American Pie
Don McLean - April 1967, United Artists
Written by Don McLean
Chart - UK No.1, US No.1

Over the years some songwriters have talked endlessly about their songs. People like Lennon/McCartney and Burt Bacharach have dissected their songs to the point that the whole world knows exactly how and why they were recorded - some songwriters however are more mysterious. Take Don McLean for instance - he has very rarely talked about his most famous creation ‘American Pie’ so the song has remained something of an Enigma. So we’re going to try and unravel a few of the truths behind the song. It was a 1972 hit for Don McLean but as is always the case with true classics it’s been covered by literally hundreds of artists down the years.

The most obvious theory about the song is that it’s about the death of Buddy Holly on February 3rd 1959…something that Don himself has clearly acknowledged. It is possible however to find many other kinds of references in the song and the internet is full to bursting with theories and opinions on what it all means, of course some versions decide to turn it into something altogether different. I think it’s safe to say American Pie is a tribute to the late great Buddy Holly on a very superficial level, but on an altogether deeper level it’s a commentary on rock and roll music since his death - it’s decline and fall if you like.

Don McLean was born in New Rochelle in New York and from an early age found himself obsessed with the music of Buddy Holly. It was Buddy who inspired the young kid to play guitar, write his own songs and set out on a career in the music industry. He finally got signed to a record label, Media Arts in 1970, after allegedly being turned down by 37 companies.

It was American Pie that was his real breakthrough however, the song had become a real favourite of his live shows as he always finished his performances with a big sing a long version of it. Although it was released in November 1971 it had been floating about in Don’s head for at least ten years.

Don himself has called his song a parable, he made it ambiguous to get people thinking. In amongst all the references however it is possible to see the song as an essay on "the death of America" as most of the words are about innocence lost.

It’s the words of American Pie that make it really special and so many of the lines have hidden meanings. For example ‘but February made me shiver’ - has got to be a reference to Buddy who died on the 3rd of Feb 1959 and that date in history the 3rd Feb 1959 has since come to be known as the day the music died. ‘With every paper I’d deliver - did you know that Don's only other job outside songwriter was that of a teenage paperboy?. Some other facts worth considering, Don McLean once dated a Miss America candidate during a pageant and allegedly broke up with her on the day Buddy died. A final buddy reference is the line ‘this’ll be the day that I die’ is a direct lift from perhaps Buddys best known song ‘That’ll be the Day’. Other lines like ‘driving the chevy to the levy but the levv was dry’ is thought to refer to the infamous racial murder so famously retold in Missippi Burning.

The song is also packed with little references to God, Elvis, Bob Dylan, R&B and James Dean. It’s like a little mini history of American music, when it was released as a single stateside it rocketed to number one and became the quickest number one in United Artists history. It stayed on the charts for an amazing 4 months and it sold more than 3 million copies, in Britain however it was stalled at number 2 by Nilsons ‘Without You’. It’s still a classic song and to this day Don McLean remains proud of it.

Written by Ralph McLean