What is the song "American Pie" really about?

Answer 1

The death of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens in a plane crash, mainly.


No room to reprint all the lyrics, which you probably haven't been able to forget anyway, but herewith the high points:

"February made me shiver" Holly's plane crashed February 3, 1959.

"Them good ole boys were ... singing "This'll be the day that I die": Holly's hit "That'll Be the Day" had a similar line.

"The Jester sang for the King and Queen in a coat he borrowed from James Dean" ID of K and Q obscure. Elvis and Connie Francis (or Little Richard)? John and Jackie Kennedy? Or Queen Elizabeth and consort, for whom Dylan apparently did play once? Dean's coat is the famous red windbreaker he wore in Rebel Without a Cause; Dylan wore a similar one on "The Freewheeling Bob Dylan" album cover.

"With the Jester on the sidelines in a cast" On July 29, 1966 Dylan had a motorcycle accident that kept him laid up for nine months.

"While sergeants played a marching tune" The Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

"And as I watched him on the stage/ my hands were clenched in fists of rage/ No angel born in hell/ Could break that Satan's spell/ And as the flames climbed high into the night" Mick Jagger, Altamont.

"I met a girl who sang the blues/ And I asked her for some happy news/ But she just smiled and turned away" Janis Joplin OD'd October 4, 1970.

"The three men I admire most/ The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost/ They caught the last train for the coast" Major mystery. Holly, Bopper, Valens? Hank Williams, Elvis, Holly? JFK, RFK, ML King? The literal tripartite deity? As for the coast, could be the departure of the music biz for California. Or it simply rhymes, a big determinant of plot direction in pop music lyrics (which may also explain "drove my Chevy to the levee").

Best I can do for now. Just don't ask me to explain "Stairway to Heaven." ;)

Answer 2

This song was about the death of Buddy Holly in a plane crash. He died in february, hence the shivering with the delivery of 'bad news on the doorstep'. The joker is supposed to be Bob Dylan I think, and the King is Elvis Priestly. (at least I think that, but i could just be being obvious). I think the woman who turns away is supposed to be Janis Joplin, not sure about that though. The song is basically about how music 'died' on the day that buddy holly was killed, and since then everything else can't compare.
it talks about the time when many music legends lives ended and the song is more like a funeral song giving its respects to the music culture back then and saying it will never be the same.

Answer 3

The song's lyrics are the subject of much debate. Although McLean dedicated the American Pie album to Buddy Holly, none of the singers in the plane crash are identified by name in the song itself. Music performers are also alluded to with easily decoded identifications, leading to much discussion, encouraged by McLean's canny lifelong refusal to explain the lyrics. Asked what "American Pie" meant, McLean once replied, "It means I never have to work again." Later, he more seriously stated, "You will find many 'interpretations' of my lyrics but none of them by me...Sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence." It has since become "The Greatest Mystery in Rock and Roll History."

Answer 4

Some DJ did an annotated version of it, but I couldn't find it. The Buddy Holly thing is too simplistic - there is a LOT more going on in that song. It's like the Finnegan's Wake of pop music.

Here's a link to the annotation - I found it.

Answer 5

It's one mans prespective of events that have occured in American pop and political culture from the mid 50's thru the 1960 reflected by the music scene of the time.

Answer 6

Ive heard from some people that it can be compared to the rapture.

listen to it and think of it that way, like religion being the music and after the rapture the only people left are those that dont love god.

Im not a crazy freak or anything. just seriously listen to the song and think of it that way, see what you think!

Answer 7

Part of it is about the death of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens

the other part is just about him looking back and reflecting on life

Answer 8

the plane crash that took the lives of buddy holly, richie valens
and the big bopper

Answer 9

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~choh/donpie.htm

Answer 10

http://www.don-mclean.com/americanpie.asp

click it