subject: American Pie Lyrics—What is the Song About? [print this page] American Pie LyricsWhat is the Song About?
American Pie lyrics are still on America's mind, even after 40 years of McLean refusing to budge on the explanation. What is the song about? McLean admits that the song is about loss, not only the loss of a generation (the 1950s and 1960s) but also the loss of innocence. McLean has long admitted that the song was inspired by Buddy Holly, who died along with Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in a 1959 plane crash. McLean even dedicated his American Pie song and album to Buddy Holly, one of his favorites.
This revelation certainly explains American Pie lyrics like "February made me shiver, With every paper I'd deliver, Bad News on the doorstep, I couldn't take one more step." The death of Holly not only touched McLean on a personal level but also signified to him a definite change in the music industry and in American culture.
From those introductory verses, McLean proceeds to speak an entire narrative with conspicuous references to Kings, Queens, Jesters, Satan, the Holy Ghost and God. Many music fans have gone wild with speculation, stating that the true explanation of the song could be anything from major musicians of the 1960s to religious symbolism to cultural trends that characterized the U.S at the time.
Since 1971, people have been coming up with explanationsand it's all great publicity tactic, as Numerous American AM and FM rock stations have hosted tie-in events that discuss the song's cryptic lyrics. What can you say? It's a brilliant strategy, and everyone listens in deep interest as one person describes his or her own interpretation. Yes, American Pie is not the first abstract and mysterious song to gain a following (Does anyone understand "I Am the Walrus?") but it is perhaps the first song in which fan interest reached biblical proportions.
Most recently, Don McLean published an editorial in 2009, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly's death. He admitted that the first few verses of the song were cathartic for him, as Holly's death touched him very deeply. There is a great deal of tragedy in American Pie lyrics, and this is one of the darkest songs of the 1970s. Nevertheless, the inspiring tune and McLean's own boyish enthusiasm ensured that the song never became a brooding bore. It was truly a rock and roll mystery, and one that continues to captivate listeners today. Why not listen to it right now?
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