The Seventh Stranger

It's about the effects of sudden fortune and fame. About losing one's identity as a result of giving all of yourself to your audience, and losing people you love due to the demands of your career. The sactuary of anonymity is left behind after stepping into the spotlight. Life becomes a blur and time slips away, while every new place and new face starts to look the same as the last. Those that once mattered most in your life can't relate to you any more. You forget what life was like before. One day you wake up and wonder who you are; even your own reflection seems unrecognizable. But what exactly is the "seventh" stranger? I'm still not sure.

I love the lyrics to this song. Not so much the tune though it's very pretty.

I listened to this song so many times and could not understand some of the lyrics. That's why I"m glad there are websites like this, so we can go back and read these amazing lyrics!

nice explanation. The 'seventh' stranger is the stranger he is on sunday's.

he sings: "Some days are strange to number" "Some say the seventh sounds a little bit stranger" So the 'seventh' is the seventh day (probably sunday)

So as a celebrity before a crowd (playing his artist role) the sunday evening concerts feels even stranger than the other day's

I have read the above comments and never once thought this song was about fame and how it changes how people see you and you aren't anonymous anymore.

I always thought this was an unrequited love song. "Was I chasing after rainbows? One thing for sure, you never answered when I called. And I wiped away the water from my face To look through the eyes of a stranger"

To me this is about chasing, believing in, and pursuing a relationship only to discover that the other person wasn't as commited as you.. He was chasing after rainbows thinking she was the one She ended things and didn't pick up the phone now he's lost and devestated not knowing how to move on and feeling like a stranger to himself because he doesn't know who he is without her anymore.

this verse "And I'm not seized in desperation, No steel reproaches on the table from before. But I still can feel those splinters of ice I look through the eyes of a stranger"

The first above line seems to me like a denial of the desperation he is sezined in. reproach = disapproval. - he is talking about how with the ending of a relationship, the disappointments that are often shared in a glance at the dinner table are gone, but he still feels the 'splinters of ice' = piercing staires the way somebody who doesn't love yo uanymore stares in a hating way.. and the confusion of the misinterpretation of the relationship means she is a stranger, and he himself feels like a stranger to himself

To me, the entire song is unrequited love and nothing about fame.

It's about alienation or feeling out of place. Uncomfortable with your surroundings and possibly how you see yourself.

Good reasoned comments here already. I think we are all right.

If there were such thing as the "perfect song", this would be it. The message I take from this beautiful song is the process a person goes through when they lose either something or someone they've trusted. Maybe they even lost a part of themselves.

..."Echos growing in the heart of twilight They lay back laughing at naivety's star"

He's seen something that has reminded him of the object of his trust. (For the sake of argument, let's call it a letter he just read... it doesn't matter, could be anything).

"Those words are all remainders Echos growing in the heart of twilight They lay back laughing at naivety's star"

The trust for this person is gone. Removed from his life. Now the reminder is just echos of something that used to be. He trusted, he got burned, and hind-sight is 20/20. He's realising how naive he was.

"The dusty shadow of a passing favour". Perhaps he did a favor for someone and then taken advantage of, but it doesn't matter anymore what he did. He didn't see it coming.

Chorus: Whatever happened, deeply hurt him. He's been crushed by the deceit he's just discovered, and through his tears, he sees this person for who they really are. He thought he knew them well, but they may as well just been a stranger.

"Can't tell the real from reflection..." He can't trust anybody now. He's lost where ever he goes.

"Some say the seventh sounds a little bit stranger" I don't know how to interpret this line. Maybe he's learning how to see through someone's lies more easily.

"A year of Sundays seems to have drifted..." Eventually, he's gained perspective and wisdom from the ordeal - a lot of it.

"...I'm not seized in desperation....no steel reproaches on the....but I still can feel those splinters of ice, as I look through the eyes of a stranger" He's not going to let this ordeal permanently crush him. But he's also never going to forget how badly he was hurt. He is still able to trust, but he'll give his trust more wisely, in the future. If he feels he's being deceived again, he'll walk away.

Something we've all been through many times through the course of our lives, and Simon brings the emotions alive with such beautiful poetry.