Story behind MacArthur's Park

I can't remember the name of the songwriter . . . so much for his 15 minutes . . . other than it was Jimmy . . . maybe Jimmy Webb? Anyway, he had written several hits and had a huge ego. Richard Harris was then a very popular actor, one of the hard drinking British bad boys who made it big in film in the early 60s. Somehow, these two were talking about their fans, their success and stardom. Webb told Harris that he could make him a hit recording artist. Harris, recognizing his vocal limitations, laughed at the idea. Webb(?) persisted and they bet each other a Rolls Royce that Webb could/ could not make Harris a singing star by writing the most "metaphysical" song ever.

MacArthur Park, named for a real, but tiny, park in San Fransisco, was the result. As I understand it, Harris bought Webb the Rolls.

POM,

It was written by Jimmy Webb and if he was prepared to wage a roller on this turkey especially sung by Richard Harris he must have been a brave man- or perhaps bonkers.


Written By: Jimmy Webb
Sung By: Richard Harris or Donna Summer, equally silly.

Spring was never waiting for us, girl
It ran one step ahead
As we followed in the dance
Between the parted pages and were pressed
In love's hot, fevered iron
Like a striped pair of pants

MacArthur Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

I recall the yellow cotton dress
Foaming like a wave
On the ground around your knees
The birds, like tender babies in your hands
And the old men playing checkers by the trees

MacArthur Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

[break]

There will be another song for me
For I will sing it
There will be another dream for me
Someone will bring it
I will drink the wine while it is warm
And never let you catch me looking at the sun
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
You'll still be the one

I will take my life into my hands and I will use it
I will win the worship in their eyes and I will lose it
I will have the things that I desire
And my passion flow like rivers through the sky
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
I'll be thinking of you
And wondering why

[break]

MacArthur Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!
Oh, no
No, no
Oh no!!

I have three different recordings of that song. I even listen to it now and then.

Webb wrote MacArthur Park for the group The Association, a group known for tight harmonies, catchy orchestral arrangements, lush production, and songs with pretty obscure, but well-rhymed lyrics. They had asked for something large in scope, with a "classical" influence. They turned it down, the consensus bein' it was catchy, but it didn't really fit with what they were tryin' to accomplish with the album they were workin' on at the moment, and Webb filed it away. A while later, Richard Harris, an outstanding actor apparently flushed with delusions of musical adequacy following his success in Camelot, decided to do an album - which was to become a big hit for him, released in '68 as A Tramp Shining. He hired Webb, tunedom's leading schlockmeister of the time, to collaborate on the project. That song, MacArthur Park, caught Harris's attention as he was lookin' through Webb's songbook for ideas - most of the tunes for the album had been set, but there was room for a couple more.. He asked Webb about it, Webb played it for him, Harris thought it was catchy, and perhaps its greatest selling point was that it ran about seven minutes- enough by itself to complete the album. Harris reportedly said "Right, then .... I believe we'll have that one".

So ... what's it mean? Well, to me it means that a song written specifically to suit - actually to exploit - the overblown style of what amounted to a fluff-and-treacle group, but rejected by them as over the top, caught the attention of a boozy thespian in need of filler material for an ill-conceived but almost inexplicably successful project, and served mostly to further the notion there's no way to underestimate the taste of the general public, and to confirm the notion the public's incessant desire to find meaning and draw comfort overcomes logic and reason quite handilly ... "If ya can't get to the bottom of it, it must be deep".

Don't have to be deep to be enjoyable.

Ain't nothin' wrong with enjoyin' a catchy tune ... don't hafta go lookin' for any rational or meanin' beyond the fact ya enjoy it. Tryin' to explain some things is an excersize in futility. That doesn't lessen the appeal of the practice a bit.

And as to Mr Harris' singing - I figure its fortunate for him he had another career to fall back on. Good thing he didn't quit his day job.

Jimmy Webb had a lot more than 15 minutes...he is one of America's great tunesmiths.

"It's all coming back to you now, isn't it? The tunes that are spinning endlessly in the windmills of your mind are worth bringing forward. Yes, Jimmy Webb gave you the greatest hits of your early years, including "Wichita Lineman," "Up, Up and Away," "By The Time I Get To Phoenix," "The Worst That Could Happen," "Didn't We," and, of course, the greatest song that makes no sense, "MacArthur Park ("Someone left the cake out in the rain...I don't think that I can take it...cause it took too long to bake it...and I'll never have that recipe again! OH NOOOOO!!!!")".

Guess that all depends on how you define "Great" - personally, I don't figure commercial success and public embrace by themselves satisfy the requirement.

Wasn't MacArthur Park once touted as the world's longest popular song?

Several of similar or greater length come to mind - one bein' Marty Robbins' 1959 smash El Passo, also a little over 7 minutes (the most that could fit on a 45 single). The B side was an edited, 4-minute radio version, but it was the A side that folks went nuts for.

By the way, Webb's title, and the lyric, as written, are "MacArthur Park" - nomitive, not possessive case. Harris mis-articulated when he recorded the piece, and the "MacArthur's" error seems to have stuck.

I seem to remember that Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone is widely considered the first hit to break the 3 minute yoke.

That "3 minute" thing was a convention of AM Radio - 10 songs an hour in the rotation list left plenty of room for chatter and commercials, while allowin' for an illusion of variety. Its no coincidence there's a "Top 40" and that the early DJs typically did 4 hour "Shows". "ALL THE HITS - ALL THE TIME"

Correcto

Ol' timber here wasn't much of an air talent, though I did have a lotta mike time - mostly the graveyard shift. My "Radio Days" were mostly in the Engineering Department. Though not the case today, back then, somebody with a First Class Radio-Telegraph Operator's license bearing a broadcast endorsement had to be on-premises during all hours of transmitter operation. It was pretty common for the junior 1st RTO to be the "Overnight Guy" ... only one salary to pay durin' a time slot of little value to advertisers.

Fascinating stuff...more....more

Prolly wouldn't be of much interest Outside of a small circle of freinds

I despise "Up, Up and Away," also.

Another Webb masterpiece inflicted upon an all-too-accepting public, IMO.