Wednesday June 3, 2020 “American Pie” Don McLean
“Plane crash kills three rock & roll idols.” February 3, 1959, Clear Lake, IA (‘The day the music died’.)
The story goes that Buddy Holly was weary of their broken down, freezing cold tour bus and wanted to get his laundry done before the next show in Fargo, MN so he jumped off the bus , chartered a small plane and took along two other ‘lucky’ members of the Winter Dance Party for the short trip.
So Don McLean crafts this semi-autobigraphical opus around what was the first real rock & roll tragedy and then wanders through a musical and sociological history of several decades in over eight and one half minutes, piecing together song titles, musical groups, Kings, Jesters, Byrds, Satan and so much more and leaves listeners with the puzzle of what it all could mean...in addition to a huge hit.
I have seen many interpretations of the song’s meaning but for me the best one is Don McLean’s own explanation of what the song means to him, “It means I will never have to work again…” he famously said.
In researching this piece I did discover some interesting facts about the chorus, “Drove my chevy to the Levee…” which always seemed like some obscure southern reference but it turns out to be something rather different. Follow along here:
“Drove my Chevy to the Levee (a bar in New Rochelle near Iona College where McLean went to school) and the Levee was dry (the bar had closed). Those good ole boys were drinking whisky in Rye (Rye, New York that is, after all the Levee was closed and Rye is a nearby spot) singing this will be the day that I die (you gotta sing something when you’re drinking whisky).
Stay safe and well...and the music never died, it has always been there for us.
