Don McLean's American Pie................?

Question

Who is he singing about?

Answer 1

The overall song is about Buddy Holly. There are a few personal references in the song, though. For example, "Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry" is in reference to a former agent that McLean had that ripped him off.

Answer 2

American Pie was the name of a charter plane that crashed in the late 50's. All the passangers died. Some of the most noted and celebrated muscians of the decade were on board. Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, "The Big Bopper" and two or three more. The full version of this song runs 45 minuites and laments the passing of the inocents of the 50's using the "American Pie" as a metaphor. Within 5 years of the crash we lost, JFK, MLK, Malcom X, got involved with The Cold War and Veitnam.

Check out "La Bomba" and "The Buddy Holly Story" for dramatic versions of the tale.

Answer 3

The Day the Music Died

Main article: The Day the Music Died

The Day the Music Died is the name McLean gave to February 3, 1959, the day an airplane carrying musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper crashed, killing all three. But, as he explained on his web site [6], the date has a profound meaning to McLean because it marked a major change in his life:

"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."

From the standpoint of about 1970, the twenty-five year old songwriter recalled the effect of six transitions on the day the music died, noted at the end of each verse of "American Pie".

* In the first verse, McLean tries to remember how he felt when Holly, Valens, and The Big Bopper died when he was a thirteen year old boy: But February made me shiver with every paper I'd deliver; and I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride (referring to Holly's pregnant wife Maria Elena Holly). But at the end, all he can say is, But something touched me deep inside the day the music died.
* At the end of the second verse that describes McLean's perceptions of middle class America during the mid- and late-1950s, McLean believes that events after the day the music died would portend to bad times ahead: But I knew I was out of luck the day the music died.
* At the end of the third verse that focuses on the rise of Bob Dylan, McLean speaks for a generation of songwriters and musicians that misses Holly, Valens, and Richardson: And we sang dirges in the dark the day the music died.
* At the end of the fourth verse, where McLean witnesses the effects of drug use on rock music, he asks if there was some higher meaning related to February 3, 1959: Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?
* After McLean witnesses a murder and beatings at the Altamont Free Concert in December 1969, in the fifth verse, he says that Satan was happy on the day the music died: I saw Satan laughing with delight the day the music died.
* Finally, at the conclusion of "American Pie", McLean sees Holly, Valens, and The Big Bopper off to heaven on February 3, 1959: And the three men I admire most:/ The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, / They caught the last train for the coast the day the music died.

Answer 4

Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Bog Bopper that died in a plane crash in the late 1950s

Answer 5

It's about the people who were famous around the time of the war in Viet Nam.

Answer 6

Buddy Holly, Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens who died in a plane crash.

Answer 7

Yeah what estemaz said

Answer 8

himself?