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<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nWhen Don McLean wrote \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d in 1971, he was thinking far beyond the usual scope of a pop song. \u201cI was conscious of the fact that I was trying to create a rock \u2019n\u2019 roll dream sequence,\u201d said McLean. \u201cBut it was way more than rock \u2019n\u2019 roll. It was about an America that was coming apart at the seams. I was trying to create this song that connected with parts of America that mattered to me, starting with Buddy Holly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrote the opening part remembering how it was the day I saw the newspaper article about Buddy\u2019s death. Remembering that got me started. A while later, I wrote the chorus. When I did the chorus, I came up with the title and thought, \u2018Oh, what a great title.\u2019 It\u2019s Apple Pie, and parts of the pie. We\u2019re always talking about the economic pie, and pie has sexual significance as well. Then I didn\u2019t do anything with it for a while, I just sat with it. Then one day, in a blaze of glory, I wrote the whole thing, and I tied together musical imagery of unspecified meaning with this story about America, but in a dream-like context.\u201d<\/p>\n
Basic tracks of the song were recorded in a few takes, with backing vocals courtesy of the West 44th Street Rhythm and Noise Choir (an uncredited James Taylor, Carly Simon, Livingston Taylor and Pete Seeger). McLean\u2019s lead vocal proved more difficult.<\/p>\n
The eight-and-a-half minute epic, too long to fit onto one side of a 45 single, was divided into A and B sides. But radio stations broke their three-minutes or less rule (as they had for the Beatles\u2019 \u201cHey Jude\u201d three years earlier) and served up the full \u201cPie.\u201d By mid-January 1972, it hit No. 1, and was the most talked about song in the country.<\/p>\n
Did the title refer to Buddy Holly\u2019s downed plane? Why was the levy dry? What was the significance of the pink carnation? Was the jester Bob Dylan? Or John Lennon? And why was he on the sidelines in a cast? These questions and more were being hotly debated by fans in 1972.<\/p>\n
Said McLean, \u201cIt was really funny to me that after the song became famous people started becoming so interested in the lyrics, because I was trying to write about America. They were missing the point really by trying to say who\u2019s this and who\u2019s that in the song. But that seems to be the nature of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he followed \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d with two successful singles\u2014\u201cCastles in the Air\u201d and the lovely ballad \u201cVincent\u201d\u2014McLean never duplicated the massive success of his signature tune. There were even rumors that he came to resent the song for its career-eclipsing success and refused to perform it for a while. \u201cI\u2019ve always sung \u2018American Pie,\u2019\u201d insisted McLean. \u201cThe reason people think that goes hand in hand with the idea I wouldn\u2019t sing it because it was such a burden, since no one can follow up that song. \u2018American Pie\u2019 has never been a burden to me and I always sang it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1999, \u201cWeird Al\u201d Yankovic did a Star Wars\u2013inspired cover of the song, and a year later, Madonna introduced \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d to a whole new generation with her No. 1 cover. McLean approved, calling her version \u201cmystical and sensual\u201d and \u201ca gift from the goddess.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent years, McLean has recorded albums of children\u2019s songs, Western tunes, and a tribute to country music great Marty Robbins. He continues to tour the world\u2014and perform \u201cAmerican Pie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Bill DeMain<\/p>\n
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\u201cAmerican Pie\u201d \u00a0 DON MCLEAN When Don McLean wrote \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d in 1971, he was thinking far beyond the usual scope of a pop song. \u201cI was conscious of the fact that I was trying to create a rock \u2019n\u2019 roll dream sequence,\u201d said McLean. \u201cBut it was way more than rock \u2019n\u2019 roll. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5264],"tags":[7424,7425,7328],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12404"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12404"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12406,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12404\/revisions\/12406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}