Cake — Commissioning A Symphony In C
Album: Comfort EagleAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 415
Length: 2:54
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So you'll be an Austrian nobleman
Commissioning a symphony in C
Which defies all earthly descriptions
You'll be commissioning a symphony in C
With money you squeezed from the peasants
To your nephew you can give it as a present
This magnificent symphony in C, you'll be
Commissioning a symphony in C
Completely filling the palace concert hall
It's warm and golden like an oven that's wide open
It has a melody both happy and sad
Built on victorious known triads
You've entered the room with great caution
Though no one in the hall is even watching
They are transfixed, they are forgetting just to breathe
They are so taken by your symphony, ah, in C
You're sitting there thinking your thoughts
They are not about what is but what is not
You're sitting there breathing in your breath
You are seldom breathing life, but mostly death
So you'll be an Austrian nobleman
Commissioning a symphony in C
Which defies all earthly descriptions
You'll be commissioning a symphony in C
Commissioning a symphony in C
Which defies all earthly descriptions
You'll be commissioning a symphony in C
With money you squeezed from the peasants
To your nephew you can give it as a present
This magnificent symphony in C, you'll be
Commissioning a symphony in C
Completely filling the palace concert hall
It's warm and golden like an oven that's wide open
It has a melody both happy and sad
Built on victorious known triads
You've entered the room with great caution
Though no one in the hall is even watching
They are transfixed, they are forgetting just to breathe
They are so taken by your symphony, ah, in C
You're sitting there thinking your thoughts
They are not about what is but what is not
You're sitting there breathing in your breath
You are seldom breathing life, but mostly death
So you'll be an Austrian nobleman
Commissioning a symphony in C
Which defies all earthly descriptions
You'll be commissioning a symphony in C
Comments (45)add comment
EdEastridge wrote:
C Phrygian mode…
Damn. You win.
C Phrygian mode…
Damn. You win.
Grammarcop wrote:
C Phrygian mode…
C Major or C Minor?
C Phrygian mode…
I can't say exactly what it is about this song, but it all just comes together so perfectly for me that I have to rate it a 10.
Major if not specified
C Major or C Minor?
What a live show they put on! See them if you get the chance! I have, twice, and the shows were among the best I've ever attended!
Very grandaddius. 8 for me.
nmcvaugh wrote:
He indeed has a very recognizable voice - like Billy Corgan, Eddie Vedder, or Natalie Merchant. Could pick them out of a crowd anyday.
Great lyrics, and a voice/delivery that combines with them to give a net score of 4. Wish they had a singer that didn't make me cringe every time I hear his voice - I'd really like to like this band, but just can't do it with McCrae speaking monotone lyrics in a William Shatner style. 
He indeed has a very recognizable voice - like Billy Corgan, Eddie Vedder, or Natalie Merchant. Could pick them out of a crowd anyday.
One of my fave Cake songs!
Perhaps if we sent this singer to some soundproofed gulag and replaced him with the frontman of Death Cab for Cutie, dolphins and whales wouldn't commit mass suicide when Cake gets played.
I say it's well worth the try.
I say it's well worth the try.
Both wrong. He's singing the notes, but the song is written with very little variation in melody. It is nothing like Shatner's spoken lyrics.
Papernapkin wrote:
Papernapkin wrote:
Yes, you nailed it. A bit to tongue-in-cheek, irony, pretentious thing going on.
nmcvaugh wrote:
nmcvaugh wrote:
Great lyrics, and a voice/delivery that combines with them to give a net score of 4. Wish they had a singer that didn't make me cringe every time I hear his voice - I'd really like to like this band, but just can't do it with McCrae speaking monotone lyrics in a William Shatner style.
I Like Cake!
Reminds me of 180am 
Like it!
Like it!Not sure I get the point, but it sure is a lot of fun. Love the guitar solo.
Well the guitarist brings all the songs together for me, feels like there are more lyrics in his solos than from the actual lyrics.
Yes, you nailed it. A bit to tongue-in-cheek, irony, pretentious thing going on.
nmcvaugh wrote:
nmcvaugh wrote:
Great lyrics, and a voice/delivery that combines with them to give a net score of 4. Wish they had a singer that didn't make me cringe every time I hear his voice - I'd really like to like this band, but just can't do it with McCrae speaking monotone lyrics in a William Shatner style.
I love how these guys can take stories, any stories — even something like a scion of the Habsburg dynasty courting and recruiting a young Wolfie to do some symphony — and make them rock, tongue in cheek and pedal to the metal. Operation Comfort Eagle is an ongoing, resoundingly wry success, I think! Dig it!
Great lyrics, and a voice/delivery that combines with them to give a net score of 4. Wish they had a singer that didn't make me cringe every time I hear his voice - I'd really like to like this band, but just can't do it with McCrae speaking monotone lyrics in a William Shatner style.
lyriscuscus
laup wrote:
laup wrote:
great lyruis
great lyruis
Most interesting lyrics.
Segue wrote:
What I was thinking was ... too stupid for me. And I'M pretty stupid. This is stupider. How stupid is that?
local boys CAKE a bit too jokey for me, over the decades appreciate more and THIS is Quite Likeable, minus the hokiness.
What I was thinking was ... too stupid for me. And I'M pretty stupid. This is stupider. How stupid is that?
*yawn*
that was a welcomed surprise 
Next time, can we just go straight to the symphony and skip the Cake song and the whole commissioning bit?
local boys CAKE a bit too jokey for me, over the decades appreciate more and THIS is Quite Likeable, minus the hokiness.
There are many good Cake songs, but this is one of the very best. Built on victorious young triads.
Finally I recalled the last resort of a great princess who was told that the peasants had no bread, and who responded: "Let them eat Cake."
fredriley wrote:
Over at songmeanings.net, there's some very interesting discussion about it being Beethoven.
Which composer is this about?
Over at songmeanings.net, there's some very interesting discussion about it being Beethoven.
https://www.michaelestepa.com/about.php#3
RadioDoc wrote:
Does this place really need more Cake?
Well, the smart, fun lyric and clever instrumentation do provide fast, temporary relief for the bitter aftertaste of sanctimonious reggae lectures. I think a ratio of 4 Cake selections for each reggae selection endured is about right.As a fellow lower-middle-class kid from Sac, I identify almost too completely with McCrea's socio-politics. This would be great played back-to-back with the Old Ceremony's "Poison Pen."
fredriley wrote:
The song is about the person commissioning the symphony, and doesn't even reference the composer at all, which makes your second statement all the more meaningful.
Which composer is this about? I'd thought Mozart, but then there was a reference to "Victoria's great triads" so if that's Queen Vic then it must be later. Or am I on the wrong track altogether?
It does make the contentious but accurate point that most pre-20th century music was composed for and by the nobs "on the backs of peasants".
It does make the contentious but accurate point that most pre-20th century music was composed for and by the nobs "on the backs of peasants".
The song is about the person commissioning the symphony, and doesn't even reference the composer at all, which makes your second statement all the more meaningful.
Yipppeee, yet another Cake song on RP to hang a 10 spot on!!!!
I love Cake, but this one is kinda meh.
fredriley wrote:
The line is "Built on victorious known triads". A bit of a difference there, eh?
Which composer is this about? I'd thought Mozart, but then there was a reference to "Victoria's great triads" so if that's Queen Vic then it must be later. Or am I on the wrong track altogether?
It does make the contentious but accurate point that most pre-20th century music was composed for and by the nobs "on the backs of peasants".
It does make the contentious but accurate point that most pre-20th century music was composed for and by the nobs "on the backs of peasants".
The line is "Built on victorious known triads". A bit of a difference there, eh?
From Wiki "In music and music theory, a triad is a three-note chord that can be stacked in thirds.<1> Its members, when actually stacked in thirds, from lowest pitched tone to highest:"
Which composer is this about? I'd thought Mozart, but then there was a reference to "Victoria's great triads" so if that's Queen Vic then it must be later. Or am I on the wrong track altogether?
It does make the contentious but accurate point that most pre-20th century music was composed for and by the nobs "on the backs of peasants".
It does make the contentious but accurate point that most pre-20th century music was composed for and by the nobs "on the backs of peasants".
rajulkabir wrote:
Excellent question. Yes, more Cake is needed!
Yes yes, lots more Cake, can't get enough, more cake, more cake!
Excellent question. Yes, more Cake is needed!
Yes yes, lots more Cake, can't get enough, more cake, more cake!
RadioDoc wrote:
Excellent question. Yes, more Cake is needed!
Does this place really need more Cake?
Excellent question. Yes, more Cake is needed!
Ridiculous rockin song.
RadioDoc wrote:
I agree.
Does this place really need more Cake? There are lots of better songs which never get played.
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I agree.
RadioDoc wrote:
For this song, yes, more Cake was definitely needed. 9!
Does this place really need more Cake? There are lots of better songs which never get played.
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1
For this song, yes, more Cake was definitely needed. 9!
Tremendous melody construction and lead break. Really fully formed wild, off beat songwriting. Courage like Zappa.
Does this place really need more Cake? There are lots of better songs which never get played.
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1
What a live show they put on! See them if you get the chance! I have, twice, and the shows were among the best I've ever attended!
I just checked for upcoming shows in, and found these options:
Friday 8/19/22 at McMenamins Historic Edgefield Manor in Troutdale, OR ($82+)
or
Sunday 8/21/22 at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle (all tickets show as $300)
The best thing going for the Seattle show is that rain in mid/late August in Seattle is as unlikely as any other time of year, but dang $300 each makes the 200 mile drive to the Portland area almost worth, plus family not too far away so we could spend the night.
I'm actually pretty stoked to go now.
Long Live RP and which-concert-to-see dilemmas!!