Gloomy Don McLean reveals meaning of ‘American Pie’ — and sells lyrics for $1.2 million

[Meanderer]

"The music died because Buddy Holly merely wanted what every touring musician wants: to do laundry.

Shoved into unheated buses on a “Winter Dance Party” tour in 1959, Holly — tired of rattling through the Midwest with dirty clothes — chartered a plane on Feb. 3 to fly from Clear Lake, Iowa, to Fargo, N.D., where he hoped he could make an appointment with a washing machine. Joining him on the plane were Ritchie Valens and, after future country star Waylon Jennings gave up his seat, J.P. Richardson, a.k.a. “the Big Bopper.” Taking off in bad weather with a pilot not certified to do so, the plane crashed, killing everyone aboard. The toll was incalculable: The singers of “Peggy Sue” and “Come On Let’s Go” and “Donna” and “La Bamba” were dead. Holly was just 22; incredibly, Valens was just 17. Rock and roll would never be the same.

Thirteen years later, Don McLean wrote a song about this tragedy: “American Pie,” an 8½-minute epic with an iconic lyric about “the day the music died.” Now, the original 16-page working manuscript of the lyrics has been sold at auction for $1.2 million".
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...1-2-million/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_1_na

 

[SifuPhil]

What a reason to die.

I've always liked McLean's song, though.

 

[chic]

I remember our teacher assigning us the task of analysing the song "American Pie". She insisted it was about the Kennedy assasination and the end of "camelot" etc etc. What a sure way to ruin a good song for kids who were previously enjoying it.
Thanks for the true story.

 

[ndynt]

Amazing Chic, I wonder if she was just trying to challenge the class. Even I, though I did not listen to that type of music, was aware it was about Buddy Holly.

 

[hollydolly]

Oh one of the all time great songs from my teens..I never understood the lyrics at the time.. but we loved the song !

 

[Bobw235]

I remember our teacher assigning us the task of analysing the song "American Pie". She insisted it was about the Kennedy assasination and the end of "camelot" etc etc. What a sure way to ruin a good song for kids who were previously enjoying it.
Thanks for the true story.

I was in my mid-teens when this song came out and I recall an English teacher devoting a few classes to this song. It was an amazing exercise. I'd have to go through the lyrics again, but if you study it carefully, it's a bit of the history of early rock & roll, with references to Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, etc. Good stuff. At the time our teacher did in fact tell us that he believed the song was a reference to the late great Buddy Holly's untimely death, using the lyrics to guide us. The year this song came out I had an early morning paper route. I'd ride my bike delivering papers with the transister radio strapped to my handle bars and listen to this song. Loved it then and still do now. A great song.