The live Richard Harris performance is great ! There must be an existing footage that is not interupted . I would love to see it ! And Jimmy Webb ......one of the great song writers of our time !
Lyrics aside, musically - a great tune. As far as structure of a song it reminds me of something off The Beach Boys "Smile" or The Who's "A Quick One".
Certainly one of my favourite all time songs. Was so amazed and emotional to find it in the West End Musical, Pricilla Queen of the Desert, sadly now finished where they incorporated it so amazingly well!
@5050zulu1 I can understand the confusion these lyrics may cause some people, however, I believe he was referring to having had true love (the cake) it took so long to bake it (reference to how long it takes to build a truly meaningful relationship) left out in the rain (rain pretty much puts a damper on anything unless you are a frog or duck) and I'll never find the recipe again (Poor guy thinks he'll never know love like the one he just lost) It's a really deep song just the same.
@spiceyweasel I think its on par with "what do you get when you fall in love you catch enough germs to catch pneumonia after you do he"ll never phone ye. laughable but not as bad as "The soggy cake song " I see your point but he is a professional song writer and must have known he would be ridiculed. but hey he had the last laugh in the end it probably paid his mortgage off
@5050zulu1 Remarkable doesn't mean masterpiece. It's remarkable because it's worth remarking upon. It's an insane mess of a song sung by one of the greatest actors of the 20th century and therefore infused with more passion than it deserves. It's unlike anything I've ever heard. A hell of a lot better than the pop music of today.
@TulseLuper It just makes me cringe every time I have the misfortune to hear it .I almost feel embarassed for him when he sings that ridiculous line about the soggy cake .and as for greatest actor mmm" not in my top ten. but I agree there is a lot of rubbish music about but i have never heared anything as bad as that particular line .
@5050zulu1 You said you could shit better lyrics, I suppose you dont like all the songs that jimmy wrote for Glen either?..Whats the point of cutting down my hometown? next time i talk to you, make sure its about music...
Harris sings OK. Tell me ya haven't heard worse. Look at half the current pop chart today. It's full of studio assisted crap that is not written to endure. It's produced to make a quick buck. How degrading for the art itself and the listening public. MacArthur Park will endure.
Ths is my all time favorite,, the moment I heard ths I knew j Webb was talking bout love and Richard made it alive.. 'someone lft d cake out n d rain' u hav to take care of ur love,,, coz that recipe won't b back agn,,,
I found it haunting! A most beautiful song. I remember listening to it when I was a freshman in high school in Fairfield, Conn. The summer. I was so impressionable. I loved MacArthur Park. Someone left the cake out in the rain. That is just about everyone. All the sweet cream icing melting. Who hasn't had that happening once in their lives.
It's sad J Webb didn't get the girl, but the world got two masterpieces as a result, this one and 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix'. The bakery product metaphor helped define lyrical benchmarks for some.
It's funny that people other than Richard automatically call the song 'MacArthur'S Park' I mean the woman, although Richard failed to say it correctly as MacArthur Park. Oh, yes, Donna Summer too.
Idiots. 'Can't sing'? Excuse me? I love when little twerps comment on greatness. Can't wait for another 20 years when the youth of the future tear apart these guys.
@tndirtracer1 If you ever get your heart smashed -- and I pray that it doesn't to you or anybody who reads this -- then listen to this song and you'll see it for the masterpiece that it was.
I wanted to listen to the song not this contrived documentary crap. As if those musicians/celebs all had memories of that song that just neatly fitted the show. Fuckin rubbish...though the song is good
@davidgrahamscott Exactly. What crap. I'm gonna make it a point to ridicule this Sean 'Nobody' Rowley wherever I find him. Nobody disses Richard Harris on my watch. Hooah!
People who think and talk about an actual cake in the rain are just brain dead, non poetic, philistines. But I still like you! :)
The cake is actually a body found in Mcarthur Park and a detective beingcalled to the incident and seeing histrue love lying there. The reast of the song is his nervous breakdown and ultimate survival - hence the belief by some people the song is about drugs.
I called into a pub. Westmister SW1. My pal Terry used to be a barman. As I walked in Terry was talking to this bif fellow. Terry said, "John, you like Richard Harris"
"Yes"
" This is his brother."
He went mad, "Don't you ever intoduce me as Richard Harris's brother!"
This song was love at first listen. I loved the music and for some reason I have never understood, the pitch problems of Mr. Richard Harris just seem right foe this song. After all these years, I still am very much in love with this piece of music.
This song was love at first listen. I loved the music and for some reason I have never understood, the pitch problems of Mr. Richard Harris just seem right foe this song. After all these years, I still am very much in love with this piece of music.
irgrip53. This song was love at first listen. I loved the music and for some reason I have never understood, the pitch problems of Mr. Richard Harris just seem right foe this song. After all these years, I still am very much in love with this piece of music.
MacArthur Park has been redone by artists like Donna Summer but Richard Harris' version is the greatest. The fact that he was first an actor and a singer second is what makes it great as Richard Harris added his own drama to the song.
I don't understand it but beautiful and brilliantly done - Harris nailed it - somehow it just all came together !!!! - thx for posting - had no idea that this existed.
@ral7196 yeah ithink it did, music became to fake, nobody sang live, without backtracks, nirvana kind of made me lose my taste , along with rap!.. enjoy this u put on tho , regards
Incredible. This is pure genius... It is no doubt beyond the mind, intellect, conceptual appreciation of most but, for those that catch it, fantastic!
This could easily be nominated as the worst song ever. The stupidest lyrics, the most over-the-top orchestration, the sappiest sentiment ever. Like a fine wine? HAH! It's like a bottle of Mad Dog 20-20.
good question...why the fuck is Richard Harris rolling around on the stage here like some deranged mental patient or iggy pop...came home pissed last friday and could nt help myself had to put on the "Richard Harris Love" :album that i picked up for $2 in a bargain bin years ago....great song>>>>
Richard H has often been criticised for not having a 'strong' vocal delivery on this song, BUT, it's precisely his fragility that is the strenght of this Beautifully performed masterpiece. Hear his sincerity and yearning for the loss of an incredible Love... By far the Best version, never fails to move me..
Richard H has often been criticised for not having a 'strong' vocal delivery on this song, BUT, it's precisely his fragility that is the strenght of this Beautifully performed masterpiece. Hear his sincerity and yearning for the loss of an incredible Love... By far the Best version, never fails to move me..
@gazzymodo Me, as well, Gazzy! People used to make me crazy for not understanding 'the cake out in the rain' is a metaphor!! Jimmy Webb was a fantastic writer and Richard Harris delivered this perfectly.
The Lyrics make total sence to me. It's a metophore for love that has ended, if you lived through a little(lot) of heartache it is spot on.Whats so hard to understand?
By the time he gets to the mangled "goeurrrrrl" at the end of the first line, everything in you that loves music should be rebelling. I do give him credit for giant, clanking balls, though.
The man was a fucking hellraiser. He trashed hotels was always around when shit hit the fan. I fucking think he deserves a rock n roll hall of fame star.
FUCK ALL PEOPLE WHO DONT LEAVE THEIR CAKES OUT IN THE RAIN.
Simply wonderful song and the man had a bloody great voice. Thank you for putting this up. If anyone has the original performance without the eejits interrupting I'd love to have it.
He was not a schooled singer. But he possessed a beautiful timbre, and he used this little up-going glissando gimmick at the end of his lines. Probably this is what helke means with not having a decent low register. But I never heard any other singer do this. It's a Harris exclusive, and it only worked for him.
And about missing pitches here and there; well, the grandly overrated Sinatra never even heard of pitch.
The album THE YARD WENT ON FOREVER is like boozed poetry and bacharach on LSD and suburban housewives screaming on mescaline. All packaged in Jimmy Webbs superb compositions and arrangements. A fantastic must-buy album.
When I was a kid, I always thought this song was so peculiar and haunting. The lyrics are bizarre yet symbolic, and I was always sort of infatuated by it. It's very surreal, and very emotional.
listen to jimmy webbs version on 10 easy pieces. Quite clear his heart is broken- "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, O NOOOoooooo. Heartbreak, pure and simple. maybe folks who've never had their heart broken are the one's who don't get it.
I live a block from the actual Macarthor Park in LA and I actually saw a wet, yet nice cake in the rain there. Two days later I learned about the song and the lyric and thought to myself,"I get it, he's right". Later I heard people actually laugh at this line. So I'll explain it. After WWII and the advent of modern highways, Mexicans and other hispanic groups took over Downtown and turned the park into a drugged at night B.day party at day park.
Curiously, Mr Harris didn't have a decent lower register, which we can hear in all its frightfulness on the words "girl", "dressed", and (naturally) "raaaiiiinnn". Had he better control, his overall singing voice would've been quite alright.
And if anyone has the credentials to decide the pharmacological content of the song's lyrics, it would certainly have to be Bez, wouldn't it?
Yes, I remember this song well. When it first come out it did have unusual lyrics, but the sound was so beautiful, it made up for the lyrics. Was then, still is now. And no one could have sung it better.
a songwriter has the artistic licence to say whatever he wants for whatever reason , its the golden rule, as noel gallagher wrote, " youve got to be yourself you cant be no one else" thats it in my opinion.
Jim Webb did two albums with Richard Harris. Both are theme albums, as the songs on each album come together in a kind of story. The first one was called "A Tramp Shinning", the second one was "The Yard Went on For Ever" both are works of art. Jimmy Web could really paint a picture with his lyrics. Glenn Cambell sang Wichata Lineman, Galvastan. Where's the Playground Sizzy. Dreams of the everyday housewife. All witten by web.
@loisannfisher - Chris Gantry composed "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife", but all the other songs you mention came from Jimmy Webb's pen. He is indeed a genius.
This song is so very anti-corporate! Celine Dion will tell you that looking down on the floor while singing is a no-no but Harris does everything completely opposite of the industry norms.
It is amazing to me that these people don't get it. If you are going to talk about the 60's then you need people who lived in the 60's. Richard Harris Thank You
You may be the only one who thinks RH can sing but that's a whole different point. LOL The song works basically because it is a huge orchestral arrangement of a pop song that defied the normal pop genre practice of 2-3 minutes and it was an epic piece. Also, the fact that RH can't really sing makes it real.
The live Richard Harris performance is great ! There must be an existing footage that is not interupted . I would love to see it ! And Jimmy Webb ......one of the great song writers of our time !
Musicofthenight64 5 days ago
Lyrics aside, musically - a great tune. As far as structure of a song it reminds me of something off The Beach Boys "Smile" or The Who's "A Quick One".
ChasBeauregarde 1 week ago
Certainly one of my favourite all time songs. Was so amazed and emotional to find it in the West End Musical, Pricilla Queen of the Desert, sadly now finished where they incorporated it so amazingly well!
MrMakkyD 2 weeks ago
since RH was not a singer, this does not surprise me...great peom/song
bluepastry 3 weeks ago
love this song jimmy webb is a genius
MsFanmail 3 weeks ago
I think it is brilliant
TheLifeEvents 3 weeks ago
Comment removed
5050zulu1 3 weeks ago in playlist Favorite videos
remarkable record !! are you mad ? I have eaten alphabet spaghetti and shit better lyrics
5050zulu1 1 month ago 4
@5050zulu1 so show us your better lyrics
purga60 3 weeks ago
@5050zulu1 I can understand the confusion these lyrics may cause some people, however, I believe he was referring to having had true love (the cake) it took so long to bake it (reference to how long it takes to build a truly meaningful relationship) left out in the rain (rain pretty much puts a damper on anything unless you are a frog or duck) and I'll never find the recipe again (Poor guy thinks he'll never know love like the one he just lost) It's a really deep song just the same.
spiceyweasel 2 weeks ago
@spiceyweasel I think its on par with "what do you get when you fall in love you catch enough germs to catch pneumonia after you do he"ll never phone ye. laughable but not as bad as "The soggy cake song " I see your point but he is a professional song writer and must have known he would be ridiculed. but hey he had the last laugh in the end it probably paid his mortgage off
5050zulu1 2 weeks ago
@5050zulu1 Remarkable doesn't mean masterpiece. It's remarkable because it's worth remarking upon. It's an insane mess of a song sung by one of the greatest actors of the 20th century and therefore infused with more passion than it deserves. It's unlike anything I've ever heard. A hell of a lot better than the pop music of today.
TulseLuper 5 days ago
@TulseLuper It just makes me cringe every time I have the misfortune to hear it .I almost feel embarassed for him when he sings that ridiculous line about the soggy cake .and as for greatest actor mmm" not in my top ten. but I agree there is a lot of rubbish music about but i have never heared anything as bad as that particular line .
5050zulu1 4 days ago
@5050zulu1 ROCK MUSIC SYMBOLISM for MacArthur Park:
MacArthur Park; The place of reflecting on his "lost love."
Cake: The symbol of this lost love. "sweet green icing"
Cake "left out in the rain:" The "cake" as seen in MacArthur Park through his tears. The "sweet green icing flowing down."
"Recipe" for the "cake" that he "baked:" Relationship that he thought would work out.
AmishWebmaster 4 days ago
@5050zulu1 (Part 2) Also, the instrumental interlude is often misunderstood:
Guitar and piano rapid-paced: reflecting on incidences together with "her."
Trumpet: musical representation of shock.
Violin: representing sorrow building into tears, gradually increasing the pitch higher.
Drum: representing heartbeat under panic.
High-pitched voices at the end: angels who are comforting him- hence the apparent emotionless, high-pitched voices. I could go on and on.
AmishWebmaster 4 days ago
@AmishWebmaster Thats damn close, you kinda nailed it..
tommieparch 4 hours ago
@5050zulu1 you eat your shit...thats why your brain dead..
tommieparch 17 hours ago
@tommieparch well you would know about eating shit coming from chicago
5050zulu1 5 hours ago
@5050zulu1 You said you could shit better lyrics, I suppose you dont like all the songs that jimmy wrote for Glen either?..Whats the point of cutting down my hometown? next time i talk to you, make sure its about music...
tommieparch 4 hours ago
@tommieparch your first comment was about music then ?. I dont like the song its pathetic. not a big fan of Glen. I"m bored now so good bye
5050zulu1 2 hours ago
@5050zulu1 your first comment was rather vulgar, I like to talk music , not put downs...
tommieparch 2 hours ago
That guy who said 'A man who can't sing' Richard had a voice, a good singing voice. That guy is a prick.
Hickey66 1 month ago
seem's people couldn't get the meaning of the lyric
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
----------------------------------------------------------
lyric meaning
he won't ever find someone like her in his life time..
point blank ...am professional musician as well write songs that are love ballads...
rickynelson1988 1 month ago
@rickynelson1988 Ricky Nelson has been dead for a long time. 0/10
Dionysius8421 3 weeks ago
lol Albus Dumbledore
Jridden2009 1 month ago
Where can i find the whole video of the part where richard is singing the song with the orchestra ? :)
lizardkingfan 1 month ago
That guy certainly had guts singing that crappy song.
faffaflunkie 1 month ago
Oh hey there Dumbledore
thesupereastwood 1 month ago
Harris sings OK. Tell me ya haven't heard worse. Look at half the current pop chart today. It's full of studio assisted crap that is not written to endure. It's produced to make a quick buck. How degrading for the art itself and the listening public. MacArthur Park will endure.
NGARIKItv 2 months ago
he is doing jaqiune phoenix no?
cshargeit 2 months ago
Don't get me wrong the song has a good story line to it but hearing it sometimes twice daily at work I will never like this song.
Nicolesid1 2 months ago
Richard sang much better than the 'singers' of today
jackiescanlon 2 months ago
THIS IS EXCELLENT
TheLifeEvents 2 months ago
Richard can't sing? Ever hear of "Camelot"?
12darosenb 2 months ago 2
@12darosenb THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT SINCERE
BHDread 3 weeks ago
Ths is my all time favorite,, the moment I heard ths I knew j Webb was talking bout love and Richard made it alive.. 'someone lft d cake out n d rain' u hav to take care of ur love,,, coz that recipe won't b back agn,,,
TheKarmanow 3 months ago
I found it haunting! A most beautiful song. I remember listening to it when I was a freshman in high school in Fairfield, Conn. The summer. I was so impressionable. I loved MacArthur Park. Someone left the cake out in the rain. That is just about everyone. All the sweet cream icing melting. Who hasn't had that happening once in their lives.
Tombazley 3 months ago
@Tombazley wasn't the lyric actually '...sweet "green" icing...' ?
snakehunter1964 3 months ago
In what way "can't" Richard Harris sing?
Vot63 3 months ago
Justin lee Collins is a fucking waste of space.
This song rocks!
willscomix 3 months ago
:30 He can't sing??? This guy is nuts!
PMnews1 3 months ago
who you saying cant sing dumd ass?
notfarc1 3 months ago
I love to sing a long this song to the Vic group wizard and oz my personal favorite duet cheers from ross
au2785 3 months ago
It's sad J Webb didn't get the girl, but the world got two masterpieces as a result, this one and 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix'. The bakery product metaphor helped define lyrical benchmarks for some.
aksa8c 3 months ago
It's funny that people other than Richard automatically call the song 'MacArthur'S Park' I mean the woman, although Richard failed to say it correctly as MacArthur Park. Oh, yes, Donna Summer too.
takumainc 4 months ago
One of the best songs ever by one of the best actors ever privalidge to have seen him on stage in Camelot only wish i could have met him
dizzychriss2 4 months ago
@dizzychriss2 what is camelot?
PhillyDippy5 3 months ago
Isn't that the guy that played DumbleDore in the 1st Harry Potter?
crf18p 5 months ago
@crf18p Of course, and also he was Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator
PhillyDippy5 3 months ago
Having said that, Richard Harris sings the definitive version of this song.
Writeowl 5 months ago 2
For me it sounds like Dave Vanian of The Damned,
Writeowl 5 months ago
Cool.
guyNbluejeans 5 months ago
And who the F is this Sean Rowley, anyway? Doesn't matter.
Because sorry, Sean. You're a nobody. Richard Harris was a wonderful, talented man and if he were still alive he could kick your butt tomorrow.
humbleradio 6 months ago
@humbleradio Of course Harris could kick his ass. Anyone that can endure a sundance can sure as hell take a lot of punches LOL!
StanBennet 5 months ago
@StanBennet Lol! So true. I still feel pain thinking about that scene. ;)
humbleradio 5 months ago
Idiots. 'Can't sing'? Excuse me? I love when little twerps comment on greatness. Can't wait for another 20 years when the youth of the future tear apart these guys.
humbleradio 6 months ago
I am 29 and I love music from the 50-70s But this song is the most god awful pice of s#@t I have ever heard in my life.
tndirtracer1 6 months ago
@tndirtracer1 If you ever get your heart smashed -- and I pray that it doesn't to you or anybody who reads this -- then listen to this song and you'll see it for the masterpiece that it was.
StanBennet 5 months ago
youtube -> yves paquet - mcarthur park
scooby272 6 months ago
I wanted to listen to the song not this contrived documentary crap. As if those musicians/celebs all had memories of that song that just neatly fitted the show. Fuckin rubbish...though the song is good
davidgrahamscott 6 months ago
@davidgrahamscott Exactly. What crap. I'm gonna make it a point to ridicule this Sean 'Nobody' Rowley wherever I find him. Nobody disses Richard Harris on my watch. Hooah!
humbleradio 6 months ago
@davidgrahamscott Ya I agree, Where is the whole video? Ive seen the SCTV spoof on this concert. pretty funny!
TheGB1950 5 months ago
No sense crying over spilled cake.
bwanna23 6 months ago
RIP Dumbledore! You will be missed
willdeebo814 6 months ago
this is a wounderful song about something cherished and forever lost, about the vacume tha can never be filled
mardigrasize 8 months ago 5
My favorite song ever!!!!
TheStellacatsmith 8 months ago
I also notice that in the clip fellow brilliant looney Johnny Harris arranger and conducting the band.... what a record : )
psychodamned 8 months ago
extraordinaria cancion
nuevaoleras70s 8 months ago
@tommieparch music got crap after 1980
MrCrispian 8 months ago
Richard is one of my favorite actors~
parsonsclubmarket 8 months ago
Ace.
878commando 8 months ago
This song is majestic and godlike.
ImaniHekima 8 months ago
People who think and talk about an actual cake in the rain are just brain dead, non poetic, philistines. But I still like you! :)
The cake is actually a body found in Mcarthur Park and a detective beingcalled to the incident and seeing histrue love lying there. The reast of the song is his nervous breakdown and ultimate survival - hence the belief by some people the song is about drugs.
HardWarUK 9 months ago 2
I was 15 when thus was first recorded a love story and masterpiece of the time.
I still love it what an interesting clever song.
Good old Richard.
rosemarykb2 9 months ago
Who threw that brick!
Rebelrider24601 9 months ago
Will someone get me a bloody towel?!
NitestarProductions 9 months ago
This is utter madness.
invasionbrand 9 months ago
NO ONE SINGS MAC PARK BETTER
211kidrock 10 months ago
@211kidrock YEah, this punk Sean Rowley in the video is a twerp who needs a big can of asswhoop.
humbleradio 6 months ago
I called into a pub. Westmister SW1. My pal Terry used to be a barman. As I walked in Terry was talking to this bif fellow. Terry said, "John, you like Richard Harris"
"Yes"
" This is his brother."
He went mad, "Don't you ever intoduce me as Richard Harris's brother!"
He was right. Dermot Harris. Fair play mate.
Hickey66 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
This song was love at first listen. I loved the music and for some reason I have never understood, the pitch problems of Mr. Richard Harris just seem right foe this song. After all these years, I still am very much in love with this piece of music.
irgrip53
irgrip53 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
This song was love at first listen. I loved the music and for some reason I have never understood, the pitch problems of Mr. Richard Harris just seem right foe this song. After all these years, I still am very much in love with this piece of music.
irgrip53
irgrip53 10 months ago
irgrip53. This song was love at first listen. I loved the music and for some reason I have never understood, the pitch problems of Mr. Richard Harris just seem right foe this song. After all these years, I still am very much in love with this piece of music.
irgrip53 10 months ago
MacArthur Park has been redone by artists like Donna Summer but Richard Harris' version is the greatest. The fact that he was first an actor and a singer second is what makes it great as Richard Harris added his own drama to the song.
Doral4720 11 months ago
I don't understand it but beautiful and brilliantly done - Harris nailed it - somehow it just all came together !!!! - thx for posting - had no idea that this existed.
billoakesattablthree 11 months ago
my faveourite balld/ psycho romp/ masterpiece ever
nutrocker62 11 months ago
one of the best song ive ever heard in my 50 years, & i have a room full of music from 1955 to1995.
tommieparch 11 months ago 10
@tommieparch Music got a bit crap after 1995, did it? ;)
ral7196 11 months ago 15
@ral7196 yeah ithink it did, music became to fake, nobody sang live, without backtracks, nirvana kind of made me lose my taste , along with rap!.. enjoy this u put on tho , regards
tommieparch 11 months ago
@ral7196 And the guy couldn't sing and it was a masterpiece! I would've loved to been there for the live performance.
StanBennet 10 months ago
@ral7196 after 1985 ya mean... yes, silly lyrics but awesome orchestration..
irish89055 9 months ago
@ral7196 ...yes it did.
TheSpecialGuestStars 4 months ago
@ral7196 ha!! ;) i think it did quite a few years before that!
snakehunter1964 3 months ago
@tommieparch , remastered the original for best (possible ;-) soundquality, see my video's on youtube.
Bobberdolf 6 months ago
Incredible. This is pure genius... It is no doubt beyond the mind, intellect, conceptual appreciation of most but, for those that catch it, fantastic!
GTCism 11 months ago
I only have one comment...why, oh why?
dgreener1 11 months ago
1:37 is that Badly Drawn Boy?
PerpetualLifecycle 11 months ago
This could easily be nominated as the worst song ever. The stupidest lyrics, the most over-the-top orchestration, the sappiest sentiment ever. Like a fine wine? HAH! It's like a bottle of Mad Dog 20-20.
karinablacktie 11 months ago
Amazing and a deep meaning!!!
TheKevo7777 1 year ago
I remember this incredible song. Still love it as much as I first heard it.
This is TRULY a Classic.. What can I say..
Spiritrising200 1 year ago
shut the fuck up and let me hear the song.
bbot64 1 year ago 2
@bbot64 Exactly.
humbleradio 6 months ago
Comment removed
greenairsystems 1 year ago
if anyone can find this show, and sens it tome, he will be my ultimate master.
tomersalton 1 year ago
@mugwamp4 : i think he was rollin around the stage looking for that 'recipe'....
gazzymodo 1 year ago
does anyone know where this live version was done and why was he rolling around on stage ,,,,brilliant...
mugwamp4 1 year ago
good question...why the fuck is Richard Harris rolling around on the stage here like some deranged mental patient or iggy pop...came home pissed last friday and could nt help myself had to put on the "Richard Harris Love" :album that i picked up for $2 in a bargain bin years ago....great song>>>>
mugwamp4 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Richard H has often been criticised for not having a 'strong' vocal delivery on this song, BUT, it's precisely his fragility that is the strenght of this Beautifully performed masterpiece. Hear his sincerity and yearning for the loss of an incredible Love... By far the Best version, never fails to move me..
gazzymodo 1 year ago
Richard H has often been criticised for not having a 'strong' vocal delivery on this song, BUT, it's precisely his fragility that is the strenght of this Beautifully performed masterpiece. Hear his sincerity and yearning for the loss of an incredible Love... By far the Best version, never fails to move me..
gazzymodo 1 year ago 5
@gazzymodo Me, as well, Gazzy! People used to make me crazy for not understanding 'the cake out in the rain' is a metaphor!! Jimmy Webb was a fantastic writer and Richard Harris delivered this perfectly.
ChrisCurtisFan 1 year ago
"...the Recipe ...." ..it's Racial/Ethno-Cultural . Deal with it.
ProNorden 1 year ago
Why am i thinking of Graham Chapman in The Life Of Brian?
"He's not the messiah,he's a very naughty boy"
TheVimtoMoustache 1 year ago
...One word....: Epic...!!
deadlysin79 1 year ago
A universal metaphor for a missed opportunity he's been waiting his whole life for.
Nickseer 1 year ago
saw camelot at 12 ind indplls ..went to front by stage ..was starstruck!
notfarc1 1 year ago
The cake is a lie
TheNEWfilmfanatic99 1 year ago
you got to be on something powerful to write a song like that
nuttingbounce 1 year ago
The Lyrics make total sence to me. It's a metophore for love that has ended, if you lived through a little(lot) of heartache it is spot on.Whats so hard to understand?
nynynyny44 1 year ago
It should have been the music for the closing credits of "Gladiator".
El135o 1 year ago
I stay on your Side
if no record - put the show in without the "talking head" !
Koboldtube65 1 year ago
I stay on your Side
Koboldtube65 1 year ago
I'm hungry....for some cake.
penn707 1 year ago
i remember elvis always singing it at the 68 comback
cause it took so long to bake it
56Johnny 1 year ago
5 people have soggy cakes.
darganx 1 year ago
I agree!!!!
gigantebranco 1 year ago
Idiotic presentation of a pretty great song (and performance), lyrics aside. But who cares about pop music lyrics anyway?
look9989 1 year ago
This has to be some of the most psychedelic lyrics ever written..
It is so trippy it's almost frightening
I don't think that I can take it
coz it took so long to bake it
...and I'll never find that recipe again.......whoa. That's deep.
econoroller 1 year ago
This is my favorite song of all time..It's amazing how so few people understand
the concept of 'metaphor'...cretins!...This is a masterpiece about rites of passage.
DavidCKendall 1 year ago 2
By the time he gets to the mangled "goeurrrrrl" at the end of the first line, everything in you that loves music should be rebelling. I do give him credit for giant, clanking balls, though.
Piazzagrrl 1 year ago
Not only he could sing, with that heavnly voice, but he was the greatest actor/ story teller of ALL TIME.
1110Farah 1 year ago
what a soulfull voice and a great actor! this is one of my all- time favorites. only he can give heart and soul to a song with ridiculous lyrics.
merryjane85 1 year ago
RICHARD HARRIS! :( MY AMAZING UNCLE! SO PROUD OFF YOU . LOVEYOU+RIP:*
KirstyBabie1 1 year ago 2
Richard Harris you fucking god you.
The man was a fucking hellraiser. He trashed hotels was always around when shit hit the fan. I fucking think he deserves a rock n roll hall of fame star.
FUCK ALL PEOPLE WHO DONT LEAVE THEIR CAKES OUT IN THE RAIN.
TR0LL2R0CKS 1 year ago
Simply wonderful song and the man had a bloody great voice. Thank you for putting this up. If anyone has the original performance without the eejits interrupting I'd love to have it.
cheers
DomaVaquera 1 year ago
Thumbs down to the talentless bearded clown who called Harris a non singer.
francovance1 1 year ago
I agree, he sings great! I wonder if he was told that he got to do this song because he "couldn't sing"? Wow!!
TypesALot 1 year ago
And o yes; why wasn't Donna Summer executed for RAPING McArthur Park?
dedeurs 1 year ago
He was not a schooled singer. But he possessed a beautiful timbre, and he used this little up-going glissando gimmick at the end of his lines. Probably this is what helke means with not having a decent low register. But I never heard any other singer do this. It's a Harris exclusive, and it only worked for him.
And about missing pitches here and there; well, the grandly overrated Sinatra never even heard of pitch.
dedeurs 1 year ago
The album THE YARD WENT ON FOREVER is like boozed poetry and bacharach on LSD and suburban housewives screaming on mescaline. All packaged in Jimmy Webbs superb compositions and arrangements. A fantastic must-buy album.
dedeurs 1 year ago
When I was a kid, I always thought this song was so peculiar and haunting. The lyrics are bizarre yet symbolic, and I was always sort of infatuated by it. It's very surreal, and very emotional.
xeokym 1 year ago
RIchard Harris has a great voice.
daisy2039 1 year ago
@daisy2039 Had a great voice. Tenses.
TheSnowballEarth 1 year ago
listen to jimmy webbs version on 10 easy pieces. Quite clear his heart is broken- "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, O NOOOoooooo. Heartbreak, pure and simple. maybe folks who've never had their heart broken are the one's who don't get it.
spceman 1 year ago 3
Brilliant voice yes, not always complete control of its pitching but great feel,lovely quality and tremendous top note
awol2602 1 year ago
I love how Richard sings this! No one else could have done it like this!
SZSearcher 1 year ago
Here's something you all may find comforting:
I live a block from the actual Macarthor Park in LA and I actually saw a wet, yet nice cake in the rain there. Two days later I learned about the song and the lyric and thought to myself,"I get it, he's right". Later I heard people actually laugh at this line. So I'll explain it. After WWII and the advent of modern highways, Mexicans and other hispanic groups took over Downtown and turned the park into a drugged at night B.day party at day park.
totallycoolmanwow 1 year ago
harris looks so goddamn cool when he sings!!!
MoveOverCasanova 1 year ago
Curiously, Mr Harris didn't have a decent lower register, which we can hear in all its frightfulness on the words "girl", "dressed", and (naturally) "raaaiiiinnn". Had he better control, his overall singing voice would've been quite alright.
And if anyone has the credentials to decide the pharmacological content of the song's lyrics, it would certainly have to be Bez, wouldn't it?
Helke23 1 year ago
Yes, I remember this song well. When it first come out it did have unusual lyrics, but the sound was so beautiful, it made up for the lyrics. Was then, still is now. And no one could have sung it better.
crb703 1 year ago
Rafer Janders forever
BESTSELLER1972 1 year ago
Just wrong, there is nothin rock n roll about this!
MsLynnith 1 year ago
a songwriter has the artistic licence to say whatever he wants for whatever reason , its the golden rule, as noel gallagher wrote, " youve got to be yourself you cant be no one else" thats it in my opinion.
zimmy81 1 year ago
I do not understand why folks have such a hard time with understanding these lyrics.
wnoons 1 year ago
Richard Harris did an incredible version of Macarthur park on the Tonight Show. Does anyone have it?
mudbonehancock 1 year ago
mr harris COULD sing,very well
TumblingDice1972 1 year ago
Jim Webb did two albums with Richard Harris. Both are theme albums, as the songs on each album come together in a kind of story. The first one was called "A Tramp Shinning", the second one was "The Yard Went on For Ever" both are works of art. Jimmy Web could really paint a picture with his lyrics. Glenn Cambell sang Wichata Lineman, Galvastan. Where's the Playground Sizzy. Dreams of the everyday housewife. All witten by web.
loisannfisher 1 year ago
@loisannfisher - Chris Gantry composed "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife", but all the other songs you mention came from Jimmy Webb's pen. He is indeed a genius.
goldheartbadge 1 year ago
This song is so very anti-corporate! Celine Dion will tell you that looking down on the floor while singing is a no-no but Harris does everything completely opposite of the industry norms.
rudyghinasky 1 year ago
this song is really amazing. fuck those guys
HDS7 1 year ago
I don't see the issue. Harris fucking nailed it.
eezysqueezy 1 year ago
mac arthur park is fabulous.
pizzorno 1 year ago
Ace!
MyMatt63 1 year ago
this what I call real music !
natural & with out no bull shit
even if he sung it drunk, it will still be fantastic
rudyghinasky 1 year ago
It is amazing to me that these people don't get it. If you are going to talk about the 60's then you need people who lived in the 60's. Richard Harris Thank You
thecolonel1215 1 year ago
no nods to any black talent here
dominicrichfield 1 year ago
no nods to any black talent here
dominicrichfield 1 year ago
For all the idiots who say Richard Harris can't sing should just try to sing it themselves. He has an incredible voice!!
rngrfan01 1 year ago
This is the most amazing song and Richard Harris's voice is full of emotion and sincerity. One of the rare values left in our society today;
trevoltien 1 year ago
I agree, Richard Harris sings!
JEP177777 1 year ago
What a fool! Harris did a great job siging the song. No one has done it better. NO ONE!
micsc50 1 year ago
What a BEAUTIFUL VOICE! Love it!!
IamBOOBOO7 1 year ago
Richard Harris hits some notes at the end that a castrated Freddie Mercury couldn't even approach
countrad 1 year ago
Where is this version without those people talking !?
514OU450 1 year ago
He could sing very well !
piepants17 1 year ago
I hate this song.This is my most hated song of all time.
Carthsting 1 year ago
You may be the only one who thinks RH can sing but that's a whole different point. LOL The song works basically because it is a huge orchestral arrangement of a pop song that defied the normal pop genre practice of 2-3 minutes and it was an epic piece. Also, the fact that RH can't really sing makes it real.
hornerinf 1 year ago
what are they talking about he is a brilliant and soulful singer!
janfreidun 1 year ago 2
@janfreidun the song is touching, it's a metaphor, why are they mockin it in the beginning, It's a rare treat,
janfreidun 1 year ago 2
If you grew up with it, than you love it!! This song means a lot to me and I'll never have that reciepe again.....Oh No!!!! really.....I love it!!!
teppie3000 1 year ago
I heard this song played at a gay man's funeral... superb! This song just envelopes the gay psyche... fantastic for a funeral song!
limehouse2005 1 year ago