Released: September 24, 1978

Songwriter: Jimmy Webb

Producer: Pete Bellotte Giorgio Moroder

ACT I - MacArthur Park

Spring was never waiting for us till
It ran one step ahead
As we followed in the dance

Between the parted pages
We were pressed
In love's hot, fevered iron
Like a striped pair of pants

Mac Arthur'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
Oh, nooo!

I recall the yellow cotton dress
Foaming like a wave
On the ground beneath your knees
Birds like tender babies in your hands
And the old men playing
Chinese checkers
By the trees

Mac Arthur'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
Oh, nooo!

There will be another song for me
And I will sing it
There will be another dream for me
Someone will bring it

I will drink the wine while it is warm
And never let you catch me looking at the sun
And after all the loves of my life
After all the love's of my life
You'll still be the one

I will take my life into my hands
And I will use it
I will win the worship in their eyes
And I will lose it

I will have the things that I desire
And my passion flow like rivers through the sky
Oh, and after all the love's of my life, yeah
After all the love's of my life
You'll still be the one
And I'll ask myself why, yeah

Mac Arthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet green icing flowing down
Someone left my 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
Oh, nooo!

ACT II - One of a Kind

You're one of a kind
Gotta have ya
Well, you're one of a kind
I need to have ya

Right from the start
You tore me apart
You took the best part of my heart, aahh!

Body and soul
You took me out of control
You stole the best part of my heart, oooh!

You're one of a kind
You got magic
I know you're one of a kind
Baby you're outstanding

Right from the start
You tore me apart
You took the best part of my heart, aahh!

Body and soul
You took me out of control
You stole the best part of my heart, oooh!

Right from the start
You tore me apart
You took the best part of my heart, aahh!

Body and soul
You took me out of control
You stole the best part of my heart

ACT III - Heaven Knows

Baby please, please don't take your love from me
I am yours forever more, 'till eternity
Silently, listen to the words I say
I'm not talking just for play, listen to me please

Heaven knows it's not the way it should be and
Heaven knows it's not the way it could be and
Don't you know there's no need to leave

Heaven knows I never wanna leave you
Heaven knows I only wanna please you
Don't you know love is what I need

Down inside, don't get caught with foolish pride
Put all the other things aside, there's only you and me
Believe in us, we were always meant to be
Me for you and you for me, 'till eternity

Heaven knows it's not the way it should be and
Heaven knows it's not the way it could be and
Don't you know there's no need to leave

Heaven knows I only wanna love you
Heaven knows I never wanna lose you
Don't you know love is meant to be

Heaven knows it's not the way it should be
Heaven knows stop with the pretending
Come on now, hear me when I cry

ACT IV - MacArthur Park [Reprise]

Mac Arthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet green icing flowing down
Someone left my 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
Oh, nooo!

Donna Summer

As the unquestioned queen of disco, the one and only Donna Summer lit up the late 70s and 80s with flashy, exuberant vocals and automatic earworms. Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on Dec. 31, 1948, Summer moved to Germany after being cast in a Munich production of Hair. There, she happened to meet Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, and the trio conglomerated to form a dynamic music team. With Moroder, Summer forged together her first album, The Hostage, which reached moderate success in Northern Europe. Summer’s big break, however, would come later with the release of 1975’s sexual “Love to Love You Baby”, which became one of disco’s first mainstream hits and reached #2 on the Billboard Charts.

1977 came around with the concept album I Remember Yesterday, which featured the Top 10 single “I Feel Love”. The next year, Summer hit the silver screen with the movie Thank God It’s Friday, whose soundtrack featured one of her own the iconic “Last Dance.” This would later become one of the disco legends' signature songs. “Dance” would take home an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Grammy, and a Golden Globe, and it jumped to a peak of #3 on the charts.

Yet Summer’s illustrious career was far from finished – Summer’s first live album Live and More featured the single “MacArthur Park”, a melting ballad that was a cover of the Jimmy Webb ballad of the same name. “Park” became Summer’s first – and perhaps most memorable – No. 1 hit, and cemented her status as a vocalist as well as a performer. With the track, she became the first female in modern rock history to hold the top spot in both the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200. 1979, though, would really be the peak of her career.