Some Background

I thought I would look into the meaning of American Pie initially as I just really liked the song - I have to say that I really love the Don Mclean version and quite like the Madonna version, apart from her scary wavy dancing in the video! At the start I just wanted to find out what made a song so popular that it is still a hit nearly 40 years after it was first released (1971). Absolutely loads of people have sung it at one time or another - Garth Brooks sung it at President Obama's inauguration concert, Tori Amos has sung it at the end of her concerts, and on youtube there are countless people singing it in one form or another. Most recently Chris De Burgh put it on his Footsteps album which is supposed to be made up with his favourite songs. I don't mind Chris De Burgh normally - but him singing American Pie begs the question - WHY? Anyway, rather than just singing along with the song I started researching the words and it turns out this might be a mystery. Don McLean won't reveal what the words mean, other than to confirm that he was a paper boy when the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and Giles Perry Richardson jnr in it crashed (this is what the song is alleged to be dedicated to), and that the song is autobiographical, charting Mcleans move from the innocence of being a child into adulthood He describes it as half fantasy and have reality.

There have been various interpretations of the song, quite a few political meanings to some of the lines. The song is said to be about rock and roll evolving in America, with the teenagers who listened and danced to it being influential in the transformation of the country just by sheer number. In the next posting, I'll post up some lyrics with the interpretations I feel are relevant to helping us understand how music can help us learn about history. Altough there has been great debate about the lyrics, I don't think the people who sing the song, especially the chorus, think about the meaning - they just enjoy singing words they know to a good tune.