In Defense of MacArthur Park
With the recent death of Glen Campbell, the lyrics to his songs have come to mind, specifically one of my favorites “The Wichita Lineman,” written by Jimmy Webb.
“I need you more than want you. And I want you for all time. And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line…” makes me swoon. Something I'd love to hear my best beloved say to me, but conversation is likely to be along the lines of “I’ll be home at five, what are we having for dinner?”
Campbell had a big hit with another Webb song “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and a lesser one with “Where’s the Playground, Susie?” Both songs were inspired by the breakup of a relationship he had in 1965 with a woman named Susan Horton. Webb also wrote “The Worst That Could Happen,” recorded by the Brooklyn Bridge, when he found out Susie had gotten married.
He was all of 19 years old when he fell in love with Susie. Which makes sense. It’s the age when passions run deep and a young man can love his girlfriend with his whole heart and soul. When the loss of that love brings unbearable pain and sorrow.
Which brings me to my favorite Jimmy/Susie Breakup Song: “MacArthur Park.”
Yes, the song about someone leaving the cake out in the rain, “all the sweet green icing flowing down.”
That unfortunate turn of phrase earned it the number one spot in Dave Barry's Bad Song survey back in 1993, coming in ahead of “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” by the Ohio Express, “Having My Baby” by Paul Anka and “Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro.
And that’s sad. Because I love this song. OK, Richard Harris’s voice is kind of hoarse and croaky (my music teacher called it “dreamy” which works for me). It was obscenely long for Top 40 radio, more than seven minutes. Songs in the late 1960s generally ran under three minutes. For example, “My Green Tambourine” by the Lemon Pipers clocks in at 2:29.
But radio stations played the whole thing anyway, with its haunting melody, orchestral interlude and the mounting chord changing climax when Harris mournfully declares the demise of MacArthur Park. And of course the cake.
What makes this song so special for me is how Webb perfectly articulates the anguish of moving on after losing your one true love.
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
Oh, after all the loves of my life
I'll be thinking of you
And wondering why
As the years go by the agony becomes a dull ache, then merely a sad memory that makes you a bit wistful when you choose to recall it.
But he or she is still the one, and you're still wondering why it went wrong.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
“I need you more than want you. And I want you for all time. And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line…” makes me swoon. Something I'd love to hear my best beloved say to me, but conversation is likely to be along the lines of “I’ll be home at five, what are we having for dinner?”
Campbell had a big hit with another Webb song “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and a lesser one with “Where’s the Playground, Susie?” Both songs were inspired by the breakup of a relationship he had in 1965 with a woman named Susan Horton. Webb also wrote “The Worst That Could Happen,” recorded by the Brooklyn Bridge, when he found out Susie had gotten married.
He was all of 19 years old when he fell in love with Susie. Which makes sense. It’s the age when passions run deep and a young man can love his girlfriend with his whole heart and soul. When the loss of that love brings unbearable pain and sorrow.
Which brings me to my favorite Jimmy/Susie Breakup Song: “MacArthur Park.”
Yes, the song about someone leaving the cake out in the rain, “all the sweet green icing flowing down.”
That unfortunate turn of phrase earned it the number one spot in Dave Barry's Bad Song survey back in 1993, coming in ahead of “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” by the Ohio Express, “Having My Baby” by Paul Anka and “Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro.
And that’s sad. Because I love this song. OK, Richard Harris’s voice is kind of hoarse and croaky (my music teacher called it “dreamy” which works for me). It was obscenely long for Top 40 radio, more than seven minutes. Songs in the late 1960s generally ran under three minutes. For example, “My Green Tambourine” by the Lemon Pipers clocks in at 2:29.
But radio stations played the whole thing anyway, with its haunting melody, orchestral interlude and the mounting chord changing climax when Harris mournfully declares the demise of MacArthur Park. And of course the cake.
What makes this song so special for me is how Webb perfectly articulates the anguish of moving on after losing your one true love.
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
Oh, after all the loves of my life
I'll be thinking of you
And wondering why
As the years go by the agony becomes a dull ache, then merely a sad memory that makes you a bit wistful when you choose to recall it.
But he or she is still the one, and you're still wondering why it went wrong.
Judy Nichols is the author of several mysteries available on Amazon.
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