Looking over the list of the top songs of 1968 there are at least twenty choices... for second place. As I scanned this list there was one and only one choice. Today's winner is a titan of pop music that is still debated, deconstructed, loved, and ridiculed. Any song that generates chatter more than 40 years later and enjoys a variety of remixes ranging from symphonic orchestras to disco divas is well-deserving of the crown.
1968 MacArthur Park (Richard Harris)
Oh yeah, baby. A classic for the ages. Recorded by Richard Harris (who?) who was looking for pop songs for his debut album, he actively courted composer Jimmy Webb and decided this seven-plus minute musical extravaganza was exactly what he was looking for. That's right. Longer than The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, or Bohemian Rhapsody, MacArthur Park lobs bizarre images at the listener faster than a hot dog cannon at the ballpark. But it's all good, and it's exactly why we love it, melting parks, sweet green icing, rainy cakes and all.
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