“7 Years” Lukas Graham – Spotify
“7 Years” Lukas Graham – YouTube

There hasn’t been a single reference to this act in the “Los Angeles Times” other than minor listings of television and concert appearances.

The only reference in the “New York Times” is an August 8th story wherein Margarethe Vestager, the Dane who is EU’s competition commissioner, says Lukas is providing the soundtrack of her summer.

But Mr. Graham has the biggest song of the week, according to the sales chart, “7 Years” has been on the Digital Songs listing for 9 weeks and sold 121,423 downloads for a cume of 533,104.

But unless you’re under the age of 25, or in the business, you’ve probably never heard it, never mind heard of it.

But we all know sales are nearly meaningless, is anybody listening to “7 Years”?

Yes, it’s number 4 on the United States Top 50 chart on Spotify. It’s getting 729,035 plays A DAY!

And as of this writing, the official video has been viewed on YouTube 36,119,091 times.

And it’s number 16 on the Mediabase Top 40 chart.

Lukas Graham seems to be everywhere but the news.

But he’s truly happening, the track is monstrous in the rest of the world. But we’ve become inured to that, the lane is much wider overseas, people take their music more seriously, it’s not only about money. So it’s always these outside hits that break through in the U.S., because the truth is we’re looking for something new and different.

And “7 Years” does not sound like the typical L.A. production with drum machine cliches.

But it is catchy. And the words are not meaningless. Lukas Graham is beating the oldsters at their own game. He knows it’s the track, not the hype. And that to get people’s attention you’ve got to speak your truth in a way that we can be hooked immediately to the point we want to hear your track again and again.

Lukas Graham has a hit.

Eventually there will be an album. But there’s not one now.

You see MTV started back in 1981, it ushered in the modern pop era. Today’s active listeners/watchers/buyers have no clue as to the golden age of classic rock, with extended numbers played endlessly on FM. They want immediacy. They want to belong, to a community that has commonality. That’s why popularity appeals to them.

And pop is a monolith that’s going to dominate everything else, it already is. This is what the internet has wrought, in an era of chaos everybody gravitates to the same stuff. You might be listening to obscurities, and that’s your privilege, but the reason those acts are not getting rich is few people are. It’s different from the way it used to be, where it was tough to get a record deal and those that did had prominence. Now if you’re not on Top 40 it’s like you don’t exist, and it’s only going to get worse. Until someone completely different comes along and blows the paradigm away. Only that might not happen, because everybody making music knows how hard it is to get attention and doesn’t want to walk into the wilderness unnecessarily.

Listen to “7 Years,” you’ll be surprised. You won’t be able to instantly dismiss it, you’ll question all your precepts. It’s not country and it’s not heavy metal, and it’s certainly not hip-hop. But if you can throw off your prejudices you can admit that it’s very good.

Once I was seven years old my mama told me
Go make yourself some friends or you’ll be lonely

Truth. Friends are everything. The younger generation knows this, which is why they’re more about access than ownership, why they don’t need to flash the keys of a Benz for acceptance, they’d rather point to likes and thumbs-ups and the number of followers they’ve got. For all the put-downs of millennials it may be they’re more aware than their elders, they know life is for the living, especially if upward mobility is eviscerated.

It was a big, big world, but we thought we were bigger
Pushing each other to the limits, we were learning quicker

The younger generation is optimistic, it may owe money for its college education, but it believes it can harness the modern tools to change the world. The oldsters supporting Trump are worried about their present being stolen by immigrants, a nameless enemy, but their children, maybe their grandchildren, see the world as a global village where you embrace others, like this 27 year old from Denmark. And isn’t it funny that he’s that age, whereas in America at 27 you’ve already made it or are done, trying something else. This endless focus on youth is worst on this side of the pond.

Once I was eleven years old my daddy told me
Get yourself a wife or you’ll be lonely

All this hogwash about doing it alone, not needing a partner, it’s embraced by boomers who thought divorce would solve all their problems, who believed they could have it all. You can’t. Best to commit, adjust and move forward.

Something about that glory just always seemed to bore me
‘Cause only those I really love will ever really know me

Fame won’t keep you warm at night. And if you’ve met famous people you know they’re usually nothing like their image. We all desire to be known. And only a small circle of people ever will, know you, that is. The pursuit of money and fame are empty in a vacuum, you’ve got to like the work. Which is why we never look to the financial nitwits to lead, they sold out for safety, we want people who truly tested limits, who lived, who have lessons to impart.

I’m still learning about life

Funny how American youth is sure it knows everything, but this guy from overseas knows life is peppered with more questions than answers.

And some I had to leave behind
My brother, I’m still sorry

That’s the truth, not everybody can come with you on your journey, you’re going to have to abandon those too scared, too complacent, not supportive of your goal. It’s an endless conundrum, commitment to those who understand you and have helped you in the past whilst searching for those who understand and can help you now that you’ve changed and know so much more and have new desires.

Remember life and then your life becomes a better one

We’re only here a short time. We think we count, but we don’t. In America we’ve got no respect for our elders, if you’re old you’re irrelevant, but it’s the oldsters who have the wisdom, we’re all just part of an endless continuum, those who look back as opposed to forward, for lessons already learned, win in the end.

It’s a pop world, we only live in it.

But pop has been getting broader, it’s a big tent open to anything catchy and meaningful.

Along with a ton of dreck.

But it’s what the youth are listening to.