9
American Pie
(Don McLean)
[Verse 1]
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’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep;
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
[Chorus]
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee
was dry
And them good old boys were drinking
whiskey 'n rye
Singing, "This’ll be the day that I die
"This’ll be the day that I die."
[Verse 2]
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
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
`Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singing
[Chorus]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee
was dry
And them good old boys were drinking
whiskey 'n rye
Singing, "This’ll be the day that I die
"This’ll be the day that I die."
[Verse 3]
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 singing
[Chorus]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee
was dry
And them good old boys were drinking
whiskey 'n rye
Singing, "This’ll be the day that I die
"This’ll be the day that I die."
[Verse 4]
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
10
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!
`Cause 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 singing
[Chorus]
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee
was dry
And them good old boys were drinking
whiskey 'n rye
Singing, "This’ll be the day that I die
"This’ll be the day that I die."
[Verse 5]
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 candlestick
Cause fire is the devil’s only friend
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched 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
We were singing
[Chorus]
Bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee
was dry
And them good old boys were drinking
whiskey 'n rye
Singing, "This’ll be the day that I die
"This’ll be the day that I die."
[Verse 6]
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 singing
[Deleted Verse]
And there I stood alone and afraid
I dropped to my knees and there I prayed
And I promised him everything I could give
If only he would make the music live
And he promised it would live once more
But this time one would equal four
And in five years four had come to mourn
And the music was reborn
[Chorus]
Bye-bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee
was dry
And them good old boys were drinking
whiskey 'n rye
Singing, "This’ll be the day that I die
"This’ll be the day that I die."
They were singing
Bye-bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee
was dry
And them good old boys were drinking
whiskey 'n rye
Singing, "This’ll be the day that I die"
11
"American Pie" is a song by American singer and songwriter Don McLean. Recorded and released on the
American Pie album in 1971, the single was the number-one US hit for four weeks in 1972 and also
topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. In the UK, the single reached number 2, where
it stayed for 3 weeks, on its original 1972 release while a reissue in 1991 reached No. 12. The song was
listed as the No. 5 song on the RIAA project Songs of the Century. A truncated version of the song was
covered by Madonna in 2000 and reached No. 1 in several countries, including the United Kingdom,
Canada and Australia. McLean's combined version is the fourth longest song to enter the Billboard Hot
100, at the time of release it was the longest, in addition to being the longest song to reach #1.
The repeatedly mentioned phrase "the day the music died" refers to the plane crash in 1959 which killed
early rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. (The crash was not
known by that name until after McLean's song became a hit.) The meaning of the other lyrics has long
been debated, and for decades, McLean declined to explain the symbolism behind the many characters
and events mentioned. However, the overall theme of the song is the loss of innocence of the early rock
and roll generation as symbolized by the plane crash which claimed the lives of three of its heroes.
In 2017, McLean's original recording was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by
the Library of Congress as
being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".
Except to acknowledge that he first learned about Buddy Holly's death on February 3, 1959—McLean
was age 13—when he was folding newspapers for his paper route on the morning of February 4, 1959
(the line
"February made me shiver/with every paper I'd deliver"), McLean has generally avoided responding to
direct questions about the song's lyrics; he has said: "They're beyond analysis. They're poetry." He also
stated in an editorial published in 2009, on the 50th anniversary of the crash that killed Holly, Ritchie
Valens, and J. P.
"The Big Bopper" Richardson, that writing the first verse of the song exorcised his long-running grief
over Holly's death and that he considers the song to be "a big song ... that summed up the world known as
America". McLean dedicated the American Pie album to Holly.
It was also speculated that the song contains numerous references to post-World War II American events
(such as the murders of civil rights workers Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner), and elements of culture,
including 1960s culture (e.g. sock hops, cruising, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Charles Manson, and much
more).
When asked what "American Pie" meant, McLean jokingly replied, "It means I don't ever have to work
again if I don't want to." Later, he stated, "You will find many interpretations of my lyrics but none of
them by me ... Sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should
make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence."
In February 2015, McLean announced he would reveal the meaning of the lyrics to the song when the
original manuscript went for auction in New York City, in April 2015. The lyrics and notes were
auctioned on April 7, and sold for $1.2 million. In the sale catalogue notes, McLean revealed the meaning
in the song's lyrics:
"Basically in American Pie things are heading in the wrong direction. ... It [life] is becoming less idyllic. I
don't know whether you consider that wrong or right but it is a morality song in a sense."
