The Distance, Cake

Happy July 26th everybody! I only say that because today represents the 20th anniversary of when I was born, and to commemorate me entering my third decade of life I wanted to share with you all a song that I distinctly remember being a favorite of mine at the beginning of my second decade. Cake was the first band I truly appreciated as a whole, for who they were and what they did with music. Without them, I most likely would not be writing for this blog right now, so this post is also a tribute to the band that began my apparently lifelong dedication to music. Cake really is an enigma music wise. They have their trumpet section, but they are far from ska. They have one of the widest and most varied set of musical influences, with songs ranging from funkadelic to pure rock n roll to what can only be described as rap. But the thing that stands out the most is lead vocalist John McCrea’s way of taking singing and rap and combining them into a monotone normal pitched speaking voice that give their songs real power. The Distance is a song many people have heard and know well, and the relatable imagery and simple yet dominant vocals give this song its universal power. This is more of a story than a song, with the instrumentals just adding flavor and passion to the vivid metaphors as opposed to defining them. Although the lyrics and how they’re presented are what drive this song, each instrumental part brings something priceless to the table. The trumpets and strings really help establish the melancholy feel while the percussion backs them up by creating a sense of urgency and passion. This song was not haphazardly put together; every aspect is engineered specifically to affect the emotional listening experience. Because this song is so compelling to follow and fun to sing along to, its easy to see why the listener cannot help but feel pity and compassion for the characters in the story. Even if you aren’t “thinking of someone for whom [you] still burn,” this song has a lot to offer any casual listener emotionally and aurally.