MacArthur Park

MacArthur Park is a park in western Los Angeles, California, and named after General Douglas MacArthur. It is located right in the middle of a mostly Central American part of Los Angeles.

MacArthur Park is divided in two by Wilshire Boulevard. On one side there is a highly polluted man-made lake. On the other, there is a kiosk. The kiosk is host to concerts organized by the local Spanish radio stations and the annual Central American Independence Day parade and festival.

The park was originally named Westlake Park, and was built in the 1880s. It was renamed shortly after the end of World War II.

MacArthur Park is famous for the song named after it, originally a hit song written by Jimmy Webb and performed by Richard Harris in 1968. Harris' seminal recording topped the music charts in Europe, while peaking at number two on the U.S. charts.

It was a most unusual single, running for more than seven minutes, with lyrics more symbolic than descriptive, and a climactic orchestral break, but apparently about a lost love and a rendezvous in the park. It has been covered more than 50 times, including versions by Waylon Jennings, Glen Campbell, Maynard Ferguson, Liza Minnelli, and most notably, by Donna Summer in a 1978 disco version that topped the U.S. charts.

"Weird Al" Yankovic recorded a parody of the song for his album Alapalooza with new lyrics recapping the plot of Jurassic Park. The comedy series SCTV aired a sketch with an actor playing Richard Harris singing "MacArthur Park" and waiting in agony during the orchestral break to finish the song while the show moved on to other skits. And a poll by American columnist Dave Barry selected "MacArthur Park" as the worst song ever recorded.

Quotation

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, no!

Oh, no

No, no

Despite the rather poetic homage paid to it, the real MacArthur Park is known for being a violent place. Drug-dealing, shoot-outs and occasional drownings are somewhat common.

The park has been featured in a number of movies (eg, Volcano ) and television shows. It was also the setting for Joseph Wambaugh's novel, The Choirboys.

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