sock hops, cruising, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Charles Manson, and much more). It was also speculated that the song contains numerous references to post World War II American events (such as the murders of civil rights workers Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner), and elements of culture, including 1960s culture (e.g. McLean dedicated the American Pie album to Holly. 'The Big Bopper' Richardson, that writing the first verse of the song exorcised his long-running grief over Holly's death and that he considers the song to be 'a big song (…) that summed up the world known as America'. They're poetry.' He also stated in an editorial published in 2009, on the 50th anniversary of the crash that killed Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. Interpretations Įxcept to acknowledge that he first learned about Buddy Holly's death on February 3, 1959-McLean was age 13-when he was folding newspapers for his paper route on the morning of Febru(the line 'February made me shiver/with every paper I'd deliver'), McLean has generally avoided responding to direct questions about the song lyrics he has said: 'They're beyond analysis. The song made its debut in Philadelphia at Saint Joseph's University when he opened for Laura Nyro on March 14, 1971. He continued to write in Cold Spring, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

However, the overall theme of the song is the loss of innocence of the early rock and roll generation as symbolized by the plane crash which claimed the lives of three of its heroes.ĭon McLean began writing the song in upstate Saratoga Springs at Caffe Lena, according to local lore. (The crash was not known by that name until after McLean's song became a hit.) The meaning of the other lyrics has long been debated, and for decades, McLean declined to explain the symbolism behind the many characters and events mentioned. The repeatedly mentioned 'day the music died' refers to the 1959 plane crash which killed early rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. 1 in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The song was covered by Madonna in 2000 and reached No. 5 song on the RIAA project Songs of the Century. 2 on its original 1972 release and a reissue in 1991 reached No. Recorded and released on the American Pie album in 1971, the single was a number-one US hit for four weeks in 1972. ' American Pie' is a song by American folk rock singer and songwriter Don McLean. Artwork is also used as the front cover for the album of the same name and many other international releases of the single.Įd Freeman for The Rainbow Collection, Ltd.

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