Cake

Album: Mesopotamia (1981)
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Songfacts®:

  • "Cake" is a song about, well, making a cake. It's not a metaphor; it does not have hidden meaning (if that's what you're after, check out "MacArthur Park," with the cake out in the rain.

    As to be expected of The B-52s, they are not careful with the recipe, spreading the icing nice and thick. "Let it drip down the sides. Who cares?"
  • Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson handled vocals on this track, which they wrote with the group's drummer, Keith Strickland, and guitarist, Ricky Wilson. In Cindy's Songfacts interview, she said: "'Cake' was a wonderful song with music by Ricky and Keith. It was an interesting collaboration with Kate and I jamming on the lyrics, with us coming up with a recipe for cake. It was, as it turns out, pretty good. I like 'Cake.' A lot of people come up to me and tell me it's one of their favorites. It wasn't one of our big hits, but they love it."
  • This is the fourth track on the second side of the Mesopotamia EP, which was produced by David Byrne of the Talking Heads. At 5:48, it's the longest track on the EP. The European version of Mesopotamia has a mix that's even longer, running 7:46.

Comments: 2

  • Crs from New HampshireI agree with Pucenavel - I think this is not only about sex, but the interplay of Kate and Cindy indicate to me it's about lesbian sex (pineapple upside down cake...)
  • Pucenavel from Denver-usaHow can you not understand that this song is about sex....?
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