Lyrics for Long Line Of Cars as interpreted by shut

Long Line Of Cars Lyrics
Long Line Of Cars

There's a long line of cars

And they're trying to get through

There's no single explanation

There's no central destination

But this long line of cars

Is trying to get through

And this long line of cars

Is all because of you

You don't wonder where we're going

Or remember where we've been

We've got to keep this traffic

Flowing and accept a little spin

So this long line of cars

will never have an end

And this long line of cars

Keeps coming around the bend

From the streets of Sacramento

To the freeways of L.A.

We've got to keep this fire burning

and accept a little gray

So this long line of cars

Is trying to break free

(drawn out words)

And this long line of cars

Is all because of me

This long line of cars

Long line of cars

Long line of cars

Long line of cars
---
"Long Line of Cars" as written by John Mccrea
Lyrics © Cake - Stamen Music
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aj2828aj
04-17-2002

 Rated  -1 
It seems to me that Cake songs are really fun but really have no meaning. It's about traffic. I guess metaphorically it could be about how annoying things keep coming with no end, but then I think I'm one of those annoying people who read too much into everything.


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ButtOfMalmsey
05-07-2002

 Rated  +1 
I think this song is about blame. Traffic and road rage are merely metaphors; no one ever thinks that they're an asshole driver.

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SCIFI
05-31-2002

 Rated  0 
i think is a treatise on the malformation of society: the "long line of cars" referes to autonominous drivers.
...
There's no single explanation
There's no central destination
...
certainly sounds like the distributed chaos of a hundres drivers all looking out for them selfs.
...
we don't wonder where we're going
Or remember where we've been
...
ever watched ants swarming? ever watched a traffic jam? ever wonder what millions of independant thoughpatters colliding look like?

the lines:
...
We've got to keep this traffic
Flowing and accept a little sin
... and ...
We've got to keep this fire burning
and accept a little gray
...
seems to represent a society that has sacrificed happiness and individuality for continuity.



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thinkitbeit
06-29-2002

 Rated  +2 
I always thought that it was something about problems in their relationship and the person he's talking about is too stubborn to change things to make it right.

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i_heart_yoyo
04-24-2003

 Rated  0 
hehe. i always tried to make this song describe a funeral procession... but i suppose that could just be wishful thinking on my part. it just seemed so vague... "you don't wonder where we're going or remember where we've been." long line of cars that has to get through and holds up traffic=funeral. it's your funeral in the first part and mine in the second... i realize this idea doesn't apply to the whole song... but i do find it interesting to think about.

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i_heart_yoyo
04-24-2003

 Rated  0 
hehe. i always tried to make this song describe a funeral procession... but i suppose that could just be wishful thinking on my part. it just seemed so vague... "you don't wonder where we're going or remember where we've been." long line of cars that has to get through and holds up traffic=funeral. it's your funeral in the first part and mine in the second... i realize this idea doesn't apply to the whole song... but i do find it interesting to think about.

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Immortal113
12-02-2004

 Rated  -1 
Seems like a commentary on how society is just sheep following eachother blindly without really knowing or caring where they're headed.

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tunasandwich77
01-14-2005

 Rated  0 
my guess: its about sprawl and how there is no real end or solution in sight

i know the band is pretty liberal and its not unlikely that they would protest that kind of stuff.

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i(heart)jamiemyers
01-25-2005

 Rated  0 
i thought it was about a girl that he broke up with and she got into a crash which held up traffic and he blames it on herwhich explains
And this long line of cars

Is all because of you
but later he realizes its his fault cause he broke her heart and is why he saysAnd this long line of cars

Is all because of me
Bet ya never thought of that! GO CAKE!

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navical
03-26-2005

 Rated  -1 
Two ways I think of this song.

#1 Some traffic accident that was caused by a flicker in a relationship, lagging the cars.

#2 The man wants sex, the woman doesn't. They missed all these days just argueing, and it's about time they've "accepted a little sin".

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new kind of army
03-27-2005

 Rated  0 
Well i think that it's about life in general. Long line of cars as in alot of people moving on with their own lifes. All move along with diferent objectives and diferent aspirations but all moving along together, and yet lonely.

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rocklobster7
04-15-2005

 Rated  0 
I agree, it's about life and people who need to just move along with it. everyones just trying to get through. and the main dude is trying to move on through the traffic of life, but is held up by a girl, who he can't get over- "and it's all because of you"

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angryredplanet
08-13-2005

 Rated  0 
I get a more spiritual metaphor from most of Cake's songs... I think that, besides talking about girls and cars, he's also talking about God, and destiny. (Yes, the metaphor is almost always applicable to 'society' as well) In fact, the multitude of metaphors I find in their music only makes me enjoy it more!

Anyway... this song mentions sin and burning, in the bridge(s)... When I hear it, I always think of the long line of cars as the line to the gates of hell. A lot of their songs seem to poke fun at the christian mythology, and if there were truly gates to the 'realms' above and below, then the gates of hell would surely be a lot like the universe's biggest traffic jam!

The long line of cars "will never have an end", which means it is infinite, and will "keep coming round the bend" forever...

Another interpretation of the same points I brought up, is that the song is about pollution. The "sin" of driving forces us to "accept a little grey" (smog?), and we "don't wonder where we're going" or what we're doing to the environment, or "remember where we've been", as in just a few decades ago, when smog DIDN'T EVEN EXIST.

It's not only "because of YOU", if you check the lyrics again... but also "because of me". Of course, if everyone is equally wrong, nobody can get blamed... right?

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xLucyInTheSkyx3
04-07-2006

 Rated  0 
I always think of a hurse.

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archemo
06-09-2006

 Rated  0 
if the song was pertaining to my situation.. it would be about friends.. not romance.

the four of us all say we don't like drama. we all hate it actually. but everything gets us fighting. and just when we think everythings OK.. things arent.

"So this long line of cars
will never have an end"

and we dont know why we cant get along all the time:
"You don't wonder where we're going
Or remember where we've been"

it all makes sense except for the last line:

"all because of me"

because i'm usually the one who makes things OK..

i've loved cake for years now. and they're probably my favorite band. all of their songs so easily fit into my life.

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Arafelis
08-10-2006

 Rated  0 
Seriously, huh?

Two lyrics in the above version are off- it's "'We' don't remember where we're going..." and "accept a little 'sin'."

The cars are a metaphor for human beings. The lines 'is all because of you' and 'is all because of me' are accusitory, but also refer to the fact that each person has a long line of ancestors and will likely have a long line of descendants.

The song is talking about population increase and the thoughtless way in which it continues; 'we've got to accept a little sin', 'we've got to keep the fire burning and accept a little grey' talk about either the 'necessary evils' of life, the extents to which people will go to get their family ahead in the world, or both.

"We don't remember where we're going or remember where we've been" points out that nobody has any idea (nor seems to care) where the human race or they themselves are 'going' in the future- another comment on the senseless nature of overpopulation- and few people even have a grasp of the history of their family, much less species.

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Arafelis
08-10-2006

 Rated  0 
Oh, almost forgot. The cars are simultaneously literal and metaphorical (as this massive population drives all the time), so the lyrics also each pertain to actual cars. I like archemo's comment about 'accept a little grey' pertaining to smog- hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense.

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px-master
03-17-2007

 Rated  0 
I agree with Arafelis

I think this song is about life
Road is life, and cars are people
"There's no single explanation
There's no central destination"
This is like meaning of the life nobody knows it but we are jus living it:
"But this long line of cars
Is trying to get through"

I think it is obvious because of this verse:
"So this long line of cars
will never have an end"
Circle of life continues

And he is speaking to everyone:
"And this long line of cars
Is all because of you"

We are maintaining circle of life

But thats only my opinion ;)

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yoshigawa
04-16-2007

 Rated  +1 
From my sister's POV:

It's a stand-still relationship.
Long line of cars=traffic jam=stand still.
You don't wonder where we're going
Or remember where we've been?
Ever seen You've Got Mail? like the relationship between Meg Ryan and her boyfriend. The relationship isn't going anywhere, and they don't seem to care.

Like that.

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1 Reply  · 
Songwriterwinsagain
06-24-2007

 Rated  0 
Maybe someone who goes through people fast, they seem good at first but they wont change to stop the fact that they keep losing everyone and have to replace the people lost.

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jgri
08-11-2007

 Rated  0 
People... first time in here, so... excuse-me.

Really.. i think this music is just talking about a long line of cars. And no meaning else. If I could describe Cake with one word it would be unpretentious

Just like that.

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frostyservant
04-17-2008

 Rated  0 
This song recalls the writing of Neal Stephenson, inexplicably.

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pakistaniman
07-22-2008

 Rated  0 
"There's no single explanation" is interestingly followed by "and this long line of cars is all because of you". That sounds like a single explanation to me!

By adding "this long line of cars is all because of me" at the end, it fixes this mistake though. It makes me think that the long line of cars in the song is caused by us all, which is a combination of "you" and "me".

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1 Reply  · 
DeathHands
08-14-2009

 Rated  -1 
I feel like this track is speaking to the rudeness and irreverent attitude that has been taken up by drivers towards funeral parties. I also think think that it has a quality of sarcasm in the lines "We've got to keep this fire burning, and accept a little gray" in that the full extent of a funeral party isn't known until the very last part of escort, usually being the older extended family. The road rage and traffic issues are merely imagery to display this in a very urban environment where it'd be "most inconvenient". This is just speaking on something different, not a serious evaluation. That said, I'm likely full of crap. :)

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My Interpretation
Mc Scratchnsniff
09-16-2009

 Rated  0 
It made me think of someone who sees the cars as lies, problems, difficulties, sins in a situation that should probably be addressed and solved, but that would take too much effort and stop the traffic. It would be too inconvenient. So the long line of cars was originally coming from the person spawning the problems (you) but at the end, the cars are still moving and the enabler is now to blame (me).

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