What does this lyric mean?

Smokler on June 21, 2004

I love the song “The Laws Have Changed” by the New Pornographers particularly this line…

“We are shocked to be here in the face of the meantime”

I would love to be able to use it in conversation but fundamentally have no idea what it means. Do you?

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2 Replies to “What does this lyric mean?”

  1. LindaO June 21, 2004 at 1:59 pm

    My thoughts are as follows:
    –one uses the phrase “in the meantime” to imply that nothing else will happen until some point in the (potentially un-) designated future; so,
    –during “the meantime,” nothing much, or of any significance, is really happining. Therefore,
    –being in the face of “the meantime” could mean that we are faced with (or being faced by) a period during which nothing of any significance is happening; and therefore,
    –the lyric states that they are shocked by having to face this fact.
    Then again, maybe I merely studied too much philosophy in college. Most of it, I even remember…

  2. LindaO June 21, 2004 at 1:59 pm

    My thoughts are as follows:
    –one uses the phrase “in the meantime” to imply that nothing else will happen until some point in the (potentially un-) designated future; so,
    –during “the meantime,” nothing much, or of any significance, is really happining. Therefore,
    –being in the face of “the meantime” could mean that we are faced with (or being faced by) a period during which nothing of any significance is happening; and therefore,
    –the lyric states that they are shocked by having to face this fact.
    Then again, maybe I merely studied too much philosophy in college. Most of it, I even remember…

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