Post by paulclarkson on Mar 22, 2006 17:37:20 GMT
NO.1
MACARTHUR PARK
BY
RICHARD HARRIS
In my view, ‘MacArthur Park’ is probably the greatest song ever written. This of course is up for debate but looking back on the past forty years of popular music, this song stands out for me and I class it as my favourite song of all time. Each time I hear this song, even though it’s nearly 38 years old, it still gives me goose bumps and sends shivers down my spine. At 7 minutes 23 seconds long it stood along side The Beatles ‘Hey Jude’ as one of the longest singles of 1968. This was unusual for the 60’s as up until then music was all about the 3 minute song, the intro, a verse, a chorus, a middle eight, up a key for the final verse then fade out. With MacArthur Park we were treated to a lot more, something very special. The song peaked at number 4 in the Hit Parade of June 1968 and stayed in the charts for 12 weeks. It also went into the top 5 in America.
The song was sung by Richard Harris who was born in Ireland on October 1st 1930. Richard Harris was a larger than life actor who was ideal for the dramatic ‘MacArthur Park’. The songs writer, Jimmy Webb, was born in America on August 15th 1946, he was little known in the UK when he teamed up with Richard Harris for this epic song, he also had success in the late 60’s with hits for Glen Campbell, The Four Tops and The Fifth Dimension to name a few.
The song starts very quietly with Richard coming in with the vocal at 19 seconds, the beauty of the melody is already in place as the song starts to build up with lovely swirling violins then just at the point that most pop songs are coming to an end the song brilliantly slows down at 2 mins.32 secs. Then we are treated to an absolutely gorgeous passage of orchestration and melody that hits you in waves at 3 mins.24 secs then again at 3 mins.42 secs. From 3 mins.54 secs to 4 mins.48 secs the song hits an even higher peak until it speeds up for the start of the closing sequence. You can feel the emotion in Richard Harris’s voice at 4 mins.19 secs when he sings ‘after all the loves of my life’. There is a change in the mood of the music at 5 mins.24 secs and at 6 mins.19 secs is the moment when, for me, it reaches such a height that you can’t fail to feel the emotion of the song.
Okay, the lyrics have been a point of some ridicule over the years, what does ‘the cake’ mean when it is ‘left out in the rain’ and the ‘green icing flowing down’? Who cares, you read into it what you feel at the time. Is it nonsense or is it a song about a love affair coming to an end? The listener has to decide this and come to his or her own conclusion. Have a listen to Jimmy Webb’s solo version if you get the chance, you’ll find it on his album ‘Ten Easy Pieces’. When I first heard this beautiful version with Jimmy alone singing and playing the piano I was completely taken by surprise that it can still evoke such feeling, it certainly does the original justice and why not, it’s his song after all.
Paul Clarkson
www.jimmywebb.com
MACARTHUR PARK
BY
RICHARD HARRIS
In my view, ‘MacArthur Park’ is probably the greatest song ever written. This of course is up for debate but looking back on the past forty years of popular music, this song stands out for me and I class it as my favourite song of all time. Each time I hear this song, even though it’s nearly 38 years old, it still gives me goose bumps and sends shivers down my spine. At 7 minutes 23 seconds long it stood along side The Beatles ‘Hey Jude’ as one of the longest singles of 1968. This was unusual for the 60’s as up until then music was all about the 3 minute song, the intro, a verse, a chorus, a middle eight, up a key for the final verse then fade out. With MacArthur Park we were treated to a lot more, something very special. The song peaked at number 4 in the Hit Parade of June 1968 and stayed in the charts for 12 weeks. It also went into the top 5 in America.
The song was sung by Richard Harris who was born in Ireland on October 1st 1930. Richard Harris was a larger than life actor who was ideal for the dramatic ‘MacArthur Park’. The songs writer, Jimmy Webb, was born in America on August 15th 1946, he was little known in the UK when he teamed up with Richard Harris for this epic song, he also had success in the late 60’s with hits for Glen Campbell, The Four Tops and The Fifth Dimension to name a few.
The song starts very quietly with Richard coming in with the vocal at 19 seconds, the beauty of the melody is already in place as the song starts to build up with lovely swirling violins then just at the point that most pop songs are coming to an end the song brilliantly slows down at 2 mins.32 secs. Then we are treated to an absolutely gorgeous passage of orchestration and melody that hits you in waves at 3 mins.24 secs then again at 3 mins.42 secs. From 3 mins.54 secs to 4 mins.48 secs the song hits an even higher peak until it speeds up for the start of the closing sequence. You can feel the emotion in Richard Harris’s voice at 4 mins.19 secs when he sings ‘after all the loves of my life’. There is a change in the mood of the music at 5 mins.24 secs and at 6 mins.19 secs is the moment when, for me, it reaches such a height that you can’t fail to feel the emotion of the song.
Okay, the lyrics have been a point of some ridicule over the years, what does ‘the cake’ mean when it is ‘left out in the rain’ and the ‘green icing flowing down’? Who cares, you read into it what you feel at the time. Is it nonsense or is it a song about a love affair coming to an end? The listener has to decide this and come to his or her own conclusion. Have a listen to Jimmy Webb’s solo version if you get the chance, you’ll find it on his album ‘Ten Easy Pieces’. When I first heard this beautiful version with Jimmy alone singing and playing the piano I was completely taken by surprise that it can still evoke such feeling, it certainly does the original justice and why not, it’s his song after all.
Paul Clarkson
www.jimmywebb.com