Thursday, July 28, 2005

I recall the yellow cotton dress

Worst lyrics

Another Robert of the Radish special over at Blogcritics, bloggers pick their worst song lyrics, mine was MacArthur Park (written by Jimmy Webb, performed by Donna Summer.)
Spring was never waiting for us dear
It ran one step ahead
As we followed in the dance

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, nooooo


I recall the yellow cotton dress
Foaming like a wave
On the ground beneath your knees
The birds like tender babies in your hands
And the old men playing chinese checkers by the trees

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, nooooo

(Repeat)
Does it really require any commentary?

6 comments:

Shawn Anderson said...

Worst Lyrics Playlist

1. Your Body Is A Wonderland - John Mayer
2. Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad - Meat Loaf
3. MacArthur Park - Donna Summer
4. Fix You - Coldplay
5. Burrito - Pete Yorn
6. Cherry Pie - Warrant
7. One In A Million - Guns N' Roses
8. Muskrat Love - The Captain & Tennille
9. I Write The Songs - Barry Manilow
10. Candy Shop - 50 Cent

Andrew said...

I haven't checked out the Radish list yet. But I've got to agree with you on MacArthur Park.

How about an honorable mention to "My Sharona," by the Knack?

AC

Shawn Anderson said...

Yeah, I suppose... I usually lower the bar with songs that aren't meant to be taken seriously.

Listen to me... pretending like I've got a tried and true formula! I'm talking out of my ass.

But if I did have a formula, The Knack's first attempt at a comeback (Serious Fun, 1991) is probably the worst lyrically.

Their single and opening track, "Rocket O' Love," starts:

All right.
Baby.
One shot. Ecstasy,
Funk has fever gotta hold on me,
Big Bang! Vacancy.
Shake down grove on in the machine

Chorus:
I’m a rocket of love…Take me.

and gets worse from there... but it's still kind of fun, you know? I just can't understand why they bothered to print the lyrics on their album jacket and cd sleeve.

Unknown said...

It helps to enjoy this song if you know he wrote it after he had just lost the love of his life.

PattyC said...

Not necessary. One point of great art is you don’t need to know the specifics to relate to it. You can feel that its about the unraveling wr go through when we experience loss.

Unknown said...

McArthur Park is a great song. Sorry, not sorry. By Richard Harris.