An Unexpected Inspiration
No squeaking door.
Remembering what I was doing in the mid 80’s catches me off guard from time to time, a sneak attack that derails my normal routine. The memory that snuck up on me most recently came from a haunting song with it’s confusing mysterious lyrics. Does everyone’s brain fall in love with the absurd?
“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.”Jimmy Webb
Dripping cake.
Definitely a weird song that aroused melancholy feelings in me when I played it repeatedly as a disc jockey in 1986. This song was part of my holy record trinity, American Pie (8:33), Hotel California (6:31), and MacArthur Park (7:25). Playing these 3 songs in a cascading cart machine gave me enough time to leave the Williamson, West Virginia radio station, WBTH, and pick up my food order at the nearby Kings Restaurant. No dead air.
So, MacArthur Park?
This image of dripping cake draped a shroud of loneliness over my minds eye every time I played the song, which turned out to be 5 nights a week. I love cake, but now, the gooey, sweet, and gloriously colorful confection, promises a subliminal sadness even through the sugar high.
Cake art.
My recently finished Birthday Cake image above, came from my subconscious pretty freely and I wasn’t certain what it meant. Now, I have a brief glimpse into the creative fog. This one too, took so long to bake. The recipe? maybe madness, sadness, and a pinch of the absurd. Now the title, that’s a whole other story.
I hope I never lose my recipe. I’m going to go write it down right now…
Share this Post