I've got a friend
Who I've known since I was seven
We used to talk on that phone
If we have time, if it's the right time

Accompany me
By the kitchen sink
We talk about love
We talk about dishwater tablets, illness
And we dream about heaven

I know it
I think I know it from a hymn, ah
They said so
It doesn't need no explanation, oh
Or a box to open up with light and sound
Making you cold, very cold

I leave home at seven
Under a heavy sky
I ride my bike up
I ride my bike down

November smoke
And your toes cold now
A new color on the globe
It goes from white to red
A little voice in my head said so

I know it
I think I know it from a hymn, ah
They said so
It doesn't need no explanation, oh
Or a box to open up with light and sound
And if you don't, you're on your own

I know it
I think I know it from a hymn, ah
They said so
It doesn't need no explanation, oh
Or a box to open up with light and sound
Making you cold, very cold


Lyrics submitted by emerge, edited by laerm, AnneJan

Seven Lyrics as written by Karin Elizabeth Dreijer

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Seven song meanings
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20 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    (I've got a friend who i've known since i was seven we used to talk on that phone if we have time if it's the right time)

    She talks about a friend from her childhood, who the best friend she ever had…that’s why she remembers him now that she is old.

    (accompany me by the kitchen sink we talk about love we talk about dishwater tablets and we dream about heaven)

    they used to talk about a wide range of everyday subjects, but also they discussed more complicated issues like love or life after death…they apparently communicated very well and they passed a lot of time together.

    (i know it i think i know it from a heaven they said so it doesn't need no explanation or a box to open up with light and sound making you cold very cold)

    she knows IT! She knows IT, because she simple feels it. It cannot be proved or seen, but she senses its presence, its existence. It’s something metaphysical. She doesn’t even need to open the music box which she had from the age of 7 and which brings her memories from the past…memories related to the friend who is now lost…who probably gave her the box. The box closed since her childhood…it stayed closed when her friend was lost...closed like his coffin.

    (i leave home at seven under a heavy sky i ride my bike up i ride my bike down)

    a day, when she was 7 she left home for a bike ride with her friend. Something happened and the day died that day,,, maybe an accident, who knows? It’s a secret…we’ ll never learn.

    (november smoke and your toes cold now) It’s November now, the month when he died. His toes are cold…cause he’ snot alive. But the whole atmosphere…the smoke…the month…reminds him. The atmosphere is sooo metaphysical…Does he calls her? Is that a dream?

    (it goes from white to red a little voice in my head said so)

    Something from the past slightly tells her what she now admits…white turns to red…that’s it! It can happen!

    (i know it i think i know it from a heaven they said so it doesn't need no explanation or a box to open up with light and sound and if you don't you'll run your own)

    She knows he is not lost, she knows that in a mysterious way life doen’t ends. She knows it from a hymn, it doesn’t need no explanation…she just experiences it, she feels it. She doesn’t even need a thing to remind her what she now senses. If she rejects it, she will feel empty…and therefore alone!

    (i know it i think i know it from a heaven they said so it doesn't need no explanation or a box to open up with light and sound making you cold very cold)

    vasilison February 23, 2012   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning

    It's about suicide, specifically.

    "we talk about dishwater tablets/and we dream about heaven"

    SpaceMonkeyAuon February 26, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I love this song!! I don't really know what she meant it to be talking about but I like to take the chrous to be about how you know about religion from hymns, etc. and that they imply we are supposed to believe what is said because it "doesn't need no explanation"

    It could very well be about suicide, but oh well.

    sweetdeeon April 05, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Listen to 'Lasagna' by The Knife. Is this the same friend Karin is speaking about?

    revilodrawon November 04, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    In the booklet it's "I know it, I think I know it from a hymn"

    It's about death, I guess.

    Stonie_Stonsenon February 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Some corrections:

    "We used to talk on THE phone" "We talk about dishWASHER tablets, ILLNESS, and we dream..." "I think I know it from a HYMN" (like Stonie said) "They'VE said so, it doesn't need MORE explanation" "and your toes GO NUMB A NEW COLOUR ON THE GLOBE it goes from white to red a little voice in my head SAYS OH, OH, OH" "And if you don't YOU'RE ON your own"

    And no "or" before "a box"! She just sing "oh, oh, oh, oh"...

    marciuson April 23, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    maybe it's about getting old when your pals begin to die one after one and you really start to think about death. i know many people get religious when they get older because they want something to believe in and they'd rather want death to be something warm and welcoming than as dark and dreadful as most of us see it today.

    vinzenton October 12, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i agree about Death/Suicide of a long time friend?. From what ive gotten....

    In the first 2 verses she describes her friend, how they were close doing little things like washing dishes and talking about love and their dreams or what have you. Simple things you do with your friends but learn who they really are.

    In the chorus "I know it, I think I know it from a hymn, they said so it doesn't need no explanation" i think refers back to the whole religion thing.

    stoggie19on October 14, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion

    it sounds to me like christmas I know it from a hymn.. a box to open with light and sound very magical when you are seven, but different when you grow up. perhaps that could be why the video depics and elder lady dressed all glittery but she's in a barn..

    demonieron December 05, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I too think it's about death but more specifically our beliefs and how they relate to afterlife.

    The lines: "i know it i think i know it from a hymn they said so it doesn't need more explanation"

    I take as possibly meaning, certain currently unexplainable phenomenon are justified with beliefs and that's enough for some people, an atheist/agnostic notion.

    Then: "And if you don't you're on your own"

    Further justifies a notion that, in terms of being a believer, you either are or aren't.

    However: "a box to open up with light and sound"

    Baffles me. What could that be? A TV, jewelry/music box? It's placement in between the lines I mentioned could be unnecessary and for rhythmic purposes. Also, she could be equating it to church, solidifying my assumptions, but I think that's reaching pretty far. It makes you cold though?

    Perhaps it's a coffin, which in fact is quite the opposite, dark and quiet. The placement may actually fairly strategic, which helps emphasize that you can believe that box to be something different than what we otherwise know it as.

    Daskashion December 18, 2009   Link

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