Duran Duran: Seventh Stranger Meaning

Seventh Stranger Lyrics

Those words are all remainders
Echoes growing in the heart of twilight
They lay back laughing at naivety's star
Awaken all those whispers in the dusty shadow of a
Passing favour
I wouldn't say that you were ruthless or right
I couldn't see...

1. anonymous

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   Sep 10th 2019 !⃝

   to me, Seventh Stranger means to being strangest to someone. Once upon a time lovers and now suddenly strangers. And walking away a stranger, like a far far stranger, like seventh stranger, after quitting speech of relationship. Wiping water from his face because life must go on.and aftermath he must look to she through the eyes of a stranger.
   
   Echoes growing in the heart of twilight... Why done this? Why we came to end? Thoughts,thoughts in the night,maybe at the bed. Excess thoughts, which is echoing and growing in twilight.
2. anonymous

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   Nov 20th 2018 !⃝

   Whatever the exact meaning of 'The Seventh Stranger' may be, it is one of the most thrilling songs ever made by Duran Duran. This means I am stunned time after time for more than twenty years when I listen to it.
3. anonymous

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   Jan 11th 2015 !⃝

   I believe the meaning of the song is a combination of the different things written on this page, but it's true, it was inspired by 26 Of Voltaire's Candle, "Wandering Swordsmen" (Ronin), and "The Seven Samurai" of Akira Kurosawa. The abstract nature of the song makes it impossible to pin it down to anything definite. There is a bootleg called Arena 2, which I own a copy of from the Sing Blue Silver concert. It has 16 tracks including 9 of the 10 songs on the official release of Arena (sans The Wild Boys). This version includes monologues before various songs that were edited out of the official release. In it, Simon says before "The Seventh Stranger" something to the effect of "This is a song about a man who wakes up in the middle of his life to discover that he is all alone." The song is a reflection of his life (at an older age than when he actually wrote it). When he says "to look through the eyes of a stranger," I believe they are his own eyes as he stares in the mirror. Time has changed him. All his fame and lovers are gone. If you've heard the demos of "Seven and The Ragged Tiger," it is also a reflection of their career, but "The Seventh Stranger" is more personal. The two songs are almost different beasts entirely.
4. anonymous

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   Jun 8th 2014 !⃝

   "The Seventh Stranger" Originally Started Out As A Song Called "Seven And The Ragged Tiger". Despite Having The Same Name As The Album, The Song Was Actually Written Before The Album's Title Was Decided. Lead Vocalist Simon LeBon Said The Song Was Inspired By Chapter 26 Of Volitare's Candle, "Wandering Swordsmen" (Ronin), And The "Seven Samurai" Films Of Kurosawa. John Taylor Plays A Frettles Bass On The Song's Recording.
5. anonymous

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   Jun 4th 2014 !⃝

   no - the seven strangers are NOT the band etc.. thats who seven and the ragged tiger are - the 5 band members, the 2 managers and the ragged tiger being what they created...
   
   the seventh stranger isn't connected to that at all, and sounds exactly like a love song about a broken relationship mixed with the usual lebon abstract poetry vibe and tying in with the title of the album
   
   To me the seventh stranger could mean the 7th woman he's had a relationship with, loved, only to then leave him (he's crying hence wipe water from my face) and become a stranger... the seventh one. She's cold (splinters of ice) just like the rest and walks away... as does he I guess.
6. anonymous

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   Jan 15th 2014 !⃝

   What it's like being on tour, especially the second verse
7. anonymous

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   Oct 10th 2013 !⃝

   Nice interpretation but the seven strangers are the five members of the band plus their two managers in the time when the song was written. An old fan from Israel
8. shippothekit

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   Apr 17th 2006 !⃝

   I think this song has a two way meaning that has been merged together, the song title the Seventh Stranger. He probably had a relationship with a girl that didn't go so well and they broke up, but he still can't stop thinking about her. The second part of it I think is meant to mean Saturday, because it's considered to be the seventh day. This is considered a holy day because this is the day god rested after creating the earth. Even through the seventh day (Saturday) is the holy day, most employers give Sunday off (the first day). So what I believe he's talking about parcially is that he never gets a break in life.
   
   So I think the title "Seventh Stranger" means both about he never gets a break in life and that he's changed himself from past experiances.
   
   Those words are all remainders - Things that the girl said to him, perhaps that she loves him and never wants the relationship to end.
   
   Echos growing in the heart of twilight - Twilight can mean the declining of something that was fully achieved. I think he's talking about that their relationship was going so well and then it just gradually sunk down, and the echos are the thoughs he's having while their relationship is lessoning.
   
   They lay back laughing at naivety's star. - Ok here I think he's saying that he feels that he was a fool because he thought that things were going so well when really they weren't. I don't think he means a real star I think he means he's the most naive person of all.
   
   Awaken all those whispers, - A whisper can mean a secret, hint or a rumor. I think that he now realises the truth of things and whats really going on.
   
   The dusty shadow of a passing favour - I think he's remembering all the things he did for her and to help the relationship work.
   
   I wouldn't say that you were ruthless or right - She believed that the relationship was over for good, and she probably just shot him down in a second without giving him a lot of pity. He believed otherwise.
   
   I couldn't see from so far. - He couldn't have known from the start of their relationship that it would have ended the way it did.
   
   Was I chasing after rainbows? - He wonders now if he was just looking for the most perfect relationship, instead of love.
   
   One thing for sure - you never answered when I called. - She never answered the phone when he called her.
   
   And I wiped away the water from my face - The water from his face must be the tears he had after he was dumped, and now is over it.
   
   To look through the eyes of a stranger... - He's saying that he's changed since then, and now will look for a better relationship.
   
   For rumours in the wake of such a lonely crowd - The rumours probably about his relationship by the people who say it's hopeless. From experiance by their past relationships. (In the wake of...)
   
   Trading in my shelter for danger - She was his "shelter" and since she's gone he has no one to protect him.
   
   I'm changing my name just as the sun goes down - He's changing himself as soon as it ended.
   
   In the eyes of the stranger! - Either she's the stranger now to him, or he's talking about his changed self.
   
   Can't tell the real from reflections - He's unsure now if the people he is dating are actually looking to be a spouse or are just playing with him.
   
   When all these faces look the same to me - He now thinks that all the relationships he's having will all turn out for the worst.
   
   In every city such a desolate dream. - Everyone has dreams and desires that eventually become abandonded (aka, his relationship with the woman)
   
   Some days are strange to number - Some days are just so crazy that you don't even want to remember them.
   
   Some say the seventh sounds a little bit stranger - The seventh day (Saturday) is what I meant is here this is a holy day where god rested after making the earth, yet we get Sunday off and go to church on Sundays. Instead of Saturday.
   
   A year of Sundays seems to have drifted right by - The days he does get off (Sundays) pass right by so quickly, and never seems to get a break in life.
   
   I could have sworn in one evening. - Cont.
   
   And I'm not seized in desperation, - He doesn't feel now that all hope is lost in his relationships.
   
   No steel reproaches on the table from before. - He doesn't blame himself far the bad relationships (reproach=blame) (steel=strong) in the past.
   
   But I still can feel those splinters of ice - He can still feel the pain from the bad relationships he's had.
   
   I look through the eyes of a stranger... - His changed self.
   
   (Rest of it is the same as before)
   
   Walking away like a stranger - He ends his relationships as if he didn't know the people at all.

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