tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post4416411608152723020..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: MacArthur ParkBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-74641061598271053722015-07-21T09:43:32.963-07:002015-07-21T09:43:32.963-07:00Astroboy, same here for both comments.Astroboy, same here for both comments.dede blunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04427267256703697625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-67194495355203983112015-07-17T07:30:34.191-07:002015-07-17T07:30:34.191-07:00I have no problem with the "cake left in the ...I have no problem with the "cake left in the rain". Remember how a piece of wedding cakes were kept frozen for a year, to be defrosted and eaten on the celebration of your first wedding anniversary? Not all marriages last that long. Then, there's the memory of the trees and the grass of the park, slowly fading as the years go by. Makes perfect sense to me. You can read all the sex into the song that you want- or which Jimmy Webb may have intended- but for me, it's a small park in upstate New York back in the nineteen sixties. It will always be that park, that day, no matter how time fades it away. I loved the pretentious song; I loved my first girlfriend. <br />As a coda: we met in 1965; the park was in 1970. We're still in touch, though we're hundreds of miles apart, and today is her birthday. After all the loves of my life, she'll still be the one."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-76246647019622350362015-07-17T04:57:14.857-07:002015-07-17T04:57:14.857-07:00Anyonymous 10:53 a.m.
"And I need you more t...Anyonymous 10:53 a.m.<br /><br />"And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time..." Finish the goddamn line, and it makes perfect sense.<br /><br />Jake Mabehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01908036270824377919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-86052359070515456962015-07-16T10:58:21.101-07:002015-07-16T10:58:21.101-07:00To Anonymous at 1:02AM
So glad you understood wha...To Anonymous at 1:02AM<br /><br />So glad you understood what I said!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-77188529495809272972015-07-16T10:53:32.882-07:002015-07-16T10:53:32.882-07:00Always thought Jim Webb and Van Dyke Parks were th...Always thought Jim Webb and Van Dyke Parks were the same person. Bothering lyrics that were occasionally nonsense, except Parks' was often about wordplay and Webb was just odd. "I need you more than want you" is not normal.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-81496543107971679472015-07-16T07:58:58.955-07:002015-07-16T07:58:58.955-07:00The one line that still (age 63) gets me is NOT th...The one line that still (age 63) gets me is NOT the one quoted above - it's the topper, from the next verse:<br /><br />"After all the loves of my life, I'll be thinking of you.....and wondering 'why'?".<br /><br />Barry in Portlandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-39019957915791019342015-07-16T07:43:55.802-07:002015-07-16T07:43:55.802-07:00I always thought this song was an inside joke. Li...I always thought this song was an inside joke. Like they wanted to see if anyone really paid attention to the words. Years later I tried to tell someone what the lyrics were and they didn't believe me, in spite of being familiar with the song. That reinforced my suspicion. McAlvienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-4132895127362244432015-07-16T07:35:59.318-07:002015-07-16T07:35:59.318-07:00I dig the instrumental rock part of the song. That...I dig the instrumental rock part of the song. That's about it. These guys had to be on drugs to approve Richard Harris to belt this out (a few of which he needed, I'm sure, to get through this octave hopping ballad).<br /><br />Here's a version of the song on Letterman. Will Lee nails it - especially at the end, cake and all!<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N1AkdG0PUEPete Grossmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-72751336000252046772015-07-16T07:22:32.376-07:002015-07-16T07:22:32.376-07:00In that SCTV "Mel's Rockpile" sketch...In that SCTV "Mel's Rockpile" sketch, Dave Thomas as Richard Harris randomly getting hit with a brick never fails to make me laugh.Brent Alleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14831812661524882014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-86976699367659399672015-07-16T01:02:43.429-07:002015-07-16T01:02:43.429-07:00Anonymous said...
"God, men are so pathetic, ... Anonymous said...<br />"God, men are so pathetic, but if you can just accept that the first thing they can ever think about in any situation morning, noon, and night, is sex; and not be offended about it, you can have a lot of fun with them. And if they're getting plenty, they can do great things---create great art, lead nations, add to the immortal canon of civilization.<br /><br />I cannot possibly put my name on this."<br /><br />Speaking on behalf of all straight men: I love you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-46312267938350429402015-07-16T00:46:01.811-07:002015-07-16T00:46:01.811-07:00Norm! said...
"Anonymous
Do you need a hug?... Norm! said...<br /><br />"Anonymous<br /><br />Do you need a hug?"<br /><br /><br /><br />Oh, Norm!<br />If I knew you were coming, I'd have baked a cake!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-75637947981935254252015-07-15T22:59:50.058-07:002015-07-15T22:59:50.058-07:00Jimmy Webb should thank the Hearst newspaper chain...Jimmy Webb should thank the Hearst newspaper chain for the success of that song. Until 1942, the park was known as Westlake Park (for the neighborhood it was in). But that year, the Hearst papers in Los Angeles (the morning <i>Examiner</i> and the evening <i>Herald-Express</i>) waged a successful campaign to rename the park for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, leader of U.S. forces in the Pacific. (Hearst eyed MacArthur as a potential postwar presidential candidate.) "Westlake Park is melting in the dark" frankly just doesn't cut it as a lyric.VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-81644513391894902292015-07-15T22:32:13.002-07:002015-07-15T22:32:13.002-07:00Another correction: I meant to put " on YouT...Another correction: I meant to put " on YouTube" between "saw" and "Will". tavmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66564771576866839872015-07-15T22:29:35.651-07:002015-07-15T22:29:35.651-07:00Correction: It should say "an hour of '6...Correction: It should say "an hour of '60s songs"...tavmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-88560341081158298642015-07-15T22:28:08.589-07:002015-07-15T22:28:08.589-07:00I was just a kid when I first heard this song on t...I was just a kid when I first heard this song on the Ray Coniff and his singers album-Turn Around Look at Me-which had a stunning blond haired woman on the cover. "Someone left the cake out in the rain" really caught my ear as it also did when I heard Richard Harris' version during an hour of '80s songs on AM radio as well as Donna Summer's disco version. I also remember Dave Thomas' hilarious hands going up and down constantly during that instrumental bridge which was played forever on the "Mel's Rock Pile" sketch on "SCTV"! And now I saw Will Lee with The CBS Orchestra on "Late Show with David Letterman" perform it with Jimmy Webb and I'm just stunned at how awesome he was at that! Okay, I think I'm exhausted now...tavmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-89835455811833570442015-07-15T20:05:41.706-07:002015-07-15T20:05:41.706-07:00You forgot to mention that MacArthur Park is acros...You forgot to mention that MacArthur Park is across from Langer's Deli, home of the nation's best pastrami sandwich (so says everyone who counts, sorry New York, you lose at your own game).Tednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31959976082541399392015-07-15T19:02:15.441-07:002015-07-15T19:02:15.441-07:00Well, D. McEwen, I would have guessed that you wen...Well, D. McEwen, I would have guessed that you went to the same college I did, except that the jukebox was in the dorm dining room and it seemed like every time I was in there for lunch, somebody would play that song. I had to listen to some guy wailing about that cake recipe so often I loathed it. I would have been much happier listening to "Those Were the Days My Friends."<br /><br />I associate MacArthur Park with a half-empty dining room, the smell of grease from the short-order grill, and neighboring table conversations dominated by nasal Long Island accents that were foreign to my upstate ears.Barbaranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-14053241245196084282015-07-15T18:01:59.498-07:002015-07-15T18:01:59.498-07:00Since we're the same age, this song is also on...Since we're the same age, this song is also one I associate with my freshman year of college. My new college friends and I ate lunch together every day at a small diner near the campus that had better food than the college's lunch room. They had a juke box, and every day, as we had lunch (Usually about six or seven of us), I'd play <i>MacArthur Park</i> and <i>Those Were The Days My Friends</i> on that juke box. I was always pretty clear on what <i>MacArthur Park</i> meant, but these days, I know that <i>Those Were The Days My Friends</i> are <b>VERY MUCH</b> how I feel about those long ago days, particularly given that most of my fellow lunchers from back then are all dead now.<br /><br /><i>Those were the days, my friends,<br />We thought they'd never end,<br />We'd sing and dance, forever and a day.<br />We'd live the life we'd choose.<br />We'd fight and never lose,<br />For we were young, and sure to have our way.</i><br /><br />Oh yes, those words certainly have meaning for me now.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66687165083014936142015-07-15T17:17:50.981-07:002015-07-15T17:17:50.981-07:00Mel's Rockpile. Totally.Mel's Rockpile. Totally. Loopshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17880453881620224602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-13841992471997283732015-07-15T16:16:07.040-07:002015-07-15T16:16:07.040-07:00Ken, FYI re Tom Gage -
"One of the best baseb...Ken, FYI re Tom Gage -<br />"One of the best baseball reporters reflects on how coverage has changed"<br />http://www.cjr.org/q_and_a/tom_gage.php<br /><br />Igornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-73931482968259326902015-07-15T15:40:09.243-07:002015-07-15T15:40:09.243-07:00I guess I have a 21st century attention span. This...I guess I have a 21st century attention span. This song is just too damn long to hold my interest.Nicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-11678843788992443562015-07-15T14:46:03.193-07:002015-07-15T14:46:03.193-07:00God, men are so pathetic, but if you can just acce...God, men are so pathetic, but if you can just accept that the first thing they can ever think about in any situation morning, noon, and night, is sex; and not be offended about it, you can have a lot of fun with them. And if they're getting plenty, they can do great things---create great art, lead nations, add to the immortal canon of civilization.<br /><br />I cannot possibly put my name on this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-25536650212123604892015-07-15T14:44:26.721-07:002015-07-15T14:44:26.721-07:00Webb was on LSD when he wrote this? And all these ...Webb was on LSD when he wrote this? And all these years I thought he was spooning Betty Crocker icing for comfort and inspiration. MikeK.Pa.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-36629743202981105262015-07-15T14:37:19.275-07:002015-07-15T14:37:19.275-07:00Sorry, not Linda's sister- her cousinSorry, not Linda's sister- her cousinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-69611619197172846442015-07-15T14:31:54.061-07:002015-07-15T14:31:54.061-07:00MacArthur Park was part of a longer piece called C...MacArthur Park was part of a longer piece called Cantata that Jim Webb wrote about his breakup with Linda Ronstadt's sister.<br />Bones Howe offered the song to The Association, sure that they would take it. They listened and said any two of them could write a better song than that. That was a fateful decision by The Association, and marked the beginning of the end of the group. Should have listened to Bones on that one.<br />Webb shelved the song for a while - he was the hottest songwriter in LA at the time, He sang it at a West LA fundraiser where Richard Harris happened to attend. They got along well, probably knocked back a couple and sang some Irish songs. Harris said we have to work together sometime.<br />A couple of months later out of nowhere Harris flew Webb to England. Webb brought Cantata and some other stuff, none of which Harris liked until he heard MAcArthur Park. He loved it when he heard it again. He wasn't a singer but he felt he had to do it. They flew back to LA got Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew to play on it. Supposedly Harris had a bottle by his side the whole time they recorded it. <br />The knew they had a masterpiece but at 7+ minutesAM radio wouldn't touch it. They got it on FM radio and it was so popular, that AM radio reversed their decision. As much as any song, MAcArthur Park changed the general rule that AM radio would not play songs longer than four minutes. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com