The Cake Melted in the Rain

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I will probably never know why I love this song so much. It caught my ear when it was originally sung by Richard Harris, but then Donna Summer came out with her version during the disco era, and I was really hooked. Something about this song just inspires, and I enjoy it a lot. When the Queen of Disco belted out this song, it was just magical. Finally, on November 11, 1978, her version made it all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. “MacArthur Park” was written by Jimmy Webb in 1968. This successful songwriter has also written other hits such as “Up, Up and Away.” Webb had been considering writing a “cantata,” which is a complex 22-minute-long piece with orchestral backing. He was hoping that when the group The Association recorded “Up, Up and Away,” they would also consider his cantata, but they didn’t care for it. He then changed the song and came up with odd things like cakes melting in the rain in a Los Angeles, California, park of all things. However, in LA anything is possible. Harris, a British actor, was willing to record the song, and for him it reached the number two slot. Ten years later along came Donna Summer, and it just seemed that “MacArthur Park” was ready to become a disco hit, wet cakes left out in parks in the rain and all. As a result, it became her biggest hit of her career to date and the first of her four number one hits. The photo is a Wiki image of the real MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. Here are the lyrics I am referring to, and let’s all sing: MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark All the sweet, green icing flowing down 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!