A Cake Left Out In The Rain

‘The Animals’ Christmas’ is the sixth solo studio album and the first Christmas album by vocalist Art Garfunkel, which was released in December 1985 by Columbia Records.  The album was written by Jimmy Webb and features vocals by Garfunkel, Amy Grant, and Wimbledon King’s College Choir.  This started out as a simple setting of traditional Christmas carols to be performed in his local church, but after Art Garfunkel decided to get involved, Webb added some music and gave it a story.  It begins with the time the angel comes to Mary and tells her she’s going to give birth to Christ, and ends when King Herod descends and Mary and Joseph and the baby make their escape.  Some of the animals include a singing frog, the innkeeper’s cat, named Incredible Phat, and a cricket who plays the fiddle for Mary.

Jimmy Webb wrote ‘Up, Up And Away’ for The Fifth Dimension in 1967, ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’ for Glen Campbell in 1967, ‘Wichita Lineman’ for Glen Campbell in 1969, ‘Worst That Could Happen’ for Brooklyn Bridge in 1969, ‘Galveston’ for Glen Campbell in 1969 and MacArthur Park for Richard Harris in 1968 and for Donna Summer in 1978, among many other songs.  Webb was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1990.

Webb was inspired to write ‘Up, Up And Away’ after a balloon flight that his friend William F. Williams flew on to do promotions for radio station KMEN.  The is a cheerful-against-all-odds ode to sailing away from the turmoil and strife of life on a beautiful, beautiful balloon.

Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon
Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon
We could float among the stars together, you and I
For we can fly, we can fly

Up, up and away
My beautiful, my beautiful balloon

The world’s a nicer place in my beautiful balloon
It wears a nicer face in my beautiful balloon
We can sing a song and sail along the silver sky
For we can fly, we can fly

Up, up and away
My beautiful, my beautiful balloon

Suspended under a twilight canopy
We’ll search the clouds for a star to guide us
If by some chance you find yourself loving me
We’ll find a cloud to hide us
We’ll keep…

Suspended under a twilight canopy
We’ll search the clouds for a star to guide us
If by some chance you find yourself loving me
We’ll find a cloud to hide us
We’ll keep the moon beside us

Love is waiting there in my beautiful balloon
Way up in the air in my beautiful balloon
If you’ll hold my hand we’ll chase your dream across the sky
For we can, fly we can fly

Up, up and away
My beautiful, my beautiful balloon
Balloon
Up, up, and away

Webb wrote the song ‘Worst That Could Happen’ about a love affair that he had with Suzy Horton.  They parted ways when Horton moved from California to Nevada, where she became a casino showgirl.  When Webb found out she had gotten married, he wrote this about him coming to terms with the news.  He concludes that it’s probably the best thing for her, even if it’s the worst that could happen to him.

Girl, I heard you’re getting married
Girl, I heard you’re getting married
This time you’re really sure
And this is the end
They say you really mean it
This guy’s the one that makes you feel
So safe, so sane and so secure
And baby if he loves you more than me
And baby if he loves you more than me
Maybe it’s the best thing
Maybe it’s the best thing for you
But it’s the worst that could happen to me.

I’m never gettin’ married, never getting’ married
You know that’s not my scene
But a girl like you needs to be married
I’ve known all along you couldn’t live forever

in between.

And baby if he loves you more than me
And baby if he loves you more than me
Maybe it’s the best thing
Maybe it’s the best thing for you
But it’s the worst that could happen to me.

And girl…

And girl I don’t really blame you
For having a dream of your own
Hey girl I don’t really blame you
A woman like you needs a house and a home.

Baby if he really loves you more than me
Maybe it’s the best thing
Maybe it’s the best thing for you
But it’s the worst that could happen to me.

Oh girl don’t wanna get married
Girl I’m never, never gonna marry
Oh it’s the worst thing that could happen
Oh girl…..

Written for Rachel Poli I Read I Write I Create – Time To Write Random Words prompt, “Animals, Balloon and Best”.