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Is "it's not a second, seven seconds away" a kind of idiom in English? What is its meaning?

I am trying to make sense of the chorus in "7 seconds" by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry and I just can't make it:

Roughneck and rudeness,
We should be using, on the ones who practice wicked charms
For the sword and the stone
Bad to the bone
Battle is not over
Even when it's won
And when a child is born into this world
It has no concept
Of the tone the skin is living in
    It's not a second
    Seven seconds away
    Just as long as I stay
    I'll be waiting
    It's not a second
    Seven seconds away
    Just as long as I stay
    I'll be waiting (x3)

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closed as off-topic by Andrew Leach♦ May 29 '15 at 7:22

  • This question does not appear to be about English language and usage within the scope defined in the help center.
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's literary analysis. Lyrics often make no sense and the only people who can answer questions about them are the authors (which means that the "Opinion-based" standard close reason is appropriate). – Andrew Leach♦ May 29 '15 at 7:22
  • @AndrewLeach - I wonder if you would still qualify it as "literary analysis" if I just asked whether that phrase was an idiom in English without citing the song and without quoting its lyrics. – brilliant May 29 '15 at 7:28
  • You may find it gets closed for lack of cited research instead. Your research would be likely to show it only occurs in this song. – Andrew Leach♦ May 29 '15 at 7:30
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    @brilliant in that case, you answered your own question by finding no reference to it being used other than in this song. – Michael Rize May 29 '15 at 7:35
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    @brilliant if Googling a phrase will only bring up that song, you know that the phrase doesn't exist in the popular consciousness aside from in the cited lyrics. Thus, it cannot be a known idiom. – Michael Rize May 29 '15 at 7:51
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No. It is very very unlikely to be an idiom. Many lyrics don't make a lot of sense, since many lyrics are included for poetic license and a sense of rhythm.

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