we were learning quicker."
- "By 11 smoking herb and drinking burning liquor." Mm-hmm.
"Never rich so we were out to make that steady figure."
- I sense a tone of regret here.
When his mom told him to go find him some friends,
I don't think he found the right ones.
- Growing up in certain areas when I've lived,
I can see that happening,
especially if it's a small town and there's not a lot going on.
- When they think they want to be an adult,
the most adult thing kids think is smoking or drinking.
- "Never rich so we were out to make that steady figure."
Like, I guess they were just making-- they were just getting by.
- "Once I was 11 years old, my daddy told me,
'Go get yourself a wife or you'll be lonely.'
Once I was 11 years old." 11 years old?!
He's telling him to get his radar on right now for chicks?
- His dad's really urging him, "Go get yourself a wife.
You're 11. You're getting there.
You're gonna hit your midlife crisis soon."
- The one question you get a lot now is,
"Do you have a girlfriend?" or, "Are you talking to anybody?"
or stuff like that.
Don't worry about what other people tell you. Be yourself.
- I know lots of married people that are lonely,
so I don't know if that's necessarily true.
- "I always had that dream like my daddy before me.
So I started writing songs. I started writing stories."
- "Something about that glory just always seemed to bore me.
'Cause only those I really love will ever really know me."
(sighs) This is so sad.
- I guess his dad maybe wrote songs, was a songwriter,
'cause he said, "I always had that dream
like my daddy before me."
- Based on maybe Mom shoving him off, Dad shoving him off,
he's shut down to the rest of the world,
and he's not gonna open up to most people.
- He's talking about just being an individual
and wanting to do what he or she wants to do,
and I think that's good.
- Writing songs, writing stories, vlogging, blogging, whatever.
I think it's a real healthy thing and fun thing to do.
- We are kind of a goal-focused society now.
In my book, friends and family are just everything.
- "Once I was 20 years old. I only see my goals.
I don't believe in failure.
'Cause I know the smallest voices. They can make it major."
- "I got my boys with me, at least those in favor.
And if we don't meet before I leave, I hope I'll see you later."
- See, this is the slide I like:
finally realizing, "Hey, I can do it."
Failure's not a bad thing. It's just, you got to learn from it.
- He's gonna pack his stuff and go, and he's gonna go for this.
And he's gonna make it happen, and the only ones
that are gonna join him are the ones that believe in him.
- Failure should not be an option, you know?
You just keep pushing it until you reach that goal
that doesn't seem so boring to him anymore.
- "Soon we'll be 30 years old. Our songs have been sold.
We've traveled around the world and we're still roaming.
Soon we'll be 30 years old."
- So they're not yet 30.
They're in that in-between: 20 to 30 years old.
- I thought 30 was old, um,
until I passed that, you know, by a decade or so.
And then now it's not so bad.
- It just doesn't get old.
There's always something more to learn
and always something else to sing.
- It's just like, "Hey, I will be 30. I will live a full life."
And we're still going, 'cause they're only 30 years old.
You have so much life left.
- "Most of my boys are with me. Some are still out seeking glory
and some I had to leave behind. My brother, I'm still sorry."
- That happens all through your life,
that you have very good friends that you think are good friends,
and then something happens that it just doesn't work anymore.
- Some people aren't meant to be main characters in your life.
They're meant to be like a guest spot in your life,
so they come and go.
- I don't know if he's talking about that like, "Oh, my brotha,"
or his real brother.
I lost a brother in Vietnam, and I still choke up.
- I feel like I can relate to that.
I don't really talk to my grandparents often.
And they live in another country, and I don't see them often.
But it's just part of the sacrifice
when you're seeking something that's away from home.
- "Soon I'll be 60 years old. My daddy got 61.
Remember life and then your life becomes a better one."
- "I made a man so happy when I wrote a letter once.
I hope my children come and visit once or twice a month."
Yeah, so do I. (laughs)
- The first part's pretty sad: "My daddy got 61."
That's a young age to die at.
- I should never lose sight of what's important,
and family always goes first.
- Your mind tends to hold on to the happy moments, thank god,
and let go of the sad or unhappy times.
There's not that much great about getting old,
but that's one of the good things.
- I've had students-- former students-- write to me.
I held on to those things and reread them all the time.
Someone taking the time to either show gratitude or say hi
makes a huge difference in someone's life.
- "Soon I'll be 60 years old. Will I think the world is cold,
or will I have a lot of children who can warm me?
Soon I'll be 60 years old."
- He really puts a lot of weight into having kids
or even grandkids.
He thinks that that's what's gonna keep him warm.
- He doesn't want to be isolated.
And he doesn't want to be forgotten by his kids.
- There's uncertainty, because even when you have children,
you don't know if they're gonna go away to achieve their goals.
He's going through the same thing
that the people that he left behind are going through.
- That doesn't always happen. I've seen estrangements
where people get older and they don't see their kids,
and I can't imagine anything sadder.
- You might not live in the same place.
You're not gonna have the same job.
You're not gonna look the same. You're not gonna feel the same.
Ultimately, what you leave as legacy is really your family.
- "Once I was seven years old, my mama told me
to go make yourself some friends or you'll be lonely.
Once I was seven years old."
- Oh. Bringing it back full circle.
- Maybe that's why he thinks that when he's 60,
the warmth comes from being around people.
- This seems a little bit more important
now that you see him at 60 years old.
- Sometimes I can't remember what I did last Monday.
But I can remember a lot of things
that I did when I was seven years old.
And this guy's still reminiscing.
- This person's thinking back, back to when they were seven.
If they didn't have those friends that they still held on to
and even their kids, they would be completely alone.
That's crazy.
- (Finebros) So what do you think this song was about?
- Sounds like it's just like going through life and life stages
and what's gonna make you happy at every stage of life.
- Living his creative life in harmony with his personal life,
which is not always an easy thing.
- It seems like the song is about reflection.
He didn't say anything about fame or glory in the end.
He was talking about his children.
- (Finebros) Do you know this song's title and artist?
- No.
- (chortles) I do not.
- No, I don't. (chuckles)
- (sadly) I don't.
- I don't know. Who could this be?
- It sounds so familiar, but I can't recall.
- "7 Years Old" or something like that?
- "7 Years" by Lukas Graham?
- (Finebros) It's called "7 Years" by Lukas Graham.
- Oh. Yeah, I've never heard of him.
- No, I don't know this song.
- I do not know him.
- Never heard of him.
- Who the hell is Lukas Graham?
- Lukas Graham sounds like-- well, I don't know.
Sounds like a country artist to me.
- I've seen the name. It's Lukas like L-U-K-A-S, right?
- (Finebros) We actually had teens, adults, parents, and elders
all break down the song in this episode.
What do you think their points of view on this song would be?
- That's funny, because I feel that then
we could all relate to this song, you know, at different stages.
- I think an elder's point of view
will be looking back on their life
and comparing themselves to what he's kinda saying.
- I kinda want to know if the elders feel the same
about hearing from their kids.
- My experience is going to be different than the teens',
obviously only because I've been around longer,
and I've kinda gone through some of the stuff
that this particular song is talking about.
- Hopefully with the teens,
it might make them think a little bit about
investing more in their grandparents.
- Oh, that's wonderful. I can't wait,
'cause the kids are gonna have a whole different viewpoint
than I did and the elders did.
Oh, I think that's such a wonderful idea.
I cannot wait to see that. Everybody's got to watch that.
Oh, it's gonna be so good!
- Thanks for watching us break down "7 Years"
on the React channel.
- New shows every week. Be sure to subscribe.
- What song should we break down next time?
Let us know in the comments.
- Whether you're 7 or 61, hope you enjoyed this episode. Bye-bye.
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