The Distance & Never There Cake

The Distance Album: Fashion Nugget (1996)
Never There Album: Prolonging the Magic (1998)
by Cake

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"The Distance" is a song by American band Cake. Released in August 1996, "The Distance" was the first single from the band's second album, Fashion Nugget, and is considered one of their most popular songs. It was written by the band's guitarist at the time, Greg Brown.

This was used in an episode of The Simpsons called "Saddlesore Galactica."

The song's opening lyric, "Reluctantly crouched at the starting line", is prominently featured in the remix "The Starting Line" by Neil Cicierega on his album Mouth Moods.

The song is heard in the opening of episode 10 "SHNGRLA" in season 1 of Twisted Metal.

Here's an excerpt from Rolling Stone's interview with Greg Brown who wrote the song and explains its meaning. He also explains about why the race car metaphor is used.

RS.COM: Will the success of The Distance" mean you'll be writing more songs?

GREG BROWN: Man, I sure hope so. I was delighted that John was receptive to it, because he's been writing songs for a long time. It was the only song I wrote to appear on the record. I'm really happy with it. John did a great vocal track. Victor (Damiani) put down a good bass line, and Vincent (di Fiore) came up with a cool trumpet part.

RS.COM: What's the song about?

GB: I wrote it about a relationship of mine. It's about a guy who races and races, even after the race is over. He's basically clueless. I used the race car metaphor so it wouldn't be so sentimental ... it seemed apt.

RS.COM:Is sarcasm a difficult device to pull off in song writing?

GB: Well, I'm not a sarcastic guitarist, but it's pretty recurrent in our songs. John uses it probably for the same reason I used the race car metaphor in "Distance": to basically distance himself from the song.

"Never There" is the first single released from Cake's third studio album, Prolonging the Magic (1998). The song was commercially successful, topping the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and appearing on the music charts of four other countries.

According to Cake vocalist John McCrea, the lyrics are sung from the viewpoint of a boy who is frustrated that his girlfriend never answers his phone calls. The boyfriend believes he will not make it through life without her, but in reality, he needs to focus on his own concerns instead. McCrea has described "Never There" as "a country song in disguise".

The music video for "Never There", directed by McCrea, features Cake performing in a western-style bar, while a story arc covers a trucker calling his girlfriend on a pay phone and she never answers as she is too busy partying with male body builders in speedos. It was filmed in Sacramento, California.