Song of the Day – Day 7 – MacCarther Park – Richard Harris

MacCarther Park is s strange choice for me as I doesn’t have any of the elements I usually go for in a song. It’s a bit to poppy and has a slight 50s vibes to it, and a slight Spanish vibe, neither of which I enjoy, but for some reason I enjoy it. It is also a song that I forget about completely until I hear it again. It was written by Jimmy Webb and recorded by Richard Harris. Despite being describes as the worst song ever written by some, it managed to reach number 2 on the US chart, number 4 in the UK, and number 1 in Australia and Canada. Despite it’s mixed reception and legacy it was still deemed a big enough song to be parodied by Weird Al Yankovitch, that’s got to count for something.

One of the songs biggest criticisms where it’s wishy washy lyrics but I personal love the line about the Birthday Cake being left out in the rain but maybe I’m just a bit of a hippy as they don’t seems strange to me.

What do you think? Here are the lyrics for you to make your mind up.

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’s 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’s 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!

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

MacArthur’s 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
Oh no!
Ok so maybe after reading them on paper they are a little bit odd. I’ve actually gone of this song a little while writing this blog lol oopsi :/