American Pie, which already sounds sweet from the title, was wrote by the symbolic Don McLean in 1972 and was the number one U.S. hit for four weeks. The meanings of the song lyrics are highly debated and argued mainly because Don McLean didn't explain or tell the people what they meant, he wanted people to just enjoy the song and judge what it means on their own. However there are certain lyrics that could only mean one thing. There is a highly repeated lyric, "the day the music died", which refers to the plane crash in 1959 which killed early rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens, which was confirmed by Don McLean. Which would go along with the lyrics, "But February made me shiver with every paper I deliverer", because when he was 13 he was a paper deliverer and in February he would of delivered a paper saying that the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, and Ritchie Valens died. There are also little things like he says like, "this'll be the day", which was Buddy Holly's song that has a similar melody to American pie. But the song has many other meanings also. There is one particular line that I like is, "Oh, and there we were all in one place, a generation lost in space". I feel like when he says "all in one place" that he is talking about Woodstock, and if I could go back into time that is were I would go. And when he says, "A generation lost in space", it would have to mean the first man on the moon, which was a very important and exciting time period, so the song isn't only about sorrow. American Pie could be one of the most symbolic songs that know one will know for sure what it all means. Don McLean also does an amazing job with how the song picks up and grows during the happy parts in the song, and mellows out during the sad parts, which is very motivational. |
The Day The Music Died. On February 3, 1959, rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. They used reconditioned school buses, that were not good enough for kids, so that means that they wouldn’t normally have heat.The artists themselves were responsible for loading and unloading equipment at each stop, and they had no road crew to assisted them. The buses were not equipped for the weather that they were in like waist-deep snow in several areas and varying temperatures from the 20s to as low as -36 °F. And a drummer named Bunch was hospitalized for severely frostbitten feet, after the tour bus broke down in the middle of the highway in subzero temperatures. Richardson had gotten the flu during the tour and asked Waylon Jennings for his seat on the plane. And when Holly learned that Jennings was not going to fly, he said in jest: "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up”, and Jennings responded: "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes", aa\nd those last words haunted him for the rest of his life. The plane left at 12:55 a.m. Around 1:00 am the pilot, Peterson failed to make radio contact. Later that morning, Dwyer, (who was incharge of the airport) having heard no word from Peterson since his departure, took off in another airplane to retrace his planned route and within minutes, at around 9:35 am, he spotted the wreckage less than 6 miles of the airport. Left behind was Holly's pregnant wife, María Elena,who had been married to Buddy for only 6 months. She learned about his death from the reports on television. She was also 2 weeks pregnant and suffered a miscarriage shortly after the accident, due to "psychological trauma". Buddy Holly's mother, also heard the news on the radio at home and screamed and collapsed. María Elena Holly didn’t even attend the funeral and has never visited the gravesite. In an interview she said, "In a way, I blame myself. I was not feeling well when he left. I was two weeks pregnant, and I wanted Buddy to stay with me, but he had scheduled that tour. It was the only time I wasn't with him. And I blame myself because I know that, if only I had gone along, Buddy never would have gotten into that airplane." There was much sorrow the day the music died. |
Pop Quiz:
1. How many weeks was Buddy Holly's wife pregnant? 2. How many people died in the plane crash? 3. How old was Don McLean when he was a paperboy? 4. What was the day of the plane crash known as? 5. What is your favorite line? |