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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’
Jimmy Webb, who made 'MacArthur Park' with Richard Harris in 1968, recount the song's strange story, from Donna Summer to 'Weird Al' to 'Beetlejuice.'
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. One of ’em was Willem Dafoe running through the graveyard like James Bond, and then it would cut to this fabulous love scene where Beetlejuice and his lover are ballroom dancing in midair — very typically Tim Burton, in the most positive way.
Or read this on Variety