I remember this song from 1968 and I recall playing it over and over... not understanding what it all meant but I loved it any. Funny how life and time teaches us. It all seems to make perfect sense now....
Thank you, and I have been blessed, for the man I'm referring to in that post, my first love (met in '69) and I have reunited after 5 decades and are to be married this year. "There will be another song for me...you'll still be the one." I still cannot believe we "found" each other--over the scattered years and bumpy miles of separation, and now realize we were never lost. The words to this song are the backdrop to a promise made...and kept, 40 years later.
i totally agree with the lumpy throat thing... sure brings back memories... good or bad....sad or happy....another good post ....thanx to youtube and good folks on line.
thanks for the upload I was only 16 when I first heard this playing on radio one 38 years ago I still like it I had some good memories of those years when I was in my late teens thanks again. Geoffs
Peerless drumming as always from Hal Blaine (who also organised the whole contract for the huge number of musicians required for this epic). Apparently they gave up trying to stop Richard Harris singing "MacArthur's" instead of "MacArthur" - all part of the charm!
Richard Harris was in one of my favorite movies of all time - Gladiator! He played the aging king Marcus Aurelius. What a great actor, didn't know he could sing too!
@TehKrakerzGuy And some of those songs, like this one, are actually the BEST EVER by the WORST EVER CRITICS who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.
@coffee3able That's funny because it was actually deemed on POLLS by what songs are considered the worst ever. One critic does not decide what it what when it comes to the worst/best ever, dumbass.
May 1968, basic training in Ft. Lewis,Wa. Wow does it bring back memories.
The picture of Richard Harris just made me realize that he was the star on,"Man in the Wilderness? 43 years it has been and it finally dons on me. Thanks for posting. I still can't believe it. Awesome.
Richard Harris in "A Man Called Horse" was a wonderful film!!! For those who have never seen it, I'd highly recommend finding a copy. Proof that great movies are not just found in the New Releases section.
As for MacArthur Park, I am still just as confused now as when it came out so many years ago. The song itself IS a masterpiece... no argument there, but I never could grasp the meaning of that abstract chorus: "all the sweet green icing flowing down; someone left the cake out in the rain; ..."
@jzmet " The sweet green icing" is the green of the trees etc., the nature of MacArthur Park, but now of a time past, and likened here to the ruined "cake"... Regretfully, he can never return to that time and place...the irreplaceable recipe of a lost love and happening.
The arrangment and composition of Jimmy Webb suited perfectly the thespian Richard Harris, while magically juxtaposing countless subtleties. Have cried many tears to this masterpiece..."and after all the loves of my life, I'll be thinking of you, and wondering why." After 38 years, you reappear, my love, and finally tell me "why." Thank you for removing that lump in my throat, clearing the path for "another dream," with you. The beauty of music and love, we cannot live without either.
The song my mother played incessantly just before her divorce -- and NO it was not the reason for it; it was but a symptom of what she knew would happen.
@60otaku3 This was my wake up Song one of my favorite, this is a great song one have to figure out what he was singing about (Written by his buddy Jimmy Web) i sue to paly this song all the way from Cubao to Pasay, my mother was so angry because there is a moment that wake up my Speeding habit then i slow down and feel so glad, when i left my home country i carry this song in cassette in all the battlefield that i was the first was during US withdrawal in Vietnam 1975
A song to bring memories of the best years back.We wanted to make our world a better place! All we did was turn it into a bigger shit hole! Whether we took part or stood and watched the result is the same.
A touchstone for Boomers....My freshman year @ college...The first woman I fell in love with...My First Broken Heart....The snow. the beach, the grass, the VW, the Volvo... Parsley,Sage, Rosemary & Thyme...All flood back, as I know they do for all of you, whether you like this song or not.
This was our music.... Not our parents warmed over Big Band... Ours...
cake in the rain sounds like he found true love,took it for granted and lost it and now cannot get that feeling back with anyone else either because of guilt or fear. that si just my own opinion of course!
Of all the comments I've read about this song, I've never found an answer to the question "Who really sang the last 3 "OH NO's" at the end of the song. I highly doubt it was Richard Harris. If anyone knows the answer to this (Jimmy Webb are you reading this?) I would really like to know the answer.
This is a quite amazing and very unique song, the MUSIC is brilliant, but what was he thinking when he commited those lyrics about 'the cake', and 'take it' and 'bake it' and 'recipe' to the song??
For me those lyrics are practically cringeworthy, but still a good song, musically brilliant!
unless people's minds aren't blown, let me put this into perspective for you. jimmy webb wrote the song. the person who sings it is richard harris. richard harris was dumbledore in harry potter 1 and 2 before he died. so dumbeldore sung this song. DAMN! he's good.
It's a great song that I've always loved but I have always used this song as proof that musicians were often just as insipid in terms of what they sang about back in the far distant past.
It must have been in 1978 that I spent so many fall evenings running around the track in the football stadium of the junior college near my home. Meanwhile, next door, the school's marching band often practiced its rendition of "MacArthur Park," which helped propel my thirty-something body faster than silence would have managed. I can still hear the band and feel its inspiration.
@Artemis458 I was in a movie with him called "Silent Tongue " filmed in Roswell New Mexico russell bradford banks on FB he, s a very private solemn man , filled with greatness , loved being in that movie with him and River Phoenix
ghanick: You hit it EXACTLY on the head. Any of us who were running for our lives in that era DO remember. This was one of those few songs that made sense in a time when very little did.
Listen to how complex the melodies were at this time. What happened to this music? When the vets came back from ww2 and had their kids the passed that passion on the them. That passion is what sparked the 60's revolution!
I saw jim webb at the fairmont hotel san francisco when he was singing there and he said that most of his songs were written for glen campbell.jim couldn't sing that good but his piano playing and writing skills are brilliant.he played all the songs he wrote WOW what a night
In a way it's quite sad that The Association rejected this song, I'm a real fan of their work and it would have been great to hear their interpretation. Harris did a great job nonetheless.
@JoeTheToucan yeah the band that played/ along comes mary/ with 2 singers could of been better! lol. if richard harris didnt sing this song, it would be on a best of association hits,& their weak band! i.e.. cherish.
Actually, the song was written by Jim Webb, who also wrote Up Up and Away (in My Beautiful Balloon) for the 5th Dimension, and songs like Galviston and By the time I Get to Phoenix for Glen Campbell. and not by Richard Harris
@adam2years3. You are easy to judge. Anyone who can tell me to fuck off because of a comment I made months ago is obviously an idiot with anger issues. Get a life
I still have this song on a 45 and I feel the same now as I did when I first bought it as a teenager who was searching for love - I am completely filled with the overpowering emotions of Richard Harris' triumphant masterpiece. It defined a time and a feeling that captured that time - never to be repeated.
Well who would plan a picnic on a day it was going to rain? green icing? is this a saint paddy's day song? and drinking warm wine will give you the trots! of all people richard harris should have known this!
I remember when this song came out....I found that I understood it....it reads love, heartache, and the tragedy of the break-up. A man loves a woman, he puts his heart and soul into the relationship, and she leaves him abruptly, he is recalling the love as a cake, the rain, his tears, and he looking to the future and learning his lessons, he will never give as much as he did, his first love, his heart will all ways remember that one special lady, as all of us---the first.
Richard Harris was forced to appear in the first Harry Potter movie. His granddaughter found out he had been asked to be in the movie; and he had refused. She told him if he didn't make the movie, she'd never speak to him again. So he was in the movie. he had no choice.
Usually remakes are inferior but in this case the 1978 version done by Donna Summer was light years better. In any event Mc Arthur's park in LA is not a big park like central park in NYC. It is in a not so nice neighborhood and small.
add on to my previous statement. I might not be correct about the amount of the bet or that it was Richard Harris who wrote it, but the truth is that it was a bet about writing a song about any topic and the bet was taken and the the challenge was to write a song about "baking a cake"
@tommieparch listen friend I gave the truth. If the truth hurts then you must wear it. The kids always should know the truth. This is the truth about the song and how it was written. It takes nothing away from the song itself and adds an element of humor to the era. Bottom line is that it is the TRUTH!!!
@tommieparch No offense taken, I actually heard the story on a classic rock station interview circa 1983 where either (Jimmy Webb or Richard Harris , I can't remember) were telling the story of how the song was written based upon the bet. I thought it hilarious, and I still love the song. Cheers!
@JesusChristsuxCocks This may be true, I am not sure. What I am sure about is that there was a bet involving baking a cake. Perhaps the symbolic meaning had to do with this divorce, but baking a cake was the proposed topic for the bet
@tommieparch jimmy webb wrote the song & no popular singer wanted it, so he asked his pal richard if he wanted to do it, the rest is music history! about the bet about writing a cake song, were did you get that? sorry bout the idiot remark. but let me know were you got that story, regards
Hey guys and girls, sorry to burst the bubble about the deep serious meaning behind this song. Truth is that Richard Harris made a bet with (his producer I think it was) that he could write a song about anything and make it a hit. The producer took the bet for $5000 and said "Write a song about baking a cake" and so Richard Harris wrote this song and won the bet.
Thanks for your words of encouragement to me, irish89055-san!!
The metropolitan area in Japan is facing a crisis of the electricity shortage for the damage of the nuclear power plant by a terrible tsunami now but because we're okay somehow or other, please don't worry about me.
@sixsixxsixxxx It's about a detective falling in love with a female witness, He is given the job of protecting her. On a mild winters night, snow melting and rain falling the detective was called to MacArthur Park. It was her, the love of his life, soaked and lifeless. He blamed himself. He had a nervous break down and death wish with fast car drives along cliff edged roads, drugs and women. Eventually the recriminations subsided and he re-joined the uniform police. Eventually he got married.
@sixsixxsixxxx The dangers of leaving a cake out in the pouring rain, silly! Seriously, It is metaphorically speaking of a man's love lost ( the memories with her) and his heartfelt aching that what he had is now lost and his fear that he will never find love again. Jimmy Webb - one of the greatest songwriters this world has known - great melodies- subtle metaphoric lyrics (check out Glen Campbell's Whichita Lineman...he's not speaking about telephone lines either...hope this helps..
@radioham67 I think you are spot on in your description of this masterpiece.....I guess all of us,at one time or another have lost a love,one that was there for a brief and shining moment and as we reached out for it,it evaporated,never meant to be......I have been married to my high school sweetheart for almost thirty-three years now,two wonderful adult kids.Every once in a while,I engage thinking of the ''what-if's,I'm sure I'm not the only one..........
Great performance by Richard Harris. Everyone talks about JW's tune and lyric and the arrangement but Richard Harris' vocal is completely heartfelt - and nobody in 42 years has come close to matching this definitive performance. Few have even tried.
Though it's lyrics had nothing to do with what was going on in the world that year, I've always associated this song with spring and summer or '68 after MLK and RFK were assassinated and it seemed all hope of ever bringing the country somehow together
was lost forever. Maybe we WERE overly idealistic, but up until then in the 60's there seemd to he such hope. I've never agian felt much hope for the world since 1968 and I guess it's the ceaseless feeling of regret that runs through this song.
My comment of last yeat still holds forth ..... Sir Richard, although not a professional singer, performed as a wonderful professional would. ... Remember though that this melody is a touchstone for the "baby boom" generation. Listen to it, relax, remember loves lost and found, and move your life on to the benifit of our children and granchildren ..
Dunhill 4134 (7:20) An awesome piece of work here - and one for the ages. I remember the radio playing the whole song back when it was a hit - and such a fine groove didn't stand up well to the day's record players. I got about 30 plays out of my first copy. Now on my third - every so often I'll pull it out, strap on my bass and play along. Thanks for posting this one!
People who were not around when this song came out just don't get it. It has nothing to do with the lyrics. It is the song in context with its time. Spring 1968 was an era of assassination, blood in the streets, riots, unrest, war, and uncertainty about our very survival as a nation. The schizophrenic nature of this song, its mood changes, melancholic melodrama fit the era perfectly. There is no music these days that really reflects the same dislocation and turmoil going on in our country now.
@ghanick That's because after Woodstock, giant mega-corporations killed rock by co-opting it. Anything that doesn't fit the profit plan gets shit canned.
@ghanick Really nice description of how the song, with its surreal melodrama, seemed so appropriate to the times. I was there, like you, and I get it. It's listed in Dave Barry's book of songs his readers voted as the worst songs of all time, and most of them are indeed horrible, but I couldn't disagree more about this one. Yes, I see why people laugh about images like the cake in the rain, but for me, and it seems for some others, it was perfect. Sometimes things need to be over the top!
I remember this song from 1968 and I recall playing it over and over... not understanding what it all meant but I loved it any. Funny how life and time teaches us. It all seems to make perfect sense now....
43Marjorie 3 days ago
Thank you, and I have been blessed, for the man I'm referring to in that post, my first love (met in '69) and I have reunited after 5 decades and are to be married this year. "There will be another song for me...you'll still be the one." I still cannot believe we "found" each other--over the scattered years and bumpy miles of separation, and now realize we were never lost. The words to this song are the backdrop to a promise made...and kept, 40 years later.
dlynnatkinson 1 week ago
@dlynnatkinson
Doggonit...there it goes again, something in my eyes..sand, an eyelash or something. Yeah, an eyelash, thats it.
Congratulations, and my you turn a nice phrase. And this IS an epic song!
malmoot1 1 week ago
Awesome music. Powerful song! I liked this song even as I was a 7 year old boy.
LorenzKay 1 week ago
Fabulous,,RWB
rwb010109 2 weeks ago
Fantastic song that just missed the top spot on Billboard due to Simon and Garfunkel's iconic "Mrs. Robinson".
lostprairiedog 2 weeks ago
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28mark 4 weeks ago
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28mark 4 weeks ago
Can a song be epic? I think this is epic!!!!
RImusclebear1 1 month ago
This is by far my all-time favorite song. Thanks so much!
LeelaLu7 1 month ago 2
You're very welcome, LeelaLu7-san!!
Otaku3 d(^_^)b
60otaku3 1 month ago
I bought this 78s record when it first came out ,I can picture the snow and the park with the ice and its so alive ,wonderful.
Citylife6 1 month ago
another great one, Otaku. Thank you
SeattleLA 1 month ago
You're welcome, SeattleLA-san!!
Otaku3 (^o^)/
60otaku3 1 month ago
I would die a very happy man if I could write a song only half as epic as this song!
OzziePete1 2 months ago
Great actor and YESSS a great singer and this song ??? F*****g amazing
Absurdartist 2 months ago in playlist More videos from 60otaku3
classic in the true sense!
TheMajoto 2 months ago
I can't believe this is over 7 minutes long! As corny as it is, sometimes we need songs like this in our lives!
Windsweptzariel 2 months ago
Brilliant
vanessamcqueen11 3 months ago
another great song posted by you. Love your msuical taste...thanks
charly7769 3 months ago
You're welcome, charly7769-san!!
Otaku3 (*^_^)b
60otaku3 3 months ago
BRILLIANT!!!! ONE OF THE B EST SONS EVER!!! THANKS FOR POSTING.
carlhardin17 3 months ago
You're welcome, carlhardin17-san!!
Otaku3 (^_^)/
60otaku3 3 months ago
i totally agree with the lumpy throat thing... sure brings back memories... good or bad....sad or happy....another good post ....thanx to youtube and good folks on line.
sgontz1 3 months ago in playlist More videos from 60otaku3
Thank you for enjoying this, sgontz1-san!!
Otaku3 (*^_^)b
60otaku3 3 months ago
My Favourite song of all time.
MyMREDDIE 3 months ago
I was *years old when this song came out but I loved it. I did not understand it. I just know that it made me sad when I heard it.
countnnita1 3 months ago
Don't you think men were really men back then? Look at Richard Harris' face. He looks so natural, kinda unkemped hair and rugged.
rockabillygranny 4 months ago in playlist More videos from 60otaku3
thanks for the upload I was only 16 when I first heard this playing on radio one 38 years ago I still like it I had some good memories of those years when I was in my late teens thanks again. Geoffs
geoffsblues 4 months ago
You're welcome, Geoffs-san!!
Otaku (*^o^)/
60otaku3 4 months ago
Great song now as much as it was back when I was a teen. Thanks for the memories.
theJetta1995 4 months ago
You're welcome, theJetta1995-san!!
Otaku3 (*^_^)v
60otaku3 4 months ago
Makes me cry for all I have missed. thank you for posting.
Whorulesnow 4 months ago
You're welcome, Whorulesnow-san!!
Otaku3 (^o^)/
60otaku3 4 months ago
Peerless drumming as always from Hal Blaine (who also organised the whole contract for the huge number of musicians required for this epic). Apparently they gave up trying to stop Richard Harris singing "MacArthur's" instead of "MacArthur" - all part of the charm!
shardennefroider 4 months ago
beautiful song loved it as a teenager and still do age 53
ravnmad1958 4 months ago
Richard Harris was in one of my favorite movies of all time - Gladiator! He played the aging king Marcus Aurelius. What a great actor, didn't know he could sing too!
CesarMill498 4 months ago
@CesarMill498 yes, and he was Dumbledore too!!! The ORIGINAL Dumbledore!
iwasanangryyoungman 4 months ago
It's like the 1960s version of "Surrounded by Silence" by Design the Skyline
I love hearing songs that are considered the worst ever x)
TehKrakerzGuy 4 months ago
@TehKrakerzGuy And some of those songs, like this one, are actually the BEST EVER by the WORST EVER CRITICS who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.
coffee3able 4 months ago
@coffee3able That's funny because it was actually deemed on POLLS by what songs are considered the worst ever. One critic does not decide what it what when it comes to the worst/best ever, dumbass.
TehKrakerzGuy 4 months ago
May 1968, basic training in Ft. Lewis,Wa. Wow does it bring back memories.
The picture of Richard Harris just made me realize that he was the star on,"Man in the Wilderness? 43 years it has been and it finally dons on me. Thanks for posting. I still can't believe it. Awesome.
alvill48 5 months ago
You're welcome, alvill48-san!!
Otaku3 (*^_^)b
60otaku3 5 months ago
Richard Harris in "A Man Called Horse" was a wonderful film!!! For those who have never seen it, I'd highly recommend finding a copy. Proof that great movies are not just found in the New Releases section.
As for MacArthur Park, I am still just as confused now as when it came out so many years ago. The song itself IS a masterpiece... no argument there, but I never could grasp the meaning of that abstract chorus: "all the sweet green icing flowing down; someone left the cake out in the rain; ..."
jzmet 5 months ago
@jzmet " The sweet green icing" is the green of the trees etc., the nature of MacArthur Park, but now of a time past, and likened here to the ruined "cake"... Regretfully, he can never return to that time and place...the irreplaceable recipe of a lost love and happening.
coffee3able 4 months ago
@coffee3able WOW! Thanks for clearing that up for me. After all these years, I finally understand.
jzmet 3 months ago
I remenber my sisters playing this tune everyday.
Had no idea it was sang by the actor.
TrickShot1100 5 months ago
The arrangment and composition of Jimmy Webb suited perfectly the thespian Richard Harris, while magically juxtaposing countless subtleties. Have cried many tears to this masterpiece..."and after all the loves of my life, I'll be thinking of you, and wondering why." After 38 years, you reappear, my love, and finally tell me "why." Thank you for removing that lump in my throat, clearing the path for "another dream," with you. The beauty of music and love, we cannot live without either.
dlynnatkinson 5 months ago 20
@dlynnatkinson Love the emotion behind your post, yeah definetly "lumpy throat".
rickheddle 2 months ago
@dlynnatkinson oh! how lovely!!
MegaBliss007 2 months ago
@dlynnatkinson Thanx for your comment - I cried like a baby reading it. Bless you
malmoot1 1 week ago
The song my mother played incessantly just before her divorce -- and NO it was not the reason for it; it was but a symptom of what she knew would happen.
I should know, I was there.
MsPandaRosa 5 months ago
Professor Dumbledore!
BlueEnvoy4413 5 months ago
very wonderful old song
hildman5 6 months ago 3
I love this song . thanks for posting
KuyaBigbird8 6 months ago
You're welcome, KuyaBigbird8-san!!
Otaku3 (^o^)/
60otaku3 6 months ago
@60otaku3 This was my wake up Song one of my favorite, this is a great song one have to figure out what he was singing about (Written by his buddy Jimmy Web) i sue to paly this song all the way from Cubao to Pasay, my mother was so angry because there is a moment that wake up my Speeding habit then i slow down and feel so glad, when i left my home country i carry this song in cassette in all the battlefield that i was the first was during US withdrawal in Vietnam 1975
,A great song and lyrics
ceboym 6 months ago
What a wonderful song. Masterful interpretation by "A Man Called Horse" and 7.25 minutes of pure joy.......
sgold1 6 months ago
Stick to acting cause this is the only song he could pull off
jdogpj 6 months ago
WOW DUMBLEDORE CAN SING LOL RIP LOVELY VOICE FUNNY SONG
lexwoodjune1988 6 months ago
I like this original of the ( made it really famous) Donna Summer Version.
Both are very differed versions ( this been the original Donnas the famous Disco Version) Richard is beside an Actor also a great musician !
Bravo to both of you!!!
operaofthe70s 6 months ago
A song to bring memories of the best years back.We wanted to make our world a better place! All we did was turn it into a bigger shit hole! Whether we took part or stood and watched the result is the same.
Incomplete6230 6 months ago
A touchstone for Boomers....My freshman year @ college...The first woman I fell in love with...My First Broken Heart....The snow. the beach, the grass, the VW, the Volvo... Parsley,Sage, Rosemary & Thyme...All flood back, as I know they do for all of you, whether you like this song or not.
This was our music.... Not our parents warmed over Big Band... Ours...
gto66solstice08 6 months ago
I remember this as a little kid in 1968 when this great song came out. I never tire of listening to it!
jimbobubbadj 6 months ago
Richard you r the best of all of them....
davidl505 6 months ago
cake in the rain sounds like he found true love,took it for granted and lost it and now cannot get that feeling back with anyone else either because of guilt or fear. that si just my own opinion of course!
richhamiton 6 months ago
Of all the comments I've read about this song, I've never found an answer to the question "Who really sang the last 3 "OH NO's" at the end of the song. I highly doubt it was Richard Harris. If anyone knows the answer to this (Jimmy Webb are you reading this?) I would really like to know the answer.
Mr1921TSMG 7 months ago
Hal Blaine!
1985MANAmericana 7 months ago
mr. harris was a really talented guy
Jlady43 7 months ago 2
This is a quite amazing and very unique song, the MUSIC is brilliant, but what was he thinking when he commited those lyrics about 'the cake', and 'take it' and 'bake it' and 'recipe' to the song??
For me those lyrics are practically cringeworthy, but still a good song, musically brilliant!
AtypicalUservice 7 months ago
R.I.P. Richard Harris
gerkins1 7 months ago
unless people's minds aren't blown, let me put this into perspective for you. jimmy webb wrote the song. the person who sings it is richard harris. richard harris was dumbledore in harry potter 1 and 2 before he died. so dumbeldore sung this song. DAMN! he's good.
USSENTERPRISEB 7 months ago 5
It's a great song that I've always loved but I have always used this song as proof that musicians were often just as insipid in terms of what they sang about back in the far distant past.
milesthered 7 months ago
Great memories and music. Thank you for all this wonderful music.
ldlcsw89 8 months ago 2
You're welcome, ldlcsw89-san!!
Otaku3 (*^_^)/
60otaku3 8 months ago
its good and i lke it but why is he singing about a cake?
MrRolando434 8 months ago 2
Well, MrRolando, it was left out in the rain.
It must have been in 1978 that I spent so many fall evenings running around the track in the football stadium of the junior college near my home. Meanwhile, next door, the school's marching band often practiced its rendition of "MacArthur Park," which helped propel my thirty-something body faster than silence would have managed. I can still hear the band and feel its inspiration.
bangfarang 8 months ago
@MrRolando434 I've been wondering that same thing since 1968!
howdidienduphere 8 months ago
A masterpiece of a song. Timeless!
tomtv1 8 months ago
thank you dorkly for showing me this
shadow32697 8 months ago 15
love this album
mrlee2293 8 months ago
wow, didnt know richard harris was a singer as well as actor, and a good singer too! also really like the intro
Artemis458 8 months ago 2
@Artemis458 This album was also issued on reel to reel tape with incredible sound listen to what harris did with the musical camelot
spacepatrolman 8 months ago
@Artemis458 I was in a movie with him called "Silent Tongue " filmed in Roswell New Mexico russell bradford banks on FB he, s a very private solemn man , filled with greatness , loved being in that movie with him and River Phoenix
ahitler1000 8 months ago
The great American pop symphony!
gsdsteve 8 months ago
ghanick: You hit it EXACTLY on the head. Any of us who were running for our lives in that era DO remember. This was one of those few songs that made sense in a time when very little did.
ThatCanadianPoet 8 months ago
Epic.
sonicfish73 8 months ago
Listen to how complex the melodies were at this time. What happened to this music? When the vets came back from ww2 and had their kids the passed that passion on the them. That passion is what sparked the 60's revolution!
.
chillichomper 9 months ago
I saw jim webb at the fairmont hotel san francisco when he was singing there and he said that most of his songs were written for glen campbell.jim couldn't sing that good but his piano playing and writing skills are brilliant.he played all the songs he wrote WOW what a night
localguy8 9 months ago
Dave Berry isn't fit to chew Jimmy Webb's dingleberries.....
terrryc 10 months ago
Our Love and Best wishes to the people of Japan
christinelesley 10 months ago 4
Thanks for your words of encouragement, christinelesley-san!!
Otaku3 (*^_^)v
60otaku3 10 months ago
@christinelesley
I hope that things are getting better for you Otaku3
Thinking of of all of you.
Love and Best Wishes from Australia!
christinelesley 8 months ago
In a way it's quite sad that The Association rejected this song, I'm a real fan of their work and it would have been great to hear their interpretation. Harris did a great job nonetheless.
JoeTheToucan 10 months ago
@JoeTheToucan yeah the band that played/ along comes mary/ with 2 singers could of been better! lol. if richard harris didnt sing this song, it would be on a best of association hits,& their weak band! i.e.. cherish.
tommieparch 9 months ago
@JoeTheToucan Brian Cole was too busy shooting Heroin to listen closely to this tune.
KarenEngSwallows 9 months ago
Actually, the song was written by Jim Webb, who also wrote Up Up and Away (in My Beautiful Balloon) for the 5th Dimension, and songs like Galviston and By the time I Get to Phoenix for Glen Campbell. and not by Richard Harris
ryoushii 11 months ago 2
I first heard the disco version of this song. It sucked big time. This sounds better.
MishuTaste 11 months ago
@MishuTaste Yeah, you can't disco it-very classical-Harris' version is anyway.
amuslima99 10 months ago
@adam2years3. You are easy to judge. Anyone who can tell me to fuck off because of a comment I made months ago is obviously an idiot with anger issues. Get a life
ghanick 11 months ago
@ghanick make me you lemon,people dont get it,you thick twat,
adam2years3 11 months ago
@adam2years3 GET A LIFE. I will not respond to your idiocy any longer. The only one who is thick is you. You are a moron.
ghanick 11 months ago
@ghanick twat
adam2years3 11 months ago
@ghandick, know it all
adam2years3 11 months ago
I still have this song on a 45 and I feel the same now as I did when I first bought it as a teenager who was searching for love - I am completely filled with the overpowering emotions of Richard Harris' triumphant masterpiece. It defined a time and a feeling that captured that time - never to be repeated.
7ov9 11 months ago 3
Well who would plan a picnic on a day it was going to rain? green icing? is this a saint paddy's day song? and drinking warm wine will give you the trots! of all people richard harris should have known this!
MrSluggo666 11 months ago
lovethemflowers,
Even if any reason, I do not accept the comment that criticizes this song.
Consequently I deleted your comment.
60otaku3
60otaku3 11 months ago
When this song came out i loved it and i still do..
glazeman2 11 months ago 3
I remember when this song came out....I found that I understood it....it reads love, heartache, and the tragedy of the break-up. A man loves a woman, he puts his heart and soul into the relationship, and she leaves him abruptly, he is recalling the love as a cake, the rain, his tears, and he looking to the future and learning his lessons, he will never give as much as he did, his first love, his heart will all ways remember that one special lady, as all of us---the first.
copperslady 1 year ago 3
@copperslady
It's about pain that is for sure ...when I heard it again I thought of Japan being the cake- destroyed.
This song is about loss ...whatever that may be, it's epic as someone mentioned.
christinelesley 8 months ago
Richard Harris was forced to appear in the first Harry Potter movie. His granddaughter found out he had been asked to be in the movie; and he had refused. She told him if he didn't make the movie, she'd never speak to him again. So he was in the movie. he had no choice.
StephenB58 1 year ago
Usually remakes are inferior but in this case the 1978 version done by Donna Summer was light years better. In any event Mc Arthur's park in LA is not a big park like central park in NYC. It is in a not so nice neighborhood and small.
jvarela965 1 year ago
add on to my previous statement. I might not be correct about the amount of the bet or that it was Richard Harris who wrote it, but the truth is that it was a bet about writing a song about any topic and the bet was taken and the the challenge was to write a song about "baking a cake"
avalanche344 1 year ago
@avalanche344 why would you you give such a stupid reply to kids that wonder what this song really means?, ur an idiot!
tommieparch 1 year ago
@tommieparch listen friend I gave the truth. If the truth hurts then you must wear it. The kids always should know the truth. This is the truth about the song and how it was written. It takes nothing away from the song itself and adds an element of humor to the era. Bottom line is that it is the TRUTH!!!
avalanche344 1 year ago
@avalanche344 read the comment below, i meant it for you, but i sent it to myself! i just got up , but i wanted to reply real fast ,thanks
tommieparch 11 months ago
@tommieparch No offense taken, I actually heard the story on a classic rock station interview circa 1983 where either (Jimmy Webb or Richard Harris , I can't remember) were telling the story of how the song was written based upon the bet. I thought it hilarious, and I still love the song. Cheers!
avalanche344 11 months ago
@avalanche344 This song was written by Richard Harris in 1967 after his homosexual marriage to Charles Nelson Riley ended up in divorce.
JesusChristsuxCocks 11 months ago
@JesusChristsuxCocks This may be true, I am not sure. What I am sure about is that there was a bet involving baking a cake. Perhaps the symbolic meaning had to do with this divorce, but baking a cake was the proposed topic for the bet
avalanche344 11 months ago
@tommieparch jimmy webb wrote the song & no popular singer wanted it, so he asked his pal richard if he wanted to do it, the rest is music history! about the bet about writing a cake song, were did you get that? sorry bout the idiot remark. but let me know were you got that story, regards
tommieparch 11 months ago
Hey guys and girls, sorry to burst the bubble about the deep serious meaning behind this song. Truth is that Richard Harris made a bet with (his producer I think it was) that he could write a song about anything and make it a hit. The producer took the bet for $5000 and said "Write a song about baking a cake" and so Richard Harris wrote this song and won the bet.
avalanche344 1 year ago
Yeah this is proof people in the 60's did too many drugs.
Premier112 1 year ago
wow, how beautiful is that? :)
great post
MrBuckwilliam 1 year ago 5
Thank you, MrBuckwilliam-san!!
Otaku3 (*^o^)b
60otaku3 1 year ago
@60otaku3 Otakku , thanks for another great post..... I'm sorry about the destruction in Nippon... I wish you all the best..
irish89055 10 months ago
Thanks for your words of encouragement to me, irish89055-san!!
The metropolitan area in Japan is facing a crisis of the electricity shortage for the damage of the nuclear power plant by a terrible tsunami now but because we're okay somehow or other, please don't worry about me.
Have a great weekend!
Otaku3 (*^_^)/
60otaku3 10 months ago
Most people probably don't realize that Richard Harris was Dumbledore in the first 2 Harry Potter movies.
AxeNewkill 1 year ago
It's a great song but would someone please tell me what the hell it's about?
sixsixxsixxxx 1 year ago
@sixsixxsixxxx It's about a detective falling in love with a female witness, He is given the job of protecting her. On a mild winters night, snow melting and rain falling the detective was called to MacArthur Park. It was her, the love of his life, soaked and lifeless. He blamed himself. He had a nervous break down and death wish with fast car drives along cliff edged roads, drugs and women. Eventually the recriminations subsided and he re-joined the uniform police. Eventually he got married.
HardWarUK 1 year ago
@sixsixxsixxxx The dangers of leaving a cake out in the pouring rain, silly! Seriously, It is metaphorically speaking of a man's love lost ( the memories with her) and his heartfelt aching that what he had is now lost and his fear that he will never find love again. Jimmy Webb - one of the greatest songwriters this world has known - great melodies- subtle metaphoric lyrics (check out Glen Campbell's Whichita Lineman...he's not speaking about telephone lines either...hope this helps..
radioham67 1 year ago
@radioham67 I think you are spot on in your description of this masterpiece.....I guess all of us,at one time or another have lost a love,one that was there for a brief and shining moment and as we reached out for it,it evaporated,never meant to be......I have been married to my high school sweetheart for almost thirty-three years now,two wonderful adult kids.Every once in a while,I engage thinking of the ''what-if's,I'm sure I'm not the only one..........
borecleaner1 10 months ago
So this is the original I assume!?¿
Psychedalien 1 year ago
Yes, this is an original song of Richard Harris composed by Jimmy Webb.
Otaku3 (^_^)b
60otaku3 1 year ago
You're welcome, maynard59-san!!
Otaku3 (^o^)v
60otaku3 1 year ago
dear Otaku-san, thank you for uploading this great, great music!
hanzabass 1 year ago
Thanks for your kind comment, hanzabass-san!!
I am very glad you enjoyed this song.
Otaku3 (*^o^)/
60otaku3 1 year ago
Like a stripe'd pair of pants!! *lol*
babymoondancer 1 year ago
Great performance by Richard Harris. Everyone talks about JW's tune and lyric and the arrangement but Richard Harris' vocal is completely heartfelt - and nobody in 42 years has come close to matching this definitive performance. Few have even tried.
fosbury68 1 year ago
I love your choices! Thank you for your efforts!
Marsbar17 1 year ago
You're welcome, Marsbar17-san!!
Otaku3 (*^_^)b
60otaku3 1 year ago
Though it's lyrics had nothing to do with what was going on in the world that year, I've always associated this song with spring and summer or '68 after MLK and RFK were assassinated and it seemed all hope of ever bringing the country somehow together
was lost forever. Maybe we WERE overly idealistic, but up until then in the 60's there seemd to he such hope. I've never agian felt much hope for the world since 1968 and I guess it's the ceaseless feeling of regret that runs through this song.
petclark1 1 year ago
My comment of last yeat still holds forth ..... Sir Richard, although not a professional singer, performed as a wonderful professional would. ... Remember though that this melody is a touchstone for the "baby boom" generation. Listen to it, relax, remember loves lost and found, and move your life on to the benifit of our children and granchildren ..
gto66solstice08 1 year ago
Absolutely definitive song for a unique time, thanks!
tulsarockfan69 1 year ago
You're welcome, tulsarockfan69-san!!
Otaku3 (*^_^)v
60otaku3 1 year ago
@tulsarockfan69 didnt he play in movie orca?
riker2011 1 year ago
I saw RH at the Golden Gate Theater as Arthur in Camelot in 1980. Magnificent! Thanks 60otaku3, I can see the sets and everything!
DwayneMadsen 1 year ago
You're welcome, DwayneMadsen-san!!
Otaku3 d(^o^)b
60otaku3 1 year ago
RImusclebear,
Because you posted here discriminatory comment, I deleted it.
Please never post such the comment on my video.
60otaku3
60otaku3 1 year ago
Thanks Again otaku3....I Love this song.
wolfmantip 1 year ago
You're welcome, wolfmantip-san!!
Otaku3 (^o^)v
60otaku3 1 year ago
Its even better if you pretend it's still him singing at the end.
billythehick 1 year ago
This was amazeing, they don't record music like this anymore. Thanks for posting. I put this as one of my favorates
ibeliveification 1 year ago
You're welcome, ibeliveification-san!!
Otaku3 (*^_^)b
60otaku3 1 year ago
is this the movie start rihchard harris?
MrBayfire66 1 year ago
Yes, this is well known as his hit song in 1968.
Otaku3 (^_^)b
60otaku3 1 year ago
Dunhill 4134 (7:20) An awesome piece of work here - and one for the ages. I remember the radio playing the whole song back when it was a hit - and such a fine groove didn't stand up well to the day's record players. I got about 30 plays out of my first copy. Now on my third - every so often I'll pull it out, strap on my bass and play along. Thanks for posting this one!
slant40 1 year ago
You're welcome, slant40-san!!
Otaku3 (*^_^)/
60otaku3 1 year ago
People who were not around when this song came out just don't get it. It has nothing to do with the lyrics. It is the song in context with its time. Spring 1968 was an era of assassination, blood in the streets, riots, unrest, war, and uncertainty about our very survival as a nation. The schizophrenic nature of this song, its mood changes, melancholic melodrama fit the era perfectly. There is no music these days that really reflects the same dislocation and turmoil going on in our country now.
ghanick 1 year ago 23
@ghanick
One of the best explanations for a song I've ever read on You Tube.
TK42138 11 months ago
@ghanick That's because after Woodstock, giant mega-corporations killed rock by co-opting it. Anything that doesn't fit the profit plan gets shit canned.
ebonics4everyone 11 months ago
@ghanick Wow,what a great comment and analysis of the era ghanick !
MichelleDeVille 11 months ago
@ghanick
Agreed totally...I love your line:
quote: "The schizophrenic nature of this song".
That's a perfect explanation of all of it.
Tks.
edlespaul 11 months ago
@ghanick All i can say is...who cares what you think.. eat this cake
glazeman2 11 months ago
@glazeman2 Hey, I don't really care what anyone thinks about what I write....we all have opinions.
ghanick 11 months ago
@ghanick Wow, to be so pompous, and so wrong at the same time. You are truly a genius of absurdity. Kudos.
PtolemyJones 11 months ago
@PtolemyJones Oh, what do you know? Have you reached puberty yet?
ghanick 11 months ago
@ghanick I'm 50 this July, but I would have know you were being ridiculous in 1968, when I was seven, so I'm not sure it's relevant.
PtolemyJones 11 months ago
Comment removed
adam2years3 11 months ago
@adam2years3 You are an idiot. You are probably a Republican also. Go worship on the shrine of George W Bush and Dick Cheney
ghanick 11 months ago
@ghanick there you are again judging people,muppet,
adam2years3 11 months ago
@ghanick Really nice description of how the song, with its surreal melodrama, seemed so appropriate to the times. I was there, like you, and I get it. It's listed in Dave Barry's book of songs his readers voted as the worst songs of all time, and most of them are indeed horrible, but I couldn't disagree more about this one. Yes, I see why people laugh about images like the cake in the rain, but for me, and it seems for some others, it was perfect. Sometimes things need to be over the top!
Whofan1000 10 months ago 2