{"id":6386,"date":"2019-09-04T10:09:19","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T15:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/?p=6386"},"modified":"2019-09-04T10:09:19","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T15:09:19","slug":"american-pie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/2019\/09\/04\/american-pie\/","title":{"rendered":"American Pie"},"content":{"rendered":"
A long long time ago
\nI can still remember how
\nThat music used to make me smile
\nAnd I knew if I had my chance
\nThat I could make those people dance
\nAnd maybe they’d be happy for a while<\/div>\n
But February made me shiver
\nWith every paper I’d deliver
\nBad news on the doorstep
\nI couldn’t take one more step<\/div>\n
I can’t remember if I cried
\nWhen I read about his widowed bride
\nSomething touched me deep inside
\nThe day the music died<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In the February of 1959, three rock and roll legends (Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens) died in a plane crash. Twelve years later, Don McLean would respond to the heart-breaking and monumental day in history with his song American Pie\u00a0<\/em>and refer to it as “the day the music died.” McLean has been interviewed countless times about the song and it’s meaning, but he never wanted to give one. It wasn’t until April of 2015 that he finally gave a purpose. “Basically in American Pie things are heading in the wrong direction. … It [life] is becoming less idyllic. I don’t know whether you consider that wrong or right but it is a morality song in a sense.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Now, for ten years we’ve been on our own
\nAnd moss grows fat on a rolling stone
\nBut, that’s not how it used to be<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When the jester sang for the king and queen
\nIn a coat he borrowed from James Dean
\nAnd a voice that came from you and me<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Oh and while the king was looking down
\nThe jester stole his thorny crown
\nThe courtroom was adjourned
\nNo verdict was returned<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
And while Lennon read a book on Marx
\nThe quartet practiced in the park
\nAnd we sang dirges in the dark
\nThe day the music died
\nWe were singin’<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
McLean referenced to many more legends in the song, “The jester” is thought to be Bob Dylan. “the king” and “queen” assumed to be Peter Seger and Joan Baez. They were all big names in the folk music industry in the early 60s. The other “King” is Elvis Presley. He was drafted during this time, and while he was at war, Dylan “stole his crown” when he started changing genres a little. (The courtroom line is about the Kennedy assassination and Lee Harvey Oswald being killed, and therefore, never convicted.) James Dean is a given, as is John\u00a0 Lennon and the Beatles becoming political. I feel he is trying to say that before the accident, rock and roll was booming, but after, everyone lost their sound, even the biggest and greatest. “The moss grows fat on the rolling stone.” says to me that there wasn’t much to sing along to anymore. “We sang dirges in the dark” is referencing the death of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, which all happened in the 60s.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
\nThe birds flew off with a fallout shelter
\nEight miles high and falling fast<\/div>\n
It landed foul on the grass
\nThe players tried for a forward pass
\nWith the jester on the sidelines in a cast<\/div>\n
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
\nWhile sergeants played a marching tune
\nWe all got up to dance
\nOh, but we never got the chance<\/div>\n
‘Cause the players tried to take the field
\nThe marching band refused to yield
\nDo you recall what was revealed
\nThe day the music died?
\nWe started singin’<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Charles Manson killed a bunch of people in the summer of 68′ because he thought the Beatles song “Helter Skelter” was angels telling him to kill people. A group called The Bryds got really popular, then busted for illegal substances and sent to rehab. The “players” are protesters, and the song begins to discuss the movement against the government and Vietnam. The Beatles changed the standard of music around this time, and it became something to listen to, instead of dance. “Do you recall what was revealed?” The generation failed. The government was beyond fixing. McLean wasn’t a fan of the 60s.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
\nDrove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
\nThem good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
\nAnd singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
\nThis’ll be the day that I die<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Okay so\u00a0American Pie<\/em> is an almost 9 minute song. There are 3 other verses that I don’t have the word count to go over, but McLean goes on to talk about Woodstock, the moon landing, and then the second Woodstock that ended with Hell’s Angels beating and killing people while under the influence. That ended the 60s, and McLean seems to think of it as all a waste. He then talks about the death of Janis Joplin, the Kent State murders, and the Death of God in our nation.<\/div>\n
This song is a history lesson, and that is why I appreciate it so much. It’s so very dark, and you couldn’t tell much if you just listened unconsciously. It doesn’t have much of a sad tune, which I really enjoy. I really appreciate McLean for vocalizing how he felt and teaching people so much with just a single song. Honestly the whole song is left to interpretation, he never gave an actual meaning, but based on what I know and other opinions, this is what I think.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.whrc-wi.org\/americanpie.htm<\/div>\n
https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/American_Pie_(song)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading “American Pie”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6386"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6386"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6404,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6386\/revisions\/6404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}