Actors - American Pie

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"American Pie" is an eight-and-a-half minute long classic rock song by singer-songwriter Don McLean, about "the day the music died".

Recorded in 1971 and released that year on the album of the same name, it was a number-one U.S. hit in 1972. It offers an allusive history of rock and roll, inspired by the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson, Jr. (The Big Bopper) in a plane crash in 1959.

The song's lyrics remain the subject of much debate. Although McLean dedicated the American Pie album to Buddy Holly, none of the singers in the plane crash are identified by name in the song itself. Later performers are also alluded to with easily decoded identifications, leading to much discussion, encouraged by McLean's canny lifelong refusal to explain the lyrics. Asked what "American Pie" meant, McLean once replied, "It means I never have to work again". Later, he more seriously stated, "You will find many 'interpretations' of my lyrics but none of them by me Sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence."

Interpretations

During its initial popularity, guessing about the meaning of the song's lyrics was a popular pastime. Many radio stations and disc jockeys published unofficial interpretations. Over the years, assisted by the collective power of the Internet and McLean himself, something approaching a "standard interpretation" of the song has emerged. How much of it was actually in McLean's mind, consciously or unconsciously, when he wrote the lyrics is often debated.

In his "Starry, Starry Night" video recorded in 2000, McLean said: :I'm very proud of the song. It is biographical in nature and I don't think anyone has ever picked up on that. The song starts off with my memories of the death of Buddy Holly. But it moves on to describe America as I was seeing it and how I was fantasizing it might become, so it's part reality and part fantasy but I'm always in the song as a witness or as even the subject sometimes in some of the verses. You know how when you dream something you can see something change into something else and it's illogical when you examine it in the morning but when you're dreaming it it seems perfectly logical. So it's perfectly okay for me to talk about being in the gym and seeing this girl dancing with someone else and suddenly have this become this other thing that this verse becomes and moving on just like that. That's why I've never analyzed the lyrics to the song. They're beyond analysis. They're poetry.

The primary interpretation in this article is derived from McLean's descriptions, his biography, the three sources in the Reference section, and other well-known events in music history. Each Reference section source is in itself a compilation of the viewpoints of many more people as well as other references. Still, overall, "American Pie" remains somewhat of an enigma given McLean's sparse explanations. Though it is clear he intended multiple meanings for certain parts of his song, it is not clear where he intended to have them. When McLean's autobiographical theme is relaxed or ignored, the numerous allusions have been combined to create some novel impressionistic effects that have lead to interpretations he may not have intended.

Cultural references

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The day the music died

The day the music died is the name McLean gave to February 3, 1959, the day an airplane carrying musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper crashed, killing all three. But, as he explained on his web site , the date has a profound meaning to McLean because it marked a major change in his life:

:"In Don's life the transition from light (the innocence of childhood) to the darker realities of adulthood probably started with the death of Buddy Holly and culminated with the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 and the start of a more difficult time for America."

From the standpoint of about 1970, the twenty-five year old songwriter recalled the effect of six transitions on the day the music died, noted at the end of each verse of "American Pie".

In the first verse, McLean tries to remember how he felt when the Holly, Valens, and The Big Bopper died when he was a thirteen year old boy: But February made me shiver with every paper I'd deliver; and I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride (referring to Holly's pregnant wife Maria Elena Holly). But at the end, all he can say is, But something touched me deep inside the day the music died.
At the end of the second verse that describes McLean's perceptions of middle class America during the mid- and late-1950s, McLean believes that events after the day the music died would portend to bad times ahead: But I knew I was out of luck the day the music died.
At the end of the third verse that focuses on the rise of Bob Dylan, McLean speaks for a generation of songwriters and musicians that misses Holly, Valens, and Richardson: And we sang dirges in the dark the day the music died.
At the end of the fourth verse where McLean witnessed the effects of drug use on rock music, he asks if there was some higher meaning related to February 3, 1959: Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?
After McLean saw a murder and beatings at the Altamont Speedway concert in December 1969, in the fifth verse, he writes that Satan was happy on the day the music died: I saw satan laughing with delight the day the music died.
Finally, at the end of "American Pie", McLean sees Holly, Valens, and The Big Bopper off to heaven on February 3, 1959: They caught the last train for the coast the day the music died.

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Actors - American Pie

Interpretations

Cultural references

The day the music died

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