A Walk Through ‘MacArthur Park’: Jimmy Webb Tells the History of an Odd Pop Classic That Found New Life as the Musical Climax of ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’
variety.comChris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Here’s one cake that didn’t get left out too long in the rain: the eternal pop pastry that is “MacArthur Park.” The song’s epic length and unusual structure haven’t kept it from turning into a decades-spanning perennial, one that is just finding yet another new life as a result of its extensive use in “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which scores a full-on movie-musical climax with actor-singer Richard Harris‘ original 1968 version before switching to Donna Summer’s disco remake for the end credits.
Jimmy Webb is one of the indisputably greatest songwriters of all time, known for undying classics like “Wichita Lineman,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Galveston” and “Highwayman.” “MacArthur Park” is undoubtedly his most polarizing song, but that could be part of the reason for its shelf life, against all odds.
Most music fans who hear it will grin, and a few will groan when the first of its seven minutes kick in, but no one will fail to have a reaction to hearing the suite-like epic that likens a failed romance to “a cake left out in the rain.” Its iconic status led it to be parodied by “Weird Al” Yankovic and “SNL,” embraced by Webb super-fan David Letterman, and covered by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Waylon Jennings to Wayne Kramer — even though, on the face of it, the nearly prog-rock-like structure makes it seem like one of the least adaptable tunes ever.
Webb got on the phone with Variety to discuss the 56-year history of the tune, which people are much more eager to revisit than the actual MacArthur Park in L.A., a sketchier place now than it was when the songwriter used to enjoy romantic lunches there in the 1960s with the then-love of his life.
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