Cake: The Distance Meaning

Song Released: 1996

The Distance Lyrics

Reluctantly crouched at the starting line,
Engines pumping and thumping in time.
The green light flashes, the flags go up.
Churning and burning, they yearn for the cup.
They deftly maneuver and muscle for rank,
Fuel burning fast on an empty...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Sep 10th 2016 report

   I think it's about someone who died in the race, and his ghost still haunts the track. Morbid, I know.
2. singerstargirl

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   Sep 11th 2020 report

   I always thought it was about a group of men fighting for one woman. “Chuming and bumming, They yearn for the cup.” The men are chuming because they are friends, but “their prowess is potent and secretly stern” shows that they are all interested in her.
   
   She has chosen a Man and he is desperate to prove himself as worthy. “He’sGoing the distance.”
   
   I think the earthquakes he feels about it worse from living in leaving with no explanation. I wish they expanded more on this part of the song.
   
   I think the second verse regrets her decision. “She’s hoping in time that her memories will fade.” She took the relationship to the next level and now she wishes to undo sleeping with him. She was “ in her time of need which affected her judgment.
3. anonymous

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   Jun 12th 2020 report

   My interpretation of this song is that it’s paralleled to sex. The pressure and anxiety of performing.
4. anonymous

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   May 3rd 2020 report

   The song is about a racer who died on the track. He continues to race around the track, reliving the day that he died, and the day he lost the cup, and the lady he loved. He continues to circle the track, hoping that his luck will change, and he will be free from limbo.
5. anonymous

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   Mar 2nd 2020 report

   This song can be seen many ways, but possibly the most accurate interpretation I have actually applies to my own life. The "racer" here is a male caught in gambling and addiction, constantly running from his fear of commitment. The woman he loves is pregnant/has given birth to his child, and so he runs away and feeds his addictions rather than changing his ways and supporting his family. He later decides to try being a father to his abandoned child, only to find that another man has taken his place. The racer continues to try and care for his child, all while knowing that he'll never make up for the time he lost.
   I interpret the song this way because I'm the bastard kid that was raised by a step-father until my father tried to take his place back after I'd already lived 17 years without him.
   
6. anonymous

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   Sep 28th 2019 report

   The song is describing a few different types or races (car, foot, and horse), all converging into one. A victorious champion defeats the main character, leaving with the trophy and going home. However, the main character refuses to give up, and finishes the race even though he is slower than the others.
   
   This song reminds me of a tine I had to pass a fitness test, of which one part was running 2 miles in 20 minutes. One of the times I failed it, it was a clear, dusky night. The sun had literally gone down, and the moon had literally come up. While there was obviously no trophy, someone else would have definitly "long ago left with the cup" if there were one. Just like the character, I refused to quit, and was the one man "still driving and striving as fast as he can". I passed it not long after, due to lots of practice and this song echoing through my head.
7. anonymous

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   Oct 27th 2018 report

   Sounds like someone doing heroin??
8. anonymous

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   Oct 27th 2018 report

   Sounds like someone doing heroin??
9. anonymous

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   Jun 4th 2018 report

   He's chasing around this woman and when he finally gets her, she dumps him later.
10. anonymous

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    Apr 18th 2018 report

    I’m disgusted looking at all these and what they say about sex is not true this song is about a guy who likes to race and lost a race so he is practicing to win the next race and he is in a zone where his racing is all he is worried about and his girl is alone.
11. anonymous

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    Apr 18th 2018 report

    I’m disgusted looking at all these and what they say about sex is not true this song is about a guy who likes to race and lost a race so he is practicing to win the next race and he is in a zone where his racing is all he is worried about and his girl is alone.
12. anonymous

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    Mar 1st 2018 report

    Sure it's about a dopefiend drugaddict going to buy some speed then he is going alone this race then finally he get the cup
13. anonymous

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    Sep 27th 2017 report

    It feels like a song about trying to pick up girls in a bar. A bunch of guys have already hooked up and left with the best looking ones, but there's one guy left trying to find a straggler.
14. anonymous

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    Jul 18th 2017 report

    Sexual assault/date rape. Domestic abuse.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
15. anonymous

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    Oct 4th 2016 report

    I think it's about sex.and the guy trying to not hurry up too fast.and she's waiting but cannot orgasm either.all alone in her time of need.theutrwftrying to orgssm together. Going the distance.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
16. anonymous

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    Jul 14th 2014 report

    The lyrics are clear:
    Lots of guys chasing a girl using the metaphor of a race.
    The girl picks a guy, and all the other suitors stop...
    Except one guy continues to chase her. He sees her as a prize he deserves; not a person. He rapes her, and despite the "feelings of doubt and remorse," he doesn't understand what he did wrong.
    
    It's a brutal song.

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