Rolling Stone magazine asked the presidential candidates about what songs they liked and some used at their campaign events. All but one of them are pretty unexceptional. But can you guess Ben Carson’s favorite song?
But the song that touches him [Carson] the most? “MacArthur Park,” especially the original version talk-sung by actor Richard Harris. “It’s a long song, like seven minutes long. And a lot of the words don’t make a lot of sense: ‘MacArthur’s Park is melting in the dark.’ What the devil is he talking about? It has three different parts and part two — ‘I will drink the wine while it is warm and never let you catch me looking at the sun’ — is just beatiful music. Again, the words don’t make a lot of sense.”
“A lot of the words don’t make a lot of sense” is putting it mildly. But given that much of what Ben Carson said in his campaign never made much sense either, this song looks like a perfect match for him.
MacArthur Park is widely reviled as the worst song ever, in the face of stiff competition from a whole slew of ghastly songs from that era, especially the incredibly sappy Honey by Bobby Goldsboro. Humorist Dave Barry once ran a contest to find the worst song and wrote a series of hilarious columns about his search. He concluded that MacArthur Park was easily the worst. For you young ‘uns who don’t know what I’m talking about, here is the song.
My personal favorite lyrics from it are these:
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!
It still cracks me up.
can you guess Ben Carson’s favorite song?
I guessed “My Way” without looking at the list.
Because it’s the perfect entitled whine of pride.
Nice, now I finally know where Weird Al’s Jurassic Park comes from!
Wow… man… Ben Carson’s a stoner man. O wow…
I’m so glad that that song is one of the parts of the 60’s that I don’t remember.
“MacArthur Park”? Really?
Being a religious fanatic with bad taste, I was expecting Carson to name Charlene, a “singer” responsible for two of the ten worst songs ever recorded (arguably, THE worst songs ever). No, I am NOT going to link to them on youtube. Look them up yourself if you’re masochistic or you ran out of ipecac.
“Never Been To Me”, Charlene
“Used To Be”, Charlene w/ Stevie Wonder
Charlene is/was a fanatical christian on par with John Michael Montgomery (the atroctious anti-atheist propaganda, “The Little Girl”). If subtlety were rubber, those two wouldn’t have enough to make a condom for a gerbil.
I’m not going to disagree, but like many songs (especially those from the ’60s), if you know the backstory to the song, it makes much more sense:
(from Wikipedia)
Wow -- I love the mixdown on that one. I guess they had just discovered sterephonic sound: “HEY let’s make the intro fade into both speakers then drop into full stereo!! That’ll bend people’s heads!!!”
Someone left the cake out in the rain? WTF!?!?!? I am not familiar with this music. I am glad. I’m gonna go listen to “Anarchy in the UK” until I feel better.
Another example of this is No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature by the Guess Who:
I would have figured Carson the type to name “You Light Up My Life” as his favorite.
Holms (#2) --
It’s appalling how some “Weird Al” covers become more popular than the original artist being ripped off.
“Macarthur Park” might be one of the worst songs to ever chart in the U.S. Billboard Top 40, but there are vast debris fields full of non-charting songs that are much, much worse. A few lousy but amusing ones that spring to mind are “My Pal Foot-Foot” by The Shaggs, “My Name Is Larry” by Wild Man Fischer, and “The Tapeworm of Love” by Tony Borello (released on Horrible Records — “It’s not a hit unless it’s Horrible!”); for some truly execrable stuff, though, I recommend any number that’s ever been the subject of one of Dr. Demento’s “Audio Torture Chamber” segments.
I never understood any lyrics by “1910 Fruitgum Company”. They’re way too deep for me
@Mano
You write very indirectly, do you like the song?
Oh my. I don’t love it, but I never dove to change the dial when it came on. On the other hand, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”, or pretty much anything by Bacharach, would have me moving fast. Or dreck like “Wind Beneath My Wings” (I feel nauseous already). Also, Bieber. And so much more.
I found the weird lyric actually quite endearing, compared to the usual banal crap in love songs.
BTW the lyrics link leads me to a barren page on play.google.com where I can see the album cover and title but no lyrics
What could be a reason for that?
Is it to do with where I am perhaps?
Something with laws?
(the video already is blocked here (I guess that is why I suspect “foul” play), but can find substitute easily)
Now that I’ve heard the original, it occurs to me that the Weird Al version is a better (read way more coherent) song.
BTW, Webb also wrote “Wichita Lineman”, which I think is a truly great song.
soogeeoh @#14,
I don’t know why you get that. Maybe try searching for ‘Macarthur park lyrics’. I’m sure you’ll find a site that is accessible.
soogeeoh @#12,
I find the song hilarious and weirdly fascinating because it is so bad.
Richard Harris had a bit of a singing career going around that time. I remember his version of “Abraham, Martin, and John” as being pretty good.
But I just can’t forgive him for dying before he could portray Albus Dumbledore in the last six Harry Potter films.
Nearly all of these songs from that period have the same backstory: People were doing waaay more drugs back then.
Oh, and my nomination for Worst. Song. Ever. is “Spirit In the Sky”. In retrospect that may have been the song that put the nail in the coffin of my religious faith.
Okay, from that perspective maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.
As I remember I seemed to sort of like it. I can’t really tell why, I guess it just had sort of a “hook” that appealed to me. I always took the weird lyrics to be some sort of metaphor. Must admit I didn’t know what sort.
At the time it was published I lived in Los Angeles. I was an apprentice electrician and my union hall was across the street from MacArther Park. So there’s that.
What with all the drugs and weirdness of the times it just seemed, ah… ok.
I have to admit that it being Ben Carson’s fav. does seem oddly appropriate.
My favorite seeming nonsense song:
It more or less makes sense if you have spent time in a dive bar with a talented but unenthusiastic piano player that gets payed in drinks.
DonDueed @21: I quite liked “Spirit In the Sky”. Always thought it, and “Dropkick me, Jesus [through the goal posts of life]” were spoofs of Jesusy country songs. Was I wrong??!?
lorn @24: My favourite Waits song! With “God’s Away on Business” a close second.
Rob,
But have you seen Cookie Monster singing God’s Away on Business? (Link added)
Mano @27: What’s next, Teletubbies singing “Mad World”? Think of the children!
oh you men
worst songs?
Lionel Ritchie Three Times a Lady
Paul Anka Having my Baby
The cookie monster is Tom Waits. Or is it the other way round? Either way … outstanding. I like.
Tom Waits is a marvel. It is like he is almost telling a story. More like a train of thoughts with a theme. With just a bit of whiskey, and random lightning to to make it surreal enough to feel real. Somewhere between a waking dream and a fever dream.
A newer song, 2011, in the same vein of story, mystery, feeling, and deep truth. This one about war:
https://youtu.be/0Fju9o8BVJ8
Posted this on the Cookie Monster thread but it works better here IMHO.
I rather liked McArthur Park. I was young. I graduated in 1963 so I would have been about 24 when it came out. I was riding the trough of the wave of the flower power generation. (I was teaching by then and afraid to do anything that would put that in jeopardy.) I was sure those young people were having much more fun than I was.
My vote for worst song is Surfin Bird by the Trashmen. I liked it too, but mostly because it irritated the old people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gc4QTqslN4
I don’t know how to embed a link, so cut and paste.
OH! It does it itself! Yay
John
Tom Waits is America’s greatest poet. The man is a straight-up genius.
MacArthur Park is not that bad a song -- when sung by Donna Summer. Indeed, I’m talking about the Queen of Disco who proves that her talent was wasted on many of her hits.
Anything by Barry Manilow is far, far worse.