possibly the best melody to ever be ruined by such awful lyrics...the thing is, even some of the lyrics are good, but as so often happens, a few bad ones totally ruin it...especially when the horrible lyrics are in the form of a juvenile, english homework metaphor in the chorus which is supposed to be deep and meaningful but turn out sounding like a pillsbury commercial
it's just so sad...the melody is beautifully haunting...the stage is being set beautifully from "Spring was never waiting for us, girl" to "love's hot, fevered iron" but then there has got to be that simile -- being pressed like a pair of striped pants???
Anyhow, "Macarthur Park is melting in the dark" might be the most heartbreaking lyric ever written...and the mood of the song is perfect for it...then the very next line -- THE VERY FUCKING NEXT LINE!!! -- is about green icing flowing down...then cake???? ABSOLUTELY FUCKING INEPT AND ABSOLUTELY NO FUCKING EXCUSE!!!!!!!!!!!
anyhow, it still manages to be a great song...except that it's a great in that cheezy, "u don't hav to take it seriously" kinda way instead of the "great classic song" kinda way...i think it's about a guy who loves a girl but she runs off to be w/ some rich guy and now the dude doesn't wanna love again b/c no love will ever be like the one he lost...the cake reference could be a literal wedding cake (it's still a terrible fucking lyric) or it's symbolic of their love (which is even worse) or it could be both (which is the superlative form of terrible or worst)
what a shame...good song to sing in the shower though
Great writeup. I couldn't have said it any better. The metaphors are absolutely horrible. A precocious second grader could have done better. It should have been put out as an instrumental piece or the producer should have waited to come down from the acid before printing it.
Great writeup. I couldn't have said it any better. The metaphors are absolutely horrible. A precocious second grader could have done better. It should have been put out as an instrumental piece or the producer should have waited to come down from the acid before printing it.
@ZinbobDan You're being a little unfair here. Jimmy Webb wrote this based on his observations at the time. Yes, there was a cake in the park and it was melting in the rain. What is so wrong about someone writing about his observations and putting them to music? This is a classic song, with classic lyrics and it will live on for many years.
@ZinbobDan You're being a little unfair here. Jimmy Webb wrote this based on his observations at the time. Yes, there was a cake in the park and it was melting in the rain. What is so wrong about someone writing about his observations and putting them to music? This is a classic song, with classic lyrics and it will live on for many years.
possibly the best melody to ever be ruined by such awful lyrics...the thing is, even some of the lyrics are good, but as so often happens, a few bad ones totally ruin it...especially when the horrible lyrics are in the form of a juvenile, english homework metaphor in the chorus which is supposed to be deep and meaningful but turn out sounding like a pillsbury commercial
it's just so sad...the melody is beautifully haunting...the stage is being set beautifully from "Spring was never waiting for us, girl" to "love's hot, fevered iron" but then there has got to be that simile -- being pressed like a pair of striped pants???
Anyhow, "Macarthur Park is melting in the dark" might be the most heartbreaking lyric ever written...and the mood of the song is perfect for it...then the very next line -- THE VERY FUCKING NEXT LINE!!! -- is about green icing flowing down...then cake???? ABSOLUTELY FUCKING INEPT AND ABSOLUTELY NO FUCKING EXCUSE!!!!!!!!!!!
anyhow, it still manages to be a great song...except that it's a great in that cheezy, "u don't hav to take it seriously" kinda way instead of the "great classic song" kinda way...i think it's about a guy who loves a girl but she runs off to be w/ some rich guy and now the dude doesn't wanna love again b/c no love will ever be like the one he lost...the cake reference could be a literal wedding cake (it's still a terrible fucking lyric) or it's symbolic of their love (which is even worse) or it could be both (which is the superlative form of terrible or worst)
what a shame...good song to sing in the shower though
Great writeup. I couldn't have said it any better. The metaphors are absolutely horrible. A precocious second grader could have done better. It should have been put out as an instrumental piece or the producer should have waited to come down from the acid before printing it.
Great writeup. I couldn't have said it any better. The metaphors are absolutely horrible. A precocious second grader could have done better. It should have been put out as an instrumental piece or the producer should have waited to come down from the acid before printing it.
@ZinbobDan You're being a little unfair here. Jimmy Webb wrote this based on his observations at the time. Yes, there was a cake in the park and it was melting in the rain. What is so wrong about someone writing about his observations and putting them to music? This is a classic song, with classic lyrics and it will live on for many years.
@ZinbobDan You're being a little unfair here. Jimmy Webb wrote this based on his observations at the time. Yes, there was a cake in the park and it was melting in the rain. What is so wrong about someone writing about his observations and putting them to music? This is a classic song, with classic lyrics and it will live on for many years.