”MacArthur Park” was commissioned by the Association, who took one look at this multiple movement monstrosity and declined to record it. It ended up here. (Note that Harris sings it as “MacArthur’s Park”, which is incorrect.) If this is one of the Cynthia songs, it constitutes a declaration of independence from his obsession with the woman who had given him so much grief. At the time it was considered a masterpiece, and Webb won a Grammy for it in 1968, along with “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Wichita Lineman”.
Today, after 43 years, it doesn’t wear so well. It comes across as rather pretentious, overblown and self-indulgent. A modern listener would react to the opening lines and ask, “What the hell is he singing about?”
“Didn’t We still makes me melt after all these years..