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".

Interpretations

During its initial popularity, guessing about the meaning of the song's lyrics was a popular pastime; many radio stations and disc jockeys published unofficial interpretations. Over the years, assisted by the collective power of the Internet, something approaching a "standard interpretation" of the song has emerged. How much of it was actually in McLean's mind, consciously or unconsciously, when he wrote the lyrics is a matter of popular debate among fans.

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According to this interpretation, the song is a tribute to Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper, though most especially Holly. With the deaths of these three, McLean felt that dance music was gone.

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Contrary to popular belief, McLean has discussed the meaning of the song on multiple occasions. In his 2000 Starry, Starry Night video he said, "I'm very proud of the song. It is biographical in nature and I don't think anyone has ever picked up on that. The song starts off with my memories of the death of Buddy Holly. But it moves on to describe America as I was seeing it and how I was fantasizing it might become, so it's part reality and part fantasy but I'm always in the song as a witness or as even the subject sometimes in some of the verses. You know how when you dream something you can see something change into something else and it's illogical when you examine it in the morning but when you're dreaming it it seems perfectly logical. So it's perfectly okay for me to talk about being in the gym and seeing this girl dancing with someone else and suddenly have this become this other thing that this verse becomes and moving on just like that. That's why I've never analyzed the lyrics to the song. They're beyond analysis. They're poetry." http://www.americanpie.com/americanpie.asp

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The Straight Dope author Cecil Adams published an interpretation of the lyrics based on a supposed interview of McLean by DJ Casey Kasem in his May 14 column of 1993. McLean later confirmed the Buddy Holly reference in a letter to Adams but denied ever speaking to Kasem. http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_398b.html

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