American Pie by Don McLean: The Meaning Behind My Favorite Song

When I decided to write this call for content, I was faced with a terrible dilemma. Writing about the meaning of my "favorite" song? That would be pretty difficult to narrow down. I'm not exactly a spring chicken, and there are so many "favorites" that I can barely choose just one. However, I would say that my all-time favorite song would be "American Pie" by Don McLean.

I was but a sixteen year old when the song was first released in 1972, and it struck a chord with me and all my friends. I still remember singing it (as a friendly gang) while walking down the street at night. And I was so enamored of it, I wrote an article on the song in my school newspaper.

Being the consummate songwriter/storyteller, Don McLean wove parts of his own life into the song. Mentions of "every paper I'd deliver" were because he was a paperboy back in February 1959 when the plane went down in Iowa, killing Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper. Supposedly he was dating a Miss America contestant, so the reference to "Miss American Pie." There are also many references to songs, including:

McLean's line "This'll be the day that I die." to Buddy Holly's line "That'll be the day that I die."
McLean's line "Did you write the book of love" to the Monotones line "Who wrote the book of love."

In addition to these two, McLean is said to have made reference to Buddy Holly's pregnant widow ("widowed bride"), Elvis Presley ("while the king was looking down"), Bob Dylan ("the jester stole his thorny crown"), the Beatles ("while seargents played a marching tune"), Mick Jagger and the Stones ("Jack Flash sat on a candlestick, because fire is the devil's only friend"), and Janis Joplin ("I met a girl who sang the blues"). The more you listen to the song, the more hidden meanings can be derived from the lyrics. For example, "the half-time air was sweet perfume" could mean drugs. At the time the song was popular, I thought it meant that during the late sixties, there was a lot of good music out there. And the line "As the flames climbed high into the night, to light the sacrificial light, I saw Satan laughing with delight" was almost a premonition of things to come, with rock bands using heavy pyrotechnics during their shows.

This trip down Memory Lane is causing me to want to listen to the album again.