In Sharon Van Etten’s “Seventeen”, the singer writes a love letter to her adopted home, New York City. Apart from revisiting her old neighborhood, Van Etten explores a younger version of herself. The song is about change, how cities change, and how we evolve. But it also questions how much of our former selves remains with us as we age. The same question might be asked of New York City?
But part of change is loss, which Van Etten experienced upon returning home to find her regular hangouts had closed.
There Goes the Neighborhood
Van Etten wrote “Seventeen” about her time living in Brooklyn. The song describes the changes she witnessed and how new generations tend to push the older residents out of neighborhoods. But she was also once a newcomer in the city and unwittingly played a role as the city underwent gentrification.
I know what you wanna say,
I think that you’re all the same.
Constantly being led astray,
You think you know something you don’t.
Years later, when she returned to New York, parts of it were unrecognizable. As is the case in many cities, what attracted artists and like-minded people had been replaced with lame businesses and unaffordable rents.
Downtown hotspot halfway up the street,
I used to be free, I used to be seventeen.
Follow my shadow around your corner,
I used to be seventeen; now you’re just like me.
How Much You’ve Grown
In the song, Van Etten is in conversation with her former self. She imagines being able to reassure her younger iteration that she’ll be okay.
Down beneath the ashes and the stone,
Sure of what I’ve lived and have known.
I see you so uncomfortably alone,
I wish I could show you how much you’ve grown.
About the song, Van Etten posted this on X: “It is with tears in my eyes that I share with you my love letter to NYC. Places I’ve lived, lost and found myself, let go of and embraced. Thank you to everyone that held me up over the years.”
I know what you’re gonna be,
I know that you’re gonna be.
You’ll crumble it up just to see,
Afraid that you’ll be just like me.
Photo by Andrew Benge/Redferns