What's your favorite lyric from a song?


Just curious what stays with people...
arthursmuck

MacArthur Park  (Jimmy Webb)

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'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!

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'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!

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
Oh, after all the loves of my life
I'll be thinking of you
And wondering why

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
Oh no!


One of the great standouts of the late 60s. Harris’ performance of the full lyric remains the definitive one for me. 

The ‘yellow cotton dress’ line still cuts to the bone, and the sheer erratic confusion and sense of epic tragedy remain a reference point through thick and thin, year after year.

There is a very informative writeup on "MacArthur Park" on Wikipedia. The lyrics largely reflect some of Jimmy Webb's real life experiences.

The song is certainly one of the most unique popular recordings of the rock era, and like CD318 I consider it, as recorded by Richard Harris, to be a standout.

Regards,
-- Al
 

I could have killed her when I first met her, I’d have been out of jail by now.


Waylon Jennings

For those who may like sentimental ballads, as I do in many cases:

"You're My World," lyrics by the noted lyricist Carl Sigman:

You're my world, you're every breath I take
You're my world, every move I make
Other eyes see the stars up in the skies
But for me they shine within your eyes

As the trees reach for the sun above
So my arms reach out to you for love
With your hand resting in mine
I feel a power so divine

You're my world, you are my night and day
You're my world, you're every prayer I pray
If our love ceases to be
Then it's the end of my world for me

With your hand resting in mine
I feel a power so divine
You're my world, you are my night and day
You're my world, you're every prayer I pray
If our love ceases to be
Then it's the end of my world
End of my world
End of my world for me

The first recording using Sigman's English-language lyrics was done in 1964 by the late Cilla Black, who as many will realize was closely associated with the Beatles and producer George Martin. The song was later covered by Helen Reddy among many others. I recently happened across a 2014 performance by the British singer and actress Sheridan Smith, which as far as I am aware was never released as a recording but was performed in a three-part British TV series entitled "Cilla," in which she portrayed Ms. Black. I was struck by how this performance is a remarkable impression of Cilla Black's singing, but at the same time is better IMO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMHILWOo3II

Regards,
-- Al


P.S. to my previous post:  After looking further at the comments under the video I linked to it appears that the singing which accompanies the video is an "alternate take" that was recorded at some point by Cilla Black herself, although Sheridan Smith did the singing in the TV program from which the video was created.  So that explains why the singing was, as I said, "a remarkable impression of Cilla Black's singing."  :-)

Regards,
-- Al