Sally's Jukebox Hits #36

Welcome to my Jukebox Hits! I'm counting down my all-time favorites from 50 to 1!

At #36 is MacArthur Park by the King of Camelot, Richard Harris.

Certain years have particular songs etched in my music memory, which is still amazingly intact and eerily photographic. I still see the album's slip cover, or the place where I was sitting and listening as the vinyl spun 'round and 'round on my turntable. No kidding....

MacArthur Park stands out vividly for 1968. I was only thirteen, but I knew it was a masterpiece as soon as I heard it. I wore out the two-sided 45; and had to buy a new one. This song has it all, and the beautiful voice of Richard Harris brings it all together. It is filled with metaphors of love and loss, and is pure poetry.

My favorite part:

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....

The singer remembers his first love, down to the finest details of her; the yellow cotton dress she wore, the day, and even the old men playing checkers in the park setting.

MacArthur Park tells a story; and you will need to listen to it closely in order to heed its warning--

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!

Love, like cake, can't be neglected, ever! Don't leave the cake out to spoil. You may never get it back.

{MacArthur Park}

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!

Not everyone gets this song, and that's OK by me. Not everyone gets poetry. It ended at #76 for the year, sitting amongst good company.

Until next time....