How This Legendary Singer-Songwriter's '60s Classic Became a #1 Dance Hit — and a 'Seinfeld' Plot Line
As one of the most prolific and beloved songwriters in music history, Jimmy Webb is responsible for such classic hits as "Wichita Lineman," "Up, Up and Away" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" — but he initially had a tough time finding a singer for one of his most famous tunes, "MacArthur Park."
Inspired by a painful breakup, Webb initially offered "MacArthur Park" to The Association, a group known for hits like "Cherish" and "Windy." Unfortunately, with its complex arrangement and unconventional lyrics, the song wasn't exactly what the pop stars were looking for. Then, in the summer of 1967, Webb met actor Richard Harris, who'd recently starred in the movie adaptation of the musical Camelot...and was interested in recording an album of his own.
Included on Harris' 1968 album A Tramp Shining, "MacArthur Park" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. In an interview with Songfacts years later — and following the death of Harris in 2002 — Webb praised the Harry Potter star for his performance on the track.
"He brought a great kind of theatrical dignity to 'MacArthur Park' and to those songs," Webb said, adding, "And if he missed a note or he didn't carry it off particularly well as a singer, he had the actor's ability to step his way through the lyric and to speak some of the lines and basically to carry it off."
As it turned out, the Harris version of "MacArthur Park" was only the beginning, as the tune's legacy would live on in more ways than one. In 1978, it was back on the charts — this time hitting number one — as a disco song by Donna Summer, who was looking for a song that would show off her vocal abilities, according to Stereogum.
Jimmy Webb's MacArthur Park became a classic after the Richard Harris #2 hit (May 1968) and then the later a #1 hit by Donna Summer. Over the years, pop culture references have popped up - like this one in Seinfeld. #MacArthurPark #popculture pic.twitter.com/FFabCzEcsh
— Jimmy Webb (@realjimmywebb) May 15, 2020
In the years since, fans haven't forgotten about "MacArthur Park" or the sad story it tells.
The unforgettable lyrics even inspired a classic Seinfeld plot line about George (Jason Alexander) and a traumatic childhood memory involving him breaking a statue while singing the part about a cake being left out in the rain. The song also got the Weird Al treatment in 1993 with the parody "Jurassic Park" — further solidifying its place in the pop culture landscape for generations to come.How This Legendary Singer-Songwriter's '60s Classic Became a #1 Dance Hit — and a 'Seinfeld' Plot Line first appeared on Parade on Aug 8, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
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