Readers' 20 Worst Lyrics Ever: No. 7

Posted Apr 5th 2007 6:00PM by Spinner Readers
Filed under: The Hit List

"Someone left the cake

Out in the rain

I don't think that I can take it

'Cause it took so long

To bake it

And I'll never have that

recipe again -- oh no!"

--Richard Harris' 'MacArthur Park'
(lyrics by Jimmy Webb)

Who in the hell leaves the cake out in the rain? --Sharon Clower, Normal, Ill.

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Reader Comments(1 of 15)

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Stewartat 4-05-2007

Seriously...is this a children's song?

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Kaylaat 4-06-2007

The world is seriously going to f-ing end. You have no cake recipe... try coming up with a better recipe for song lyrics next time.

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Bob Aat 4-07-2007

I guess none of the idiots who voted for this song have any clue about descriptive prose. The lyric, although admittedly a little esoteric, recounts a sad memory of his one great love, now lost. It sad to see that people are now sooo simple minded. These are people that think the same thing about lines like "A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet". I feel sorry for them.

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yaffurat 8-24-2008

Aww... does someone need some love? No, this song is stupid. I think "a rose by any other name" is one of the greatest lines ever written, romantically. And the whole blather about the cake is completely ridiculous. How sad that the Richard Harris of "This Sporting Life" could put up with singing something so banal. Nice word choice, though, Bob, with "esoteric."

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Lucyat 4-07-2007

Bob, seriously, get a damn life!

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patat 4-07-2007

Well, I gotta say equating lost love with a cake that got left out in the rain is a bit of a reach. There are many things that might get left out in the rain- a scarf, a baseball glove, a towel, a book, a radio - but I've never heard about a sodden cake. I think Richard Harris could've come up with much better metaphors for unrequited love. It's almost as if someone like Beck wrote this song for him, imparting some sort of slacker psychedelia to this man's epic angst.

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Danat 4-07-2007

You all don't get it! It's about the bomb! MacArthur Park is melting in the rain (the rain of nuclear "rain" and melting from the heat). The sweet green icing flowing down (all of the plants are dying). The cake is a metaphor that says "things are all gone and can't ever come again" due to nuclear contamination (For I'll never have that recipe again).

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pregueletto butromonobabbittat 4-07-2007

Seriously, how old is Stewart?

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C Waltonat 4-07-2007

This is truly one of the weirdest songs of all time, and it was a huge hit.

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Cozmoat 4-08-2007

I'm saddened by his loss. The same thing happened to me but the day was sunny & I lost my ice cream cake. I've never been quite the same.

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DAS SALLat 4-08-2007

THIS is the WORST . . . EVER!!!!!!!!!!

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Moodyat 4-10-2007

Bob A. - like I said before, take your Zoloft.

Dan - yeah, and if you anagram MacArthur Park, you get:

MR. H., U R A PACKRAT!

Obviously confirming the rumours we all heard that
Mr. HARRIS kept the whole g d wet cake to himself
(sweet green icing not withstanding), contrary to the words in the song "I don't think that I can take it" - when in fact, he *did* think that he could take it, and did so - much to the chagrin of all those hard working souls who wanted just a bit of tea and cake after the song was completed.

Yes, unraveling the mysteries of MacArthur
Park's profound lyrics makes trying to figure out
all that nonsense in "American Pie" look like a walk in the ....

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Franklyat 4-10-2007

Actually, Jimmy Webb wrote the song. He was a rising songwriter who just happened to break up with the love of his life, Susan, prior to this song. He was just around 20-21 years old at the time. McArthur Park was frequented by them on lazy afternoons. Yes, in those days, you could still go to parks with a blanket. Ahh, young love. The "hated" lines are just the chorus. Read the rest of the lyrics and try to put in context.
For some reason, the younger generation prefers the gangsta rap lyrics, or the lady bump/hump (deep), and, as Bob A pointed out, would/could not understand the "Rose by any other name .." line.
I did considerable research after this song showed up on this list, though I always loved the song and understood the writers pain. Very eloquent!
Feel sorry for the shallow who have no clue.

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Jillat 4-10-2007

Thank you Bob and Dan. This song contains the most visually beautiful and interpretivly flexible metaphors of the decade, if not the century. Those of you who lack imagination should maybe begin with the poem "Jabberwocky."

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