Exactly 50 years ago, on January 15, Don McLean’s seminal music, “American Pie,” reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts. A tradition in the truest sense of the word. Music that is both profoundly autobiographical and largely symbolic.
So what was the original meaning of the music composed by a twenty-four-year-old McLean? And how do the charts speak to us today?
The music concerns the nostalgia from closing a chapter of the era. A chapter that was good, youthful, and innocent. The piece began in the late 1950s when McLean and the emotions of post-World War II America were still open and transparent, if blindingly naive. And as we understand, naiveté and innocence are constantly being lost. It was lost for McLean when he learned that his favorite musicians, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and JP “The Big Bopper” Richardson, had died in a plane crash the day the song died. And for the U.S., it came after the utopia of the 1950s was stripped like a veneer, ushering in the more socially conscious but tumultuous 1960s.
What do American Pie lyrics interpretation today?
One thing is sure: McLean was skeptical about change. And there’s been a lot of that lately. Several good ones and several bad ones. Maybe McLean’s old tune will give us some clues regarding the bad we see today and where it came from.
Has the spiritual obsession with musicians that McLean warned against flourished in this edgy, toxic celebrity and influencer culture we now possess on social media?
And at a time when politics permeates everything in the culture, even more so than in the 1960s, what place does the joyous and completely apolitical song have for the enjoyment of the masses?
With so many secular souls reporting how they wander apathetically through life with no real purpose, is it time to reconsider how we approach religion?
What if McLean is responsible for something that generally works against social growth by lamenting and romanticizing a less bygone era?
Heavy stuff. But these are just some of the questions the culture will grapple with in 2023. And really, they’re just modern iterations of the same questions McLean asked fifty years ago. If we look closely, the answers to these new questions will be found in these old letters.
interpretations of american pie (Conclusions)
American Pie have been debated since the song was released in 1971 by singer-songwriter Don McLean. Some have said the American Pie lyrics are about Buddy Holly and other iconic music figures from McLean’s past. Others have said the American Pie lyrics were written clearly as an attack on the Vietnam War. Still, others say both camps are correct. Don McLean has stated that the song is autobiographical and documents his impressions of the decline in music from the 1950s to the 1960s, from lighter to darker. “The day the music died” refers to a 1959 plane crash causing the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. Richardson, Jr. (The Big Bopper).
The day the music died:
Many other interpretations of the American Pie lyrics, such as parts of the song, refer to Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and The Byrds. Other lyrics in American Pie supposedly guide to nuclear war, the Apocalypse, and other religious themes. Don McLean has been famously coy and aloof when discussing his song’s different interpretations. So, it is up to you, dear reader, to read the lyrics and develop your performance of this famous and mysterious song.
American Pie lyrics:
A long, long time ago…
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.
But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my Chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”
Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock ‘n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you’re in love with him
`cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.
I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.
I started singin’,
“bye-bye, Miss American Pie.”
Drove my Chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”
Now for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me,
Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while Lennon read a book of Marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died.
We were singing,
“bye-bye, Miss American Pie.”
Drove my Chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”
Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
We started singing,
“bye-bye, Miss American Pie.”
Drove my Chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”
Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devil’s only friend.
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satan’s spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singing,
“bye-bye, Miss American Pie.”
Drove my Chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play.
And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.
And they were singing,
“bye-bye, Miss American Pie.”
Drove my Chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.
“this’ll be the day that I die.”
They were singing,
“bye-bye, Miss American Pie.”
Drove my Chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.”
Copyright © 1971 Don McLean
Note: Lyrics are copyrighted by the original artists, writers and publishers