The Worst That Could Happen

"The Worst That Could Happen" is a song with lyrics and music written by singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb. Originally recorded by The 5th Dimension on their 1967 album of nearly all-Jimmy Webb songs, The Magic Garden, "The Worst That Could Happen" was later recorded by Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge and reached the Billboard Hot 100's top 40 (at #38) on 4 January 1969, peaking at #3 on 1-8 February 1969.^[1]

The song depicts a man reflecting on an affair he'd had with a woman with whom he is still in love, but who is about to marry someone else. It has been stated that, along with "MacArthur Park" and "By The Time I Get to Phoenix", "The Worst That Could Happen" is about a relationship that Webb had had with a woman named Susan.^[2]

The song is noted for the quoting of Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" from the incidental music to "A Midsummer's Night's Dream", which is heard at the song's end, which in the Brooklyn Bridge version, is played by a handful of trumpets, while in the Fifth Dimension version, is played by an electric organ.

According to BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) the legal title of the song is "Worst That Could Happen".

The song appeared on the list of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks specifically and inexplicably listing the Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge version, but not the 5th Dimension version, despite their note-for-note similarity.

Jimmy Webb recorded his own version of the song for his 1996 album Ten Easy Pieces.^[3]

References

↑ "Joel Whitburn Presents the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, The Sixties"
↑ SongFacts
↑ Eder, Bruce. "Ten Easy Pieces". AllMusic. Retrieved October 26, 2012.

External links

MTV: "The Worst That Could Happen"

Jimmy Webb

Original albums	Jim Webb Sings Jim Webb (1968) Words and Music (1970) And So: On (1971) Letters (1972) Land's End (1974) El Mirage (1977) Angel Heart (1982) Suspending Disbelief (1993) Ten Easy Pieces (1996) Twilight of the Renegades (2005) Live and at Large (2007) Just Across the River (2010) Still Within the Sound of My Voice (2013)

Collaborative albums	Up, Up, and Away (1966) The Magic Garden (1967) Rewind (1967) A Tramp Shining (1968) The Yard Went On Forever (1968) Sunshower (1969) The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb (1972) Reunion: The Songs of Jimmy Webb (1974) Earthbound (1975) Live at the Royal Festival Hall (1977) Watermark (1977) Breakwater Cat (1980) The Last Unicorn (1983) The Animals' Christmas (1986) Light Years (1988) Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind (1989) Only One Life: The Songs of Jimmy Webb (2003) This Kind of Love (2008) Cottonwood Farm (2009) Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb: In Session (2012)

Compilation albums	Tribute to Burt Bacharach and Jim Webb (1972) And Someone Left the Cake Out in the Rain... (1998) Archive (1994) Reunited with Jimmy Webb 1974–1988 (1999) Tunesmith: The Songs of Jimmy Webb (2003) The Moon's a Harsh Mistress: Jimmy Webb in the Seventies (2004) Archive & Live (2005)

Songs	"All I Know" "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" "Galveston" "The Girls' Song" "Highwayman" "Honey Come Back" "MacArthur Park" "Still Within the Sound of My Voice" "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" "Up, Up and Away" "Where's the Playground Susie" "Wichita Lineman" "The Worst That Could Happen"

Related articles	Jimmy Webb discography

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, January 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.