The Distance (song)

"The Distance"
Single by Cake
from the album Fashion Nugget
Released	October 15, 1996
Format	CD single
Recorded	September 1996 (1996-09)
Genre	Alternative rock, alternative hip hop, rap rock
Length	3:00
Label	Capricorn
Writer(s)	Greg Brown
Producer(s)	Cake
Cake singles chronology
"I Will Survive" (1996) "The Distance" (1997) "Frank Sinatra" (1997)
Live performance (on band's Vevo channel) Music sample "The Distance"

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

Track listing

1. "The Distance" - 3:00
2. "Multiply the Heartaches" - 2:49
3. "Jolene" (Live) - 8:25
4. "It's Coming Down" - 3:44

Instrumentation

The song is based around Cake's standard guitar, bass, and drums setup, with flourishes of solo trumpet, and John McCrea's characteristically deadpan, driving vocals. The song does not employ McCrea's rhythm guitar, but does feature some overlaid synthesized and other non-traditional sounds. In the official music video, a glimpse of the Melodica can be seen.

Music video

The video for "The Distance" features footage of the members of the band performing the song in a busy office lobby, mixed with footage of a businessman who inexplicably starts to run off into the sunset; first he runs from his office building (the same one the band is performing in) to the suburbs, then into the country and a forest, and finally into the sea. While the man is running, various people in humorous animal costumes cheer him on. It takes place in downtown San Francisco and other Northern California locations and first aired in September 1996.

In popular culture

Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song as a bonus track on their 2007 video game Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Lyrics to the song are mentioned in the young adult novel, The Compound.

In 2011, Relient K covered the song for their cover album, Is for Karaoke.

The song was also used in The Simpsons episode "Saddlesore Galactica".

Alex Jones (of InfoWars.com) uses this song as bumper music for his daily radio program 11 AM to 2 PM Central Time.

British T.V. network ITV used the track as backing music for the trailer to its coverage of the 2015 Tour de France on ITV4

Chart positions

Chart (1997)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Alternative 30	5
UK Singles Chart	22
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	35
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	38
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	4