American Pie (song)

"American Pie" is an eight-and-a-half minute long classic pop song by singer-songwriter Don McLean, about "the day the music died".

Background

Recorded in 1971 and released that year on the album of the same name, it was a #1 US hit in 1972 (see 1972 in music). It offers an allusive history of rock and roll, inspired by the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) in a plane crash in 1959.

Related Topics:
1971 - 1972 - 1972 in music - Rock and roll - Buddy Holly - Ritchie Valens - The Big Bopper - 1959

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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. Later 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.")

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