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Lady Gaga Snerd


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Why Don McLean Won't Explain The Meaning Of 'American Pie'
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Why Don McLean Won't Explain The Meaning Of 'American Pie'

 |  By Ryan Buxton

Posted: 02/18/2015 3:15 pm EST Updated: 02/18/2015 4:59 pm EST

 
 
 

As Don McLean prepares the release of his next album "Botanical Gardens," the singer-songwriter is also letting go of a piece of "American Pie," his enduring hit from 1971.

A 16-page original manuscript that includes several drafts of the song is slated to be auctioned in April. It's expected to sell for as much as $1.5 million and may shed light on the song's meaning, which has long been a bit of a mystery; McLean has only confirmed that the line "the day the music died" refers to the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson on the same day in 1959. But now the highest bidder has a chance to gain insight into McLean's thinking as he penned the lyrics, he told HuffPost Live's Ricky Camilleri on Wednesday.

"I think they'll know what was going on in my mind. That's about all I can say," McLean said. "I'm not cagey about it. It's not a parlor game, so I just never got into that. People seem to need to do that."

McLean said he assumes part of the mythology surrounding the song's meaning stems from an era of musical "mysteries," including the infamous "Paul is dead" theory concocted by suspicious Beatles fans.

But one reason McLean won't explain the song further is that many listeners have already made up their minds about its meaning.

"I've been told that if I were to say that, people would say, 'Well, no, you're wrong.' ... They'd say, 'You're not writing about that, I know what it means.' So I don't even get into it," he said.

McLean was more willing to discuss the business side of "American Pie" -- specifically, his many failed attempts to get a platinum record to commemorate the song's success. Despite his estimates that he's made "probably $60 million" for Capitol Records, the company evaded him until he had to buy his own record, McLean said.

To see more of the interview, check out the video above.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/18/don-mclean-american-pie-meaning_n_6707654.html?utm_hp_ref=fifty&ir=Fifty



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Lyrics for American Pie (live) By Don McLean



A long, long time ago I can still remember how that music used to make me smile

And I knew if I had my chance

That I could make those people dance

And maybe they'd be happy for a while.



But February made me shiver

With every paper I delivered,

Bad news on the door step,

I couldn't take one more step,



I can't remember if I cried

When I read about his widowed bride

But something touched me deep inside,

The day, the music, died.

So



Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey 'n' rye

Singin this will be the day that I die.

This will be the day that I die.



Did you write the book of love

And do you have faith in God above,

If the bible tells you so.

And do you believe in rock 'n' roll?

Can music save your mortal soul?

And can you teach me how to dance real slow?



Well I know that you're in love with him

Cuz I saw you dancin' in the gym.

You both kicked off your shoes

And I dig those rhythm and blues.



I was a lonely teenage bronkin' buck

With a pink carnation and a pick up truck

But I knew I was out of luck,

The day, the music, died.

I started singin



Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey 'n' rye

Singin this will be the day that I die.

This will be the day that I die.



Now for ten years we've been on our own

And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone

But that's not how it used to be,

When the jester sang for the king and queen

In a coat he borrowed from James Dean

And a voice that came from you and me.



Oh and while the king was looking down,

The jester stole his thorny crown

The courtroom was adjourned;

No verdict was returned.



And while Lennon read a book on Marx,

The quartet practiced in the park

And we sang dirges in the dark,

The day, the music, died.

We were singin'



Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey 'n' rye

Singin this will be the day that I die.

This will be the day that I die.



Helter Skelter in a summer swelter

The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,

Eight miles high and fallin' fast.

It landed foul on the grass.

The players tried for a forward pass

With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.



Now the half-time air was sweet perfume

While the sergeants played a marching tune.

We all got up to dance

Oh but we never got the chance.



As the players tried to take the field

The marching band refused to yield.

Do you recall what was revealed,

the day, the music, died?

We started singin'



Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey 'n' rye

Singin this will be the day that I die.

This will be the day that I die.



Oh and there we were all in one place,

A generation lost in space

With no time left to start again.

So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.

Jack Flash sat on a candle stick

Because fire is the devils only friend.



Oh and as I watched him on the stage,

My hands were clinched in fists of rage,

No angel born in hell

Could break that Satan's spell.



And as the flames climbed high into the night

To light the sacrificial rite

I saw Satan laughing with delight,

The day, the music, died.

He was singin'



Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey 'n' rye

Singin this will be the day that I die.

This will be the day that I die.



I met a girl who sang the blues

And I asked her for some happy news

But she just smiled and turned away.

I went down to the sacred store

Where I'd heard the music years before

But the man there said the music wouldn't play.



And in the streets the children screamed,

The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.

But not a word was spoken,

The church bells all were broken.



And the three men I admire most,

The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost,

They caught the last train for the coast,

The day, the music, died.

And they were singin'



Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey 'n' rye

Singin this will be the day that I die.

This will be the day that I die.



They were singin'



Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry

Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey 'n' rye

Singin' this will be the day that I die.


Songwriters: MCLEAN, DON

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Lady Gaga Snerd


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OK, what does it mean?



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flan327


Itty bitty's Grammy

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I love the extended version!!!!

flan

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Southern_Belle


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A lot of the verses reference to a certain era in music history. That's what I was told.

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Southern_Belle


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I played that song over and over until I knew every word.

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lilyofcourse


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It means if you work somewhere with a juke box and it is on there, then you are going to hear it at least once every 45 minutes. That and Bobbie Magee.

I have to think it is talking about the death of those on that plane. And the way rock and roll has grown and changed.

I know if I never hear it again, I will be fine with that.

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Lady Gaga Snerd


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Southern_Belle wrote:

A lot of the verses reference to a certain era in music history. That's what I was told.

Buddy Holly.  He died in Feb in a plane crash. 



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flan327


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Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:
Southern_Belle wrote:

A lot of the verses reference to a certain era in music history. That's what I was told.

Buddy Holly.  He died in Feb in a plane crash. 

 Yup.

I love the song.

flan



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to me, has always been about our loss of innocence--about how life and death occur together--about how something you thought would last forever, disappears

in my own life, have made the journey from " a lonely, teenage bronkin' buck " to one of those " good ol' boys drinkin' whiskey and rye and singing this'll be the day that I die "

understand that transformation completely--physically and spiritually


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flan327


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Thanks, burns.

flan

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Totally about Buddy Holly, Love the song

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