Jimmy Webb's “MacArthur Park” Gives Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a Epic Musical Moment
"Mr. Juice gets my song. It took a made-up undead demon but finally, someone understands that ‘MacArthur Park’ is a love song. A long love song with lots of chords and strings. And a cake, of course.” - Jimmy Webb
Certa momen musik dina film tetep permanén graved dina kenangan urang. Aya “Eye of the Tiger” di Rocky, “Bohemian Rhapsody” di Wayne’s World, “Tubular Bells” di The Exorcist, jeung, ya, “Day-O” dina aslina Beetlejuice. Well, we can add another to that list: Richard Harris’ 1968 version of the Jimmy Webb hit “MacArthur Park” in the newly released sequel of the 1988 Michael Keaton film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, diarahkeun ku Tim Burton jeung di biara ayeuna.
“Meet the New ‘Day-O,’” nyebutkeun The New York Times dina artikel judulna, "What Is That Song in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?" Urang terus "...Richard Harris 1968 psychedelic pop hit 'MacArthur Park', nu Donna Summer remade salaku himen disco."
[SPOILER ALERT] “MacArthur Park,” ditulis dina Dina taun 1967, ku Jimmy Webb, penyanyi/songwriter Grammy-pemenang, diwanohkeun dina momen panganyarna panganyarna dina film horor-komédi. Beetlejuice (Keaton) nyandak karakter utama Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) ka altar. Anjeunna nyandak nyanggakeun ka maranehna pikeun nyimpen nyaahkeun putri, Astrid Deetz (Jenna Ortega) nyaah. A kue badag ditutup ku es hijau slimy dipeunteun tur lajeng ... cue “MacArthur Park!” “MacArthur's Park téh nyimpen dina gelap / All the sweet, green icing flowing down,” nyanyi Harrings salaku funcal nawarkeun jeung tamu nikah nu dipake di sakuliah ku kue jeung icing oozing, ngabalukarkeun lip-syn
Saterusna debut, "MacArthur Park" geus captivated sarta nganggur pendengar nalika aranjeunna nyoba nempo ngarasakeun akar klasik na decoding lyrics, ieu sadayana terus diwanohkeun, diinterprét, jeung dibahas ngeunaan dina média. lagu hit ieu geus disimpen ku sakuliah 200 artis, kaasup Waylon Jennings (na nyimpen jeung dirilis tilu versi lagu; aslinya meunang Jennings Grammy Award kahiji taun 1970), Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwick, The Four Tops, Tony Bennett, Carrie Underwood, jeung Wu-Tang Clan. Webb meunang 1969 Grammy Award pikeun Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist pikeun Harris versi. Salah sahiji versi panganyarna lagu nyaéta ku Donna Summer anu hit No. 1 dina Billboard Hot 100 disko chart jeung versi Summer nya buku versi ieu, muncul salila buka
Tapi éta selalu versi Harris nu Burton hoyong pikeun adegan husus ieu.
“We all wanted a musical number,” naskah Alfred Gough nyebutkeun Entertainment Weekly. “We just didn't know what it was. It all felt like the movie was wrapping up too neatly. And then Tim called us. Burton has a jukebox in his home, and one of its tracks is ‘MacArthur Park,’ not the Donna Summers rendition that became more popular over the years, but the original 1968 version first recorded by Irish actor and singer Richard Harris. We went and listened to it, and then we just wrote out a musical number based on that. And then we kept evolving it. We were like, 'Yes! That's the crazy, weird, insane thing you need at the end of this movie.”
Crazy, weird, and insane indeed... and Webb is loving it! “Mr. Juice gets my song. It took a made-up undead demon but finally, someone understands that ‘MacArthur Park’ is a love song. A long love song with lots of chords and strings. And a cake, of course,” he says.
The “MacArthur Park” adegan anu meunang ulikan rave. "Apa nu ngajalankeun dina adegan bonkers set ka 'MacArthur Park." (USA Today) “It’s the kind of wonderful nonsense set piece that has no reason to exist except because it’s funny and because it could.” (NPR’s WBUR Boston) “Be warned that you may never hear the song ‘MacArthur Park’ in quite the same way ever again.” (The Seattle Times)
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack pikeun Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is out now from Watertower Music and available to stream wherever you enjoy your music. Meanwhile, Webb is currently on the road. An Evening with Jimmy Webb has received rave reviews. “A night with Jimmy at the keys is not unlike getting to hear George Gershwin or Cole Porter live. It’s hard to believe one guy could have written all these amazing songs…if you get a chance to see him live, grab it. People ask why nobody writes songs like they used to. Fortunately for us all, Jimmy Webb still does,” writes American Songwriter.
The Kansas City Star tulis, "Jimmy Webb nyadiakeun sababaraha komposisi panganyarna-Na, jeung versi-Na nyadiakeun ciri-ciri na merit-Na, panache lyrical na musik, arsitektur jeung sophistications. Tapi sajarah-Na nyadiakeun panganyarna kana rupa-rupa konteks, sababaraha lucu, sababaraha sajarah, sababaraha novel jeung trivial.
Jimmy Webb tour dates:
September 22 - Paramount Hudson Valley Theater - Peekskill, NY (Jimmy Webb: The Glen Campbell Years)
September 27 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL
September 29 - The Parkway Theater - Minneapolis, MN
Oktober 1 - City Winery St. Louis - St. Louis, MO
Oktober 3 - Knuckleheads - Kansas City, MO
Oktober 10 - The Canyon - Agoura Hills - Agoura Hills, CA
Oktober 13 - The Coach House - San Juan Capistrano, CA
Oktober 16 - Yoshi's - Oakland, CA
Oktober 30 - The Vogel - Red Bank, NJ
Nopémber 7 - Kent Stage - Kent, OH
Nopémber 9 - Memorial Hall - Cincinnati, OH
Nopember 19 - The Tin Pan - Richmond, VA
Nopémber 22 - BPAC - Pinehurst, NC
Désémber 1 - Dosey Doe - The Woodlands, TX
Désémber 4 - The State Theatre - Austin, TX
Nopember 7 & 8 - Musical Instrument Museum - Phoenix, AZ
Désémber 20 – My Father’s Place – Roslyn, NY
* All shows are "An Evening with Jimmy Webb" kecuali dimana disebutkeun.
Ngeunaan lagu-lagu anu paling populér tina panggero cross-genre, Jimmy Webb, anu meunang sababaraha GRAMMY, aya lagu-lagu touchstone pikeun hiji generasi tapi tetep timeless: “MacArthur Park,” “Wichita Lineman,” “Didn’t We,” “Galveston,” “Worst That Could Happen,” jeung “The Highwayman” pikeun starters. Dina pameran hirup na – anu béda unggal malam sabab panggero piano improvisasi anu luar biasa na loba sajarah – Webb nyiptakeun sambungan unik jeung publik: Sakumaha uncle langgeng di kotana nyadiakeun dongeng ti jalan, ngaluarkeun cerita di balik hits nya, panggero lagu kahiji di tempatna di Motown, ngaliwatan trajektori karirna anu ngabalukarkeun putra pamaréntah remaja ti hiji kota farm di Oklahoma ka Tunesmith: The Art of Songwriting jeung memoir The Cake and the Rain Demonstrasikeun talenta anu luar biasa ku kecap jeung musik.
Webb geus topped charts deui jeung deui ti pop ka country, blues, jazz, disco ka malah rap jeung EDM jeung interpretations ku sababaraha panggedéna industri kaasup Art Garfunkel, Linda Ronstadt, Frank Sinatra, Donna Summer, Josh Groban, Glen Campbell, The Highwaymen, Barbra Streisand, The Fifth Dimension, Guns n' Roses, jeung James Taylor. The Webb coverings téh kontinyu: anu dirilis pikeun Pride Month 2024 nyaéta versi tarian anyar hot of “MacArthur Park” ku Micah McLaurin jeung Amber Riley.
Since Webb’s GRAMMY sweep in 1968 when his own “Up, Up and Away” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” both vied for Song of the Year ( “Up” won), to the use of his “Do What You Gotta Do” in Kanye West’s “Famous,” the man often praised as “America’s Songwriter” remains a respected icon in popular music – and continues to challenge his artistic boundaries with projects like a classical nocturne. He is always included in the lists of the greatest songwriters.
Jimmy hirup di North Shore of Long Island, New York, jeung istrinya, hiji host TV PBS jeung produser, Laura Savini. Anjeunna boga enam cucu spektakuler, lima putra, jeung hiji putri.
