But Don, you put these moments in the song that stand alone, yet in aggregate, they paint a picture of those times and I don’t think any song has ever done it more brilliantly than that one. It’s about the culture, how important music was, socio-historically to our culture and you weave it brilliantly.Įveryone wants to know about "The Joker" or "Jack Flash" but I think we can all understand who they are and who we want them to be. Everyone says, “What’s it about?” I know what it’s about - absolutely, definitively know what it’s aboutĭon McLean: That’s good. In honor of the song's 50th anniversary, McLean talked about its mysterious inspiration and legacy with Bart Herbison of Nashville Songwriters Association International.īart Herbison: "American Pie." I could argue that it’s the greatest song ever written, and I would love to have that argument. It's now been 50 years since "American Pie" - all eight and a half cryptic minutes of it- took hold of the airwaves in 1971, and it's safe to say there's never been another song like it. "A long, long time ago," Don McLean began writing a rock epic with those words. 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".Watch Video: Story Behind the Song: 'American Pie' 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 that claimed the lives of three of its heroes. (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. The repeatedly mentioned phrase "the day the music died" refers to the plane crash in 1959 that killed early rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. 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 number one. 1 in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. A truncated version of the song was covered by Madonna in 2000 and reached No. 5 song on the RIAA project Songs of the Century. In the UK, the single reached number 2, where it stayed for 3 weeks, on its original 1971 release while a reissue in 1991 reached No. 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.
"American Pie" is a song by American singer and songwriter Don McLean.
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