"American Pie" - Fifty Years

It was fifty years ago this autumn that Don McLean released his second album, American Pie, and while the album has long been considered respectable example of classic folk rock, containing fine songs such as "Till Tomorrow: and the Van Gogh tribute 'Vincent," the title song towers over not just the rest of the LP but over everything McLean has ever done.

Don McLean wrote "American Pie" with the knowledge that his contract with United Artists Records was on thin ice, so he decided that if he had only one shot at making an LP, he as going to give it all he had.  "American Pie" came to him as he was pondering the loss of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper -  real name: J.P. Richardson -  in the February 3, 1959 plane crash that took their lives . . . the day the music died.  He thus began writing a song that he said was about America and how its popular culture and its sense of optimism and progress fueled a great musical, cultural and social revolution in the 1960s, only to have it crashing down.  The song begins with a lament of the loss of Holly, Valens and Richardson, then picks up with a quicker tempo and with scenes of youthful innocence and marveling at the joy of early rock and roll and how rock evolved into a multifaceted musical form with the exuberance of the Beatles and the innovative songwriting of Bob Dylan.  The verses capture the thrill of musical discovery but then pivot to how America underwent a loss of trust in society, as the Vietnam War intensified and rock got more political.

There are numerous references to pop-cultural figures, including the Beatles as "sergeants," and possibly Dylan as "the jester," a mischievous figure that sings with the voice of the people and upends the ruling class.  Or was the jester a leader or a comedian - maybe Lenny Bruce, whom music critic Ralph Gleason once referred to as a secular saint? - shaming the rulers of America by stealing the king's crown?  The fourth verse finds the sergeants playing a tune at the halftime at a football game, with everyone wanting to get up to dance, only to find discord when the players try to take the field and begin the second half.  Was this a reference to the Summer of Love being interrupted by the resumption of a militaristic game like American football, devoted to territorial acquisition?  

More clear is "American Pie"'s fifth verse, with its obvious references to the Rolling Stones' disastrous concert at Altamont, where the peaceful vibe of the sixties gave way to a new, dark reality.  But who was the devil laughing with delight at the end?  Mick Jagger?  Richard Nixon? An archetypal record company executive realizing that rock could be taken over and controlled by the suits, it be turned into just another cynical product, now that cynicism had perverted it?

The sixth verse of "American Pie" returned to a slow, dirge-like tempo, lamenting the end of rock and roll's glory days and is innocence, with illusions to the death of Janis Joplin and the closing of New York's Fillmore East, the "sacred store" (which is a bank now).  The Father Son and Holy Ghost referred to leave, possible a reference to Martin Luther King and the Kennedy brothers but maybe still a reference to Holly, Valens and Richardson and that day the music died.  McLean is left to look at the aftermath of the sixties and the prospect of new decade much less idealistic the the one before it.  It seemed ironic that McLean would suggest such a dire forecast in 1971, a year of ever more innovation and brilliance in popular music in which many monumental records were made.  But as the seventies wore on, the music began to reflect deeper cynicism and skepticism, rock eventually gave way to disco, and punk rendered rock's most respected veterans and artisans irrelevant in a new, nihilistic age.  And then came that day in December 1980 when the music died yet again.  

McLean has never explained whom he was signing about specifically in "American Pie," but the mirror he held up to his homeland revealed a country of contradictions that people wrestle with today, even as popular music continues to change and reflect the times - times that seem more dire and more cynical with each passing year as Americans aim to regain a sense of optimism and renewal.  Promises from our leaders ("It's not a good bet to bet against America" - Joe Biden) and efforts by recording artists who want to say something with their music rather than just sell a catchy tune they know "the kids" will buy (think of any indie band you can name) can only move so far toward such optimism and renewal.  And the loss of both is why "American Pie" still resonate fifty years on, as well as just being one hell of a song that encapsulates American cultural history and social structure perfectly.

Below is a clip of Don McLean explaining "American Pie" in a TV interview from the Netherlands.   

And now, the song.  With the words.