Long Distance Runner

Being a distance runner, I can relate to the analogy. Sprinting will do you no good if you've got a long way to run. If you ever watch a marathon race, you'll see quite often someone way out in front early on, but they often end up getting passed. The winner is often the one who runs a steady pace. In this song though, he doesn't seem to be concerned with winning the race. He just wants to run his own pace (i.e. do his own thing) and not worry about the competition. Kind of reminds me a bit of Boston's "Peace of Mind" - "I understand about indecision, I don't care if I get behind, people living in competition, all I want is to have my peace of mind."

brilliant. I didn't like this song the first time I heard it, but after a few times, I can't help but love it.

i agree. first time i heard red medicine i didnt like it, but its such a great album after 4-5 listens. i love the part where it goes "the answer is there the answer is there". do u know what ian/guy is talking about here?

This is my absolute favorite Fugazi song. It's really bizzare, but I guess that's why I love it.

The term long distance runner just refers to the human race, I'm guessing, and how fast pace life is. We're always running to or from something. I'm not sure what Ian meant specifically when he said "The answer is there but there's not a fixed position" but i'll assume "the answer" is just the solution to any of his (or our) problems, and it's not a fixed position because things rarely just fall into place. There's always some kind of distance to be run, so to speak. I hope I'm not too far off.

kewl definition !

Plosion - think you're spot on there mate. My favourite line 'if i stop to catch my breath, i might catch a piece of death'...unbelievable!

My interpretation? The long-distance race is a metaphor for life, searching for an answer and being unable to keep up with your friends, family and lovers at times, and the fight against the desire, at times, to give up completely- that's the 'fight with gravity' that Ian speaks of.

I was always reminded of the Stephen King short story "the long walk" from The Bachman Books". You can read up on it here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Walk

this is about getting up and doing something. rather than just spending your life sitting watching t.v. or being stuck in a dead end job etc... like go out and start a band, write a book etc...

-Through the whole experience he is still learning ("the farther i go the less i know"),

-but he is still constantly excited by the challenges ahead ("the answer is there the answer is there but there is not a fixed position it keeps moving along").

-Inactivity would be to wastes ones life ("if i stop to catch my breath i might catch a piece of death").

-But he's not racing to win nor is he letting anyone else slow him down ("i can't keep your pace if i want to finish this race my fight's not with it it's with the gravity")

Especially poignant considering McKaye is still keeping him self busy with bands, studio work and label admin even after Fugazi went into hibernation. Most people would probably just stop at that point.

Oh and I really love the intro to this song!! :)

The first time I heard this song when I heard the "If I stop to catch my breath, I might catch a piece of death" part the only thing I could thing of is Robert Frost when he said "I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep"