Music Monday ~ The Song Not The Singer: ~ MacArthur Park

FIRST:

Sincere condolences to the people of Norway, particularly the loved ones of those murdered this weekend.

And

RIP Amy Winehouse.

Her life was turning, turning,
In mazes of heat and sound.
But for peace her soul was yearning,
And now peace laps her round. (From "Requiescat" by Matthew Arnold)

THE SONG NOT THE SINGER

You absolutely love it or switch off after the first few bars, because "the lyrics are senseless" (they can be found at the at end of this post). But they're not senseless. In any case, it's a wonderfully evocative piece of music in its own right, without the lyrics. Jimmy Webb wrote it and, according to Wikipedia, originally intended it would be part of a cantata. Actor Richard Harris, a friend of Webb, having whetted his appetite for singing in Camelot, recorded the song in 1968. His version remains the definitive one for many. I'm fascinated, though, by the variety of interpretations of the song both vocal and instrumental.





Wikipedia also states that:

The inspiration for "MacArthur Park" was the relationship and breakup between Webb and Susan Ronstadt, a cousin of singer Linda Ronstadt. The song's title was the park where the two occasionally met for lunch and spent their most enjoyable times together. At that time in mid-1965, Ronstadt worked for a life insurance company whose offices were located just across the street from the park. Both continued to be friends, even after her marriage to another man. The breakup was also the primary influence for "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," another Webb composition. When asked by interviewer Terry Gross what was going through his mind when he wrote the lyrics, Webb replied that the lyrics were meant to be symbolic, and they referred to the end of a love affair.

I looked at Jimmy Webb's natal chart some time ago (here) along with that of Glen Campbell, whose interpretation of a couple of Webb songs brought both singer and songwriter much acclaim, and which still stand as classics of their kind.

Another quick look at Webb's chart to refresh my memory. Webb was born in Elk City, Oklahoma on 15 August 1946. Astrodatabank set their chart for 8:20 AM with a "C" rating (not reliable) and add a footnote that Webbs's father has said Jimmy was born at night, 8:40PM. I'm using that time here. Astrodatabank's 8:20AM chart can be seen here.



I'm not familiar with all of Webb's songs - there are many - but the ones which have imprinted themselves on the public memory (Wichita Lineman, Galveston, Didn't We? By the Time I Get to Phoenix, and MacArthur Park) all have melacholy and whistfulness at their core. MacArthur Park has abstract imagery too, like a surreal painting.

Webb's Leo Sun is in harmonious sextile aspect to Uranus in Gemini on one side and Jupiter in Libra on the other, linking self (Sun) to eccentric Uranus - abstract imagery, and Jupiter, planet of publication and expansion.

Venus, planet of the arts is conjunct Neptune (creativity, dreaminess) and Mars (energy and drive).

I see the links of Sun to Uranus and Venus to Neptune, in particular, as good reflections of the "feel" of MacArthur Park. A bit "left field" but beautiful, creative and dreamy.

Where, in the chart, is the melancholy and wistfulness found in so many other Webb songs though?

If this time of birth is near correct Moon (inner, emotional self) and Saturn were in close trine, with Mercury conjunct Saturn. The melancholy temperament is also described as Saturnine in this article at Skyscript. QED?



Below, ten very different interpretations of MacArthur Park, ranging from standard, to jazz, to Broadway-whacky, to truly whacky. This isn't an exhaustive collection, just representative versions of each style.


Kicking off with Richard Harris live, and some dorky comments from people who didn't get the song, and some who did:

Waylon Jennings recorded two versions, one in 1969 with The Kimberlys and one in 1976, solo. The later one is far better - brings me near to tears in fact. Waylon was really too good for country - he should have broken out more.

Waylon With The Kimberlys , 1969

Waylon - 1976 (my favourite vocal)

Donna Summer (doesn't work for me):

Woody Herman - the jazz version - great!

Maynard Ferguson on jazz trumpet (bit too screechy in places for me)

Brass band - Britain's Grimethorpe Colliery Band does the piece justice (as they do to everything they play)

Guitars - Chet Atkins & Jerry Reed: nice!

Whacky Broadway version from Priscilla Queen of the Desert (love it - want to see it! Definite Uranus vibe going on.)

Ultra Whacky - Weird Al Yankovic adapts the music and lyrics, and it becomes Jurassic Park. Only Weird Al could do this and get away with it!

And, finally, those lyrics:

Spring was never waiting for us, girl
It ran one step ahead
As we followed in the dance
Between the parted pages and were pressed
In love's hot, fevered iron
Like a striped pair of pants

MacArthur 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!

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

MacArthur 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!

There will be another song for me
For I will sing it
There will be another dream for me
Someone will bring it
I will drink the wine while it is warm
And never let you catch me looking at the sun
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
You'll still be the one

I will take my life into my hands and I will use it
I will win the worship in their eyes and I will lose it
I will have the things that I desire
And my passion flow like rivers through the sky
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life
I'll be thinking of you
And wondering why

MacArthur 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!
Oh, no
No, no
Oh no!!

Glen Campbell & Jimmy Webb - Perfect fit

Wandering around the BBC website, I stumbled across an on-line recording of Glen Campbell's recent concert in London.
Link if a passing reader happens to be a fan of his.

I was a lukewarm fan, back in the day, but my fanship really only extended to his versions of Jimmy Webb songs: "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", and a couple of others. Without these songs, my guess is that he'd have remained a guitar player to the illustrious, which he already was before breaking into vocal stardom. He is said to be one of America's top session guitarists.

What is rather unexpected about his very successful association with Jimmy Webb is that Campbell is described as "a hawkish Republican", while Webb was something of a hippie, and therefore very liberal in his politics.

"It doesn't really matter if Glen Campbell was Jimmy Webb's best interpreter or if Webb gave Campbell his best songs -- in other words, it doesn't matter who helped the other more -- because it doesn't change the essential fact that the duo fit each other so naturally. Webb's intricate, idiosyncratic compositions sounded warm and accessible in Campbell's hands, while... More the songs revealed Campbell's musical range and ambition. Other singers had big hits with Webb's songs and Campbell made tremendous music with other people's songs, but there was something special about their collaboration that was evident on their big hits of the '60s: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," "Where's the Playground, Suzie?." These songs provided the background for Reunion, the 1974 album where Campbell and Webb reunited for a set of Webb songs"

(Extract from article here)

I decided to look at the two natal charts to see if I could spot anything in common.

Glen Campbell born on 22 April 1936 in Delight, Arkansas at 8.14pm.

Jimmy Webb born in Elk City, Oklahoma 15 August 1946.


Click on image to enlarge.

I can't find time of birth for Jimmy Webb, so for ease of comparison have shown both charts set for 12 noon. The additional information: Campbell's ascendant is 20.45 Scorpio, Moon at 24.51 Taurus.

Well now! Campbell is a multiple Taurean, Webb a multiple Leo/Libran. Libra and Taurus are both ruled by Venus, planet of the arts including, of course, music, both signs are very strongly featured in these charts. That's one connection: Venus rulership and stelliums in each of Venus's signs.

However, although Venus-ruled signs feature strongly, the two signs are not highly compatible. Taurus is Fixed Earth, Libra Cardinal Air. The signs re quincunx one another, which is astrologese for describing an irritable scratchy relationship with little in common. Personality-wise it's quite likely they have little in common, especially bearing in mind Webb's Leo planets, square to some of Campbell's Taurus group. Their music is the only bond.

Another point worth noting, Jimmy Webb has no planets in Earth in his chart, Glen Campbell has none in Air. Elementally and musically, it could be said that they complete each other. And that pretty much explains it for me!