‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Brought Back 1 of the Worst Songs Ever
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is not a movie musical, but it incorporates several famous songs from many different genres. One of the most surprising moments of the movie was when Tim Burton decided to bring back a track that’s been a laughing stock for decades. Furthermore, he used two famous versions of it! Here’s a look at a musical abomination that many people love.
‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ used 1 of the most misguided psychedelic songs of the 1960s
The late 1960s were the most psychedelic time in the history of popular culture. Bands were singing about yellow submarines and having too much to dream last night. Actor/singer Richard Harris made his stab at psychedelia with “MacArthur Park,” a bizarre, endless ballad about a breakup. The song starts with a lament that MacArthur Park is melting in the dark. Harris famously laments that he left his cake out in the rain and he’ll never find the recipe again. I could spend all day discussing the inexplicable turns of phrase.
If that wasn’t weird enough, “MacArthur Park” was repackaged for the 1970s by Donna Summer. Summer reinterpreted “MacArthur Park” as a ballad that turns into a pumping disco song. She made it more ridiculous than it was. Anyone who wanted to make the case that disco was a mistake just had to point to Summer deviously laughing about “sweet green icing flowing down.”
‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ knows that the song is bad
“MacArthur Park” is the sort of embarrassing oddity that’s only entertaining to lovers of camp. Fortunately, Burton has a twistedly campy sense of humor. Without giving anything away, a major set piece of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice incorporates the original “MacArthur Park,” seemingly in full. It’s exactly what you want from a gonzo comedy.
Summer’s cover plays an important role in the movie as well. At his Edward Scissorhands best, Burton knew how to give us strange delights that we didn’t we wanted. By the time “MacArthur Park” appears in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, it’s clear that the visionary behind The Nightmare Before Christmas is back, baby.
The writer of ‘MacArthur Park’ bares all
During a 2013 interview with The Guardian, songwriter Jimmy Webb gave us insight into the surreal odyssey of “MacArthur Park.” “The lyrics to ‘MacArthur Park’ infuriate some people,” he said. “‘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.’ They think it’s a psychedelic trip. But everything in the song is real. There is a MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, near where my girlfriend worked selling life insurance. We’d meet there for lunch, and there would be old men playing checkers by the trees, like in the lyrics.”
Webb explained the oddball cake metaphor that’s a big part of the song’s poor reputation. “I’ve been asked a million times: ‘What is the cake left out in the rain?'” he said. “It’s something I saw — we would eat cake and leave it in the rain. But as a metaphor for a losing a chapter of your life, it seemed too good to be true. When she broke up with me, I poured the hurt into the song. It was always around seven minutes long — not 22 as has been written.”
“MacArthur Park” is one of the sorriest excuses for a pop song to make it to top 40 radio, and that’s why it’s awesome.
