"It started as a joke..."
-Tori Amos: Digital Ghost - American Doll Posse 2007
While often a topic of discussion, I never scratched too far beneath the surface of MacArthur Park. It was that song about never having that recipe again. I knew the refrain, didn't even know the name until recent years. It was that song that Apu's daughter did in the talent show on the Simpsons that put the audience to sleep. It was that song that I heard countless times growing up, on the radio and in elevators and in stores and even in the barber shop that played mellow sounds of the day while we waited for a haircut.
I recently bought Season 1 of SCTV on DVD and laughed hysterically at Dave Thomas' impression of Richard Harris performing MacArthur Park live, but for all of the artists who covered the song, why did he pick Richard Harris? I was at the time visiting the Chief, who was also laughing. He did a quick internet search on the topic and found that the original recording was done by none other than Richard Harris, the guy who recently played Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series until his death just a few years ago. I have not looked this up to confirm it but memory tells me that he was also "a Man Called Horse" and that IRA guy in Patriot Games.
At any rate, the Chief and I were recently in a Record Store and HE came across Richard Harris - A Tramp Shining. Released in 1968 this album features Mr. Harris' voice along with the lyrics of Jimmy Webb, and, yes, MacArthur Park is the first song on side 2. The Chief said I had to buy it (it was an exorbitant $2.99). As the first line suggests, I think it was a joke. Then the song appeared in the virtual iPod just to the right of these words. Then the scrolling lyrics showed up. This was starting to get serious. What was Lord Elgarf trying to accomplish? Fun is fun, but this is getting a little excessive. Now the S.O.B. does a posting on it! I can even do you one better...
Yes, in spite of the 7 minutes that may have made radio stations cringe, and in spite of such lyrics as "like a stri-ped pair of pants", "MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark, all the sweet green icing flowing down", and the immortal "someone left a cake out in the rain" there is a haunting quality to the song that takes me back to the seventies (when I heard it, anyway). Instead of asking, "What idiot would leave a cake out in the rain?" I choose to ask, "What tragic circumstances led this person to abandon such a pastry (a cake is not an everyday confection such as a pie or a plate of cookies, but a representation of a celebration: a birth, a wedding, a birthday, an anniversary). It clearly symbolizes the end of something that was held dear.
I won't say how many times I have listened to this album, but I will say that as one side ends I flip it and play the other side, repeatedly.
7 comments:
A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, I WAS WITH MY FATHER AND MOTHER AND WE WERE DRIVING IN A RENTED BUICK LESABRE, EQUIPPED WITH XM SATELLITE RADIO. WELL ONE OF THE SONGS THAT CAME ON THE 60'S CHANNEL WAS MCARTHUR PARK, BY RICHARD HARRIS. MY FATHER SAID THAT HE HAS NOT THIS SONG IN ABOUT 20 YEARS. I SAID "I NEVER EVEN HEARD OF IT"
You may not have heard the name, but I CANNOT believe you have never heard the tune! "I don't think I can take it, cuz' it took so long to bake it, and I'll never have that recipe again!" My goodness, Mr. Rosenberg.
I think your analysis is really good and actually thought provoking. I know we joke about it a lot but you'll not find that kind of symbolism in the Pina Colada song.
I have heard that song so very often and as a kid, it's just a song and you never pay attention to the lyrics; As a teenager, I dismissed it as "put-me-on-hold" music and now - well - I still think it's a song I don't care to seek out to listen to but what you write about is very true.
Also, Richard Harris was also "English Bob" in Clint Eastwood's 'Unforgiven' - something a lot of people may not know about.
Mr Rosenberg: Why does it not surprise me that you would be in a Buick LeSabre WITH XM Sattelite Radio!
FUNNY THING. I THINK THIS WAS AROUND THE SAME WEEKEND THAT I WAS AT THE HOME OF 30,000 POUNDS OF BANANAS WITH 2 LIVE DUDES. I USUALLY DO NOT LISTEN TO THE MUSIC OF THE 1960'S EXCLUSIVELY, SO AT THAT TIME IT WAS A NUMBER OF FACTORS THAT CAUSED ME NOT TO REMEMBER HEARING THAT SONG.
I don't know this song. I even have the Tori Amos CD. I listen to it, but I guess I don't really know the names of any of the songs, I am always in the car.
Where on earth are there 30,000 pounds of Bananas. How have I not heard of that place before?
Scranton, Pennsylvania. It is referenced in a song by the artist that Sol and the Chief love, but I do not, Harry Chapin (you know, the "cat's in the cradle" guy).
Hey queen, I have the song on this site. Play it. You should recognize it too.
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