Don McLean’s American Pie
Initially inspired by his memories of the death of Buddy Holly in 1959, ‘American Pie’ is autobiographical and presents an abstract story of Don McLean’s life from the mid 1950s until when he wrote the song in the late 1960s. It is almost entirely symbolised by the evolution of popular music over these years and represents a change from the lightness of the 1950s to the darkness of the late 1960s. This is also very symbolic of changing America during this era. 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. In this 4 year period, Don moved from a fairly idyllic childhood existence, through the shock and subsequent harsh realities of his father’s death in 1961, to his decision in 1963 to quit Villanova University to pursue his dream and become a professional singer.
For 30 years the lyrics of American Pie have been subject to intense scrutiny as people search for the song’s real meaning. Analysis continues today on the Internet and in newspapers and magazines worldwide. All interpretations start on the premise that Don McLean never talks about the song and has never provided insight into the meaning of the lyrics. In fact, Don McLean has spent 30 years doing little else but talk about American Pie!
In his 2000 ‘Starry Starry Night’ DVD, Don says: “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 growing urban legend that “American Pie” was the name of Buddy Holly’s plane the night it crashed, killing him, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, is untrue. I created the term.” - Don McLean, 1999
Incidentally, Don McLean has also taken time out to rubbish the myth that he had, for a while, refused to perform the song:
“Because of an off-hand funny comment I made backstage at a concert years ago, a story circulated that the song {American Pie} has been a burden and even that I didn’t sing it for a while. That’s completely false. I am very proud of ‘American Pie’ and the many satellites that grow from it and revolve around it. For many years I carried my songs around and now they carry me around. I have always sung ‘American Pie’ for my audience and would never think of disappointing them since it is they who have given me a wonderful life and untold affection for almost 30 years.” - Don McLean, 1999
and in a Music World article from 2000, Don says: “I have never said a bad thing about the song, I was poor when I wrote it, and it made me a millionaire overnight. Believe me, I’m not upset about this song.” - Don McLean, 2000.
Â
Dear Mr. Mclean, I was born in Lake Charles, La. in 1963. By the time I was 5 yrs old I new American Pie. It has always been there for me. Even now it brings me home to my childhood when I need to breath. Thank you for sharing it with us. Sincerely, David F. Guidry
I’d be very impressed except by my calculation AP wasn’t released until you were 8!!
your song moved me when it was released way back when and still does to this day i am 51 so i remember it well
Dear Don,
You have inspired more then one generation..you touch hearts everywhere.
I would love to see one of your concerts. If you are ever in Jacksonville, Florida let me know.
Sondra
Hi Don. Look forward to meeting you tomorrow in Virginia Beach. I’m told I get to meet you after the show. Not often I get to meet a Legend of Rock and Roll. Grew up on your music, and now my Son digs it. You’ve inspired our generation, and now the next. Keep on Rocking Sir! Also if you would like a tour of the Virginia Beach area, just let me know.
Dear Don,
A long, long time ago, I can still remember how your music used to make us smile…
It was back in 1976, we were a young couple with two young kids, living in Minderhout, Belgium, just about 10 miles away from Zundert, Holland (the birth place of Vincent, as you certainly know).
One day, we bought a record from an American singer-songwriter and played it a lot.
Our youngest kid, Piet, was 3 years old. One day, in the kindergarten, the children had to sing a song. When it was its turn, he began to sing very enthousiacticly : ‘Bye Bye Miss American Pie, …’, the wole refrain ! As we are dutch-speaking, he didn’t understand a word of it, but still could sing it perfectly.
Now, last february the 29th, it was Piet’s wedding day. At the and of the wedding party, at 4 a.m., when only the core of our family was still present, we surprised him with the song ‘American Pie’. We made a circle with our arms on each other’s shoulders and we all sang along.
I must say these were very emotional moments.
Thank you for that!
P.S. We’re looking forward to july the 25th at Turnhout, where we’ll be able to see you live.
Sincerely,
Gust
This is the most beautiful song ever written and it has been my favourite since I was a child. I used to hear it in the car when my folks used to play it on cassettes! I was horrified to hear what Madonna did to it, fortunately the original will always be the one people remember. I am only 32 years old and it just goes to show how the good music stays as the next generations come along. This song will be around forever.
Don, I live in Estonia and me and the guys go to pub, there was karoke, and I was singing your song.. It’s moved me so and all the public was enjoy that.. I not a singer put when I saw my crying friend I know - this is the song.
dear don, i am only ten, but, american pie is one of my favorite songs, not just because of the words or beat, but because of the passion you put in to writing it.
sicerely,
holly
Dear Mr. McLean,
I am 13 years old and i was introduced to “American Pie” by my Dad. He’s listened to it for so long. I am just as obsessed with it as he is. It is a very inspiring song and i always listen to it when i feel down. The song was brilliantly written with all the right words. Even with all the new songs today, “American Pie” still remains my favorite. Thank you for writing “American Pie”!
Sincerley,
Alysha Fries
I followed a ‘Rabbit-trail’ that took me to your site (Pie Plane urban legend). When I read Don’s comments about the song being biographical dream sequences, I understood immediately what he meant. I love the ‘Rasa’ of the Indian Storytellers, the way their prose wanders like the mind of a child on a sleepy, Sunday afternoon.
When I re-read ‘American Pie’ with this in mind, so much about the piece made sense (the allusion to the death in ‘verse 1′ being Buddy Holly, your Dad, and JFK; each with their own ‘music’ of influence in your life and mankind in general. I immediately understood the widow to represent all three, and saw Jon Jon on the steps as the Cason rolled by. I lost my own Dad several years ago.
I guess, to me what made this song so important was the imagery that I saw based upon my own experience and my knowledge of your and America’s history during the 50’s & 60’s. You wrote something very personal and broad in scope. I read and overlayed the images in my own experience, so now I have my own interpretation of a song that belongs to all it touches. Thanks Don!
Hello Don Maclean
I like your song American Pie because it has a nice beat, rythm and words, and I hope you make more. I asked my mum to download it for me from iTunes. So now I have it in my Favourites.
Liah - 6 years old
There was a breakthrough movie shown on the Tonight Show with Don as a guest.
It was a technique of syncing photoimages in time to a song, which is really old stop frame animation.
Johnny was amazed and could not get over how complex and beautiful it was.
Is this origninal video around maybe on in the archives of the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson?
Thanks
Tony
I think those original images told the story much better than the youtube versions of today, some of which are excellent, and would clear up most of the mystery surrounding the meanings of the many complex references in the song.
Jun 28th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
[...] game (where you got to punch your sister if you spotted an out-of-state license plate first), sing American Pie at the top of our lungs, and argue. Between bickering and giggling, we would also enjoy quite a few [...]