MacArthur Park (song)

"MacArthur Park"
Song

"MacArthur Park" is a song by Jimmy Webb, originally composed as part of an intended cantata. The song was initially rejected by The Association. Richard Harris was the first to record it, in 1968; the song was subsequently covered by numerous artists. Among the best-known covers are Donna Summer's disco arrangement from 1978 and Waylon Jennings's version recorded in 1969 and his recording of the song from 1976. Maynard Ferguson, Stan Kenton and Woody Herman all performed big-band jazz arrangements, and "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied it in his 1993 "Jurassic Park".

While it was a commercially successful song multiple times after it was released, "MacArthur Park" used flowery lyrics and metaphors (most famously, love being likened to a cake left out in the rain) that were considered by media such as the Los Angeles Times to be "polarizing" and "loopy."

Original Webb composition and Harris recording

The inspiration for "MacArthur Park" was the relationship and breakup between Webb and Susan Ronstadt, a cousin of singer Linda Ronstadt. MacArthur Park was where the two occasionally met for lunch and spent their most enjoyable times together. At that time (mid-1965), Ronstadt worked for a life insurance company whose offices were located just across the street from the park. Webb and Ronstadt remained friends, even after her marriage to another man. The breakup was also the primary influence for "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," another Webb composition. After his relationship breakup Webb stayed for a while at the residence of Buddy Greco upon whose piano the piece was composed and originally dedicated. Buddy Greco has closed every show with this number for the past forty years.

The song begins as a poem about love, then moves into a lover's lament. When asked by interviewer Terry Gross what was going through his mind when he wrote the lyrics, Webb replied that the lyrics were meant to be symbolic and referred to the end of a love affair.

The song was first recorded by Richard Harris, after Harris first met Webb at a fundraiser in East Los Angeles, California in late 1967. Webb had been invited to provide the musical backdrop at the piano. Out of the blue, Harris suggested to him that he wanted to release a record. Webb didn't take it seriously until he later received a telegram from Harris, requesting that he come to London to begin the project. After exhaustively listening to all of Webb's compositions, Harris selected "MacArthur Park" for his pop music debut.

The Harris recording of "MacArthur Park" comprises four sections or movements:

1. A mid-tempo arrangement, called "In the Park" in the original session notes, built around piano and harpsichord, with horns and orchestra coming in, accompanying the song's main verses and choruses
2. At about two and a half minutes in, this shifts to a slow tempo and quiet arrangement paired with an alternate lyric, "After the Loves of My Life"
3. At about five minutes in, a sudden switch to an up-tempo instrumental section, "Allegro", led by drums and percussion and punctuated by horn riffs, building up to an orchestral climax
4. At about six and a half minutes in, a reprise of the first section's arrangement accompanying the final choruses and another climax.

The recording was made on December 21, 1967, at Armin Steiner's Sound Recorders in Hollywood, with further work done on December 29 and 30. The musicians in the original studio recording included members of the famous "Wrecking Crew" of Los Angeles-based studio musicians who played on many of the hit records of the 1960s and 1970s. Personnel used included Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knechtel on keyboards, Joe Osborn on bass guitar, and Mike Deasy on guitar, along with Webb himself on harpsichord.

Throughout the recording, Harris can be heard using an incorrect possessive form, "MacArthur's Park." Webb has said he tried correcting Harris during retakes, but gave up when Harris simply could not (or would not) sing the correct words. (The version recorded by Donna Summer retains this error.)

The recording appeared on Harris's album A Tramp Shining in 1968 and was released as a single. It was an unusual choice at its more than seven minute length and multi-part structure. Harris topped the music charts in Europe and Australia, and peaked at No. 2 on the American charts. The song peaked at No. 10 in Billboard's Easy Listening survey, and was No. 8 for the year on WABC's overall 1968 chart.

In 2006 the stage adaptation of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert debuted including the addition of MacArthur Park to the song list. Performed by the character Tick and a passel of dancing cupcakes, the setting is one in which the lyrics about "Someone left the cake out in the rain" actually make sense. See Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (musical).

"MacArthur Park" received the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) in 1969.

"MacArthur Park's" unusual metaphors and sentimentality have made it a frequent target of parody and ridicule over the years. Speaking about the controversy in a 2007 interview, songwriter Jimmy Webb said, "Those lyrics were all very real to me; there was nothing psychedelic about it to me. The cake, it was an available object. It was what I saw in the park at the birthday parties. But people have very strong reactions to the song. There's been a lot of intellectual venom."

In 1992, humorist Dave Barry conducted a poll among his readers of the worst songs ever, as recorded in Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs. Barry's readers selected Harris' version of "MacArthur Park" as the worst song ever recorded, both in terms of "Worst Lyrics" and "Worst Overall Song". In the book he acknowledges the results are biased because he had arbitrarily limited the survey to songs that were very popular and at least 10 years old, as well as excluding certain songs including ones that were intentionally terrible. The survey also likely reflects the demographics of his readership: the large number of middle aged readers resulted in a disproportionate number of Oldies being selected.

Chart (1968)	Peak position
UK	4
Australia	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	2

Donna Summer version

"MacArthur Park"
Song
B-side	"Once Upon a Time" (Live) "Last Dance" (Live) (France) "MacArthur Park" (Part Two) (Japan)

A multi-million selling vinyl single disco version of "MacArthur Park" by Donna Summer was number one on the American pop music sales charts for three weeks during 1978, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Summer's recording, which was included as part of the "MacArthur Park Suite" on her double album Live and More, was eight minutes and forty seconds long on the album. The shorter seven-inch vinyl single version of the MacArthur Park was Summer's first single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100; it doesn't include the balladic second movement of the song, however.

The nearly 18-minute musical medley "MacArthur Park Suite" incorporated the songs "One of a Kind" and "Heaven Knows". This medley was also sold as a 12-inch (30 cm) vinyl recording, and it stayed at number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart for five weeks in 1978. The versions of this medley in Live and More and in the 12-inch recording are notably different in choices of the lengths of the slices of the two accompanying songs. In the 12-inch version, "Heaven Knows" was extended to incorporate the string introduction and the bridge horn solo of the single version for radio stations, and "One of a Kind" was trimmed of some percussion breaks.

"MacArthur Park Suite" was not included on the compact disc version of Live and More because of early CD limitations; however, the album version is available on 1987's The Dance Collection: A Compilation of Twelve Inch Singles. The 12" Special One-Sided Disco DJ Single has been digitally remastered and included on the Bad Girls digipak double CD release.

Chart (1978)	Peak position
Dutch GfK chart	8
Dutch Top 40	9
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1

Other versions

"MacArthur Park"
Song
B-side	"But You Know I Love You"

The song has been covered more than 50 times, including versions by:

• Jerry Vale
• Carmen McRae
• The 5th Dimension
• Diana Ross & the Supremes
• Glen Campbell
• Vic Damone
• Sammy Davis, Jr (twice)
• Percy Faith
• Michael Feinstein
• Maynard Ferguson - M.F.Horn (1971)
• Ferrante & Teicher
• The Four Tops
• Aretha Franklin - Live on The Bob Hope Show (1975)
• Plastic Penny
• Gitte Hænning
• Waylon Jennings (Grammy Award, the 1970 version)
• Long John Baldry
• Stan Kenton - Live at Redlands University (1970)
• Liza Minnelli
• Grimethorpe Colliery Band
• Hugo Montenegro (Hugo's version used only the instrumental section and was also used as a TV News theme for WJW/WJKW in the mid 1970s)
• Only Men Aloud!
• Elaine Paige
• Psychotica
• The Queers
• Doc Severinsen
• Frank Sinatra - Trilogy: Past Present Future (2010) [Box Set, CD]
• The Negro Problem
• The Three Degrees
• Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain
• Andy Williams
• Cauby Peixoto
• Zumpano
• Regine Velasquez
• Sally Yeh
• 101 Strings - "Million Seller Hits Composed by Jim Webb and Burt Bacharach" [LP S-5162]
• Yuki Koyanagi -Single: MacArthur Park / All At Once / 2012.07.25

Variations on the song have included:

• Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Ed Ames each recorded versions using only the middle section. Liz Callaway recorded the middle section as part of a medley with "Didn't We," another song also by Jimmy Webb.
• Carmen McRae with Norman Simmons trio recorded an impressive version of the middle section for her album Song Time (1969).
• Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed recorded an instrumental version for their guitar duet album Me & Jerry, winner of the 1971 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
• The Four Tops recorded a version that omits the long instrumental breaks, which reached #38 on the Billboard singles chart.
• Beggars Opera recorded a progressive version with harpsichord and mellotron in their third album, Pathfinder, in 1972.
• The song has been played by dozens of drum and bugle corps, including championship performances by two junior corps, the Kilties in 1968 and 1969 and the Madison Scouts in 1975, and two all-age corps, the Hawthorne Caballeros in 1974 and the Brigadiers in 2001.
• In 1977 Finnish singer-songwriter Hector recorded the song in band called H.E.C. with Finnish lyrics. Hector titled the song in Finnish "Vanhan kirkon puisto" ("Old Church's Park"), referring to the old church of Helsinki, Hector's hometown.
• In 1980 Pink Lady performed the tune on their variety show Pink Lady and Jeff.
• Yuri performed a Spanish version, entitled "Siempre Hay Un Mañana" ("There Is Always a Tomorrow"), in 1979.
• Thierry Le Luron performed a French version entitled "Les Tuileries" (referring to the Parisian Tuileries Garden)
• Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward (with Mike Batt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra) covered it on his Classic Blue album.
• Carrie Underwood performed it in season four of American Idol.
• Amber Holcomb performed it in season twelve of American Idol.
• UK Hip Hop artist Roots Manuva uses the main chord structure in his 2001 single "Dreamy Days."
• Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello) sings an Italian version called "Parco MacArthur (La Torta in Pioggia)."
• Spanish singer Noelia Cano included a version on the reality show Operación Triunfo in 2008.
• "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied the tune in his 1993 song "Jurassic Park."
• Sung in the stage musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
• Wu-tang Clan released a version called Second Coming as the penultimate track on their 1997 album Wu-Tang Forever.
• It has appeared on The Simpsons at least twice: Homer sings it in the 15th season episode "Co-Dependent's Day," and Sanjay's daughter Pahusacheta Nahasapeemapetilon plays it on the tabla in the episode "Lisa the Beauty Queen."

External links

• Donna Summer live performing the 1978 song in Rotterdam, 2001, 6 min 25 sec.
• Cite from Fred Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits, Billboard, 1988
• Link to The Lou Gordon Home Page