American Pie

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"American Pie"
Single by Don McLean
from the album American Pie
B-side	Empty Chairs (promo) American Pie part 2 (first release) Vincent (re-release, cassette version) Vincent, Castles in the Air (re-release, CD version)
Released	October 1971 (first release) November 1991 (reissue)
Format	vinyl record (original) CD, cassette, vinyl (reissue)
Recorded	May 26, 1971
Genre	Folk rock
Length	8:33 (LP), 4:11 (Single Part 1), 4:31 (Single Part 2)
Label	United Artists
Writer(s)	Don McLean
Producer	Ed Freeman for The Rainbow Collection, Ltd.
Don McLean singles chronology
"American Pie" (1971) "Vincent" (1972)

"American Pie" is a folk rock song by singer-songwriter Don McLean.

Recorded and released on the American Pie album in 1971, the single was a number-one U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972. A re-release in 1991 did not chart in the U.S., but reached number 12 in the UK. The song is an abstract story surrounding "The Day the Music Died" — the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr.), as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. The importance of "American Pie" to America's musical and cultural heritage was recognized by the Songs of the Century education project which listed the song as the number five song of the twentieth century. Some Top 40 stations initially played only side two of the single, but the song's popularity eventually forced stations to play the entire piece.

Background and interpretation

The song is well known for its recondite lyrics that have long been the subject of curiosity and speculation. Although McLean dedicated the American Pie album to Buddy Holly, none of the musicians in the plane crash is identified by name in the song itself. When asked what "American Pie" meant, McLean replied, "It means I never have to work again."^[1] Later, he more seriously 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."^[2]

McLean has generally avoided responding to direct questions about the song lyrics ("They’re beyond analysis. They’re poetry.")^[3] except to acknowledge that he did first learn about Buddy Holly's death while folding newspapers for his paper route on the morning of February 3, 1959 (the line "February made me shiver/with every paper I'd deliver"). He also stated in an editorial published on the 50th anniversary of the crash in 2009 that writing the first verse of the song exorcised his long-running grief over Holly's death.

Despite this, many fans of McLean, amongst others, have attempted an interpretation (see Interpretation Links); at the time of the song's original release in late 1971, many American AM and FM rock radio stations released printed interpretations and some devoted entire shows discussing and debating the song's lyrics, resulting in both controversy and intense listener interest in the song. Some examples are the real-world identities of the "Jester", "King and Queen", "Satan", "Girl Who Sang the Blues" and other characters referenced in the verses.

Notable references in the song

Notable references are based on interpretations of the song by Bob Dearborn^[4] and Jim Fann.^[5]

• Ritchie Valens
• The Big Bopper
• Buddy Holly
• María Elena Holly - his widowed bride
• "(Who Wrote) The Book of Love" - The Monotones
• "Lonely Teenager" - Dion
• "(White Sport Coat and a) Pink Carnation" - Marty Robbins
• Bob Dylan - the jester
• Elvis Presley - the king
• Connie Francis - the queen
• James Dean
• Vladimir Lenin^[6]
• Karl Marx
• The Beatles
• "Helter Skelter" - Charles Manson
• "Eight Miles High" - The Byrds
• "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - The Beatles
• The Rolling Stones
• Mick Jagger
• Hell's Angels
• Altamont Free Concert
• Neal Cassady - the Father
• Jack Kerouac - the Son
• Allen Ginsberg - the Holy Ghost
• Janis Joplin - Girl Who Sang the Blues

Notable cover versions

A few cover versions have been made over the years. The first English language cover version was by The Brady Bunch in 1972, but a Spanish translation sung by voice actor Francisco Colmenero surfaced around Mexico in 1971. A very significant version, also in Spanish, was recorded in 1984 by the Nicaraguan singer Hernaldo Zúñiga. (Eduardo Fonseca recorded a cover version of the translation in 2000.) Ska punk band Catch 22 made a ska version which became a staple of their live show, released in several versions. Alternative rock band Killdozer recorded a thrashing, ironic version of the song in 1989.

As heard on Live, Mott the Hoople opened mid-1970s concerts with singer Ian Hunter performing the first verse on solo piano up to the phrase the day the music died. Hunter would then add "or did it?", and the full band would segue into the next number.^[7]

Tori Amos performed the song often as a piano solo in her live concerts, and country singer Garth Brooks also sang this song during concerts in the early to mid 1990s. During Brooks' "Live in Central Park" concert, he performed this song as a duet with McLean himself at the end of the concert. The audience, of over 100,000 people, was also invited to sing the chorus near the end of the song.

British a cappella group King's Singers covered the song for their 1993 album Good Vibrations.

Chris de Burgh covered the song in 2008 on the album Footsteps.

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has sung the chorus of "American Pie" over the outro music of "Daughter" during select live performances.

It was also Hong Kong pop superstar Leslie Cheung's breakthrough song.

Madonna cover

It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article. (Discuss)

"American Pie"
Single by Madonna
from the album The Next Best Thing (Soundtrack) and Music
Released	March 3, 2000
Format	Radio, CD single
Recorded	December 1999[8]
Genre	Pop
Length	4:34
Label	Maverick, Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Don McLean
Producer	Madonna, William Orbit
Certification	Platinum (Sweden)[9] Gold (ARIA, Switzerland[10] UK[11], Austria[12])
Madonna singles chronology
"Beautiful Stranger" (1999) "American Pie" (2000) "Music" (2000)
Audio sample file info · help

American singer-songwriter Madonna released a cover version of the song in March 2000 to promote the soundtrack to her film The Next Best Thing (2000). Her cover is much shorter than the original (it contains only the beginning of the first verse and all of the second and sixth verses) and was recorded as a pop-dance song. It was voted the worst ever cover version in a poll in January 2007 by BBC 6 Music.^[13] However, Don McLean himself praised the cover, saying it was "a gift from a goddess", and that her version is "mystical and sensual."^[14]

Due to the success of the single, it was included as a bonus track on her 2000 studio album Music, however this was not available on the North American version. Madonna explained in a 2001 interview on BBC Radio 1 with Jo Whiley, the reason that the song was omitted from her 2001 greatest hits compilation GHV2: "It was something a certain record company executive twisted my arm into doing, but it didn't belong on the (Music) album so now it's being punished".

Cover history

The cover was produced by Madonna and William Orbit, who had previously worked with her on the 1998 studio album Ray of Light and 1999 single "Beautiful Stranger". Released in March 2000, the song was a big worldwide hit, reaching #1 in many countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Finland. The song was the 19th best selling of 2000 in the UK. There was no commercial single release in the US, but the single still reached the #29 spot on Billboard's Hot 100, based on airplay alone.

Music video

Madonna in the music video for "American Pie".

The music video, was directed by Philip Stolzl and pays tribute to the people of America in which all diversities of colour, religion, sexuality and creed are shown, one controversial shot shows a Lesbian couple kissing which caused censorship on certain US music shows. There were two official versions of the video produced by Philip Stolzl the first which now appears on her Greatest Hits DVD compilation, Celebration and was released as the official video worldwide. The second was issued along with the Humpty Remix which is a more upbeat and dance friendly version of the song. This video was aired on US MTV's dance channel in the US to elevate promotion for the film which she and Rupert Everett starred, The Next Best Thing, it contains totally different footage and new-out takes of the original and omitted the lesbian couples kiss. Christina Aguilerras hit video to the song Beautiful is loosley inspired by the concept of displaying Americas diverse multi cultural society within the video to American Pie, a keen eye will spot many similarities. Rupert Everett also features in the video and provided backing vocals in the song.

Track listings and formats

Official Versions

Charts

Other parodies, revisions and uses

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

Former Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten played an adapted version of American Pie when opening for Jefferson Starship on August 9, 2005, the tenth anniversary of Jerry Garcia's death. Constanten altered the lyrics to allude to Jerry's death and how he heard the news by a phone call from Bruce Hornsby.

Finnish rock musician Hector (Heikki Harma) made a Finnish cover of the song "American Pie" in 1971, under the name Suomi-Neito (Maid Finland). While the original song covered the American issues, Hector's version was likewise "translated" to deal with the Finnish post WWII history and the loss of innocence in Finnish culture.

The swedish folksinger Lalla Hansson recorder in the 80´s a version in Swedish. The song is called "Nalen". The song is now about swedish music and the classic club "Nalen" in Stockholm, Sweden.

"American Diet" ("I'm too heavy for my Chevy; I belong in a sty..."), played on radio stations in Baltimore, MD during the late 1970s and early 80s.^{[citation needed]}

"The day the routers died" was written and performed by Gary Feldman at the conclusion of the RIPE 55 meeting to point out the urgency of IPv6 deployments.^[27]

On That '70s Show, In the episode "Celebration Day (AKA Graduation Day)", (Season 5, episode 25),the character Michael Kelso uses the music of "American Pie" to create a song dedicated to Jackie Burkhart, and later, when confronted with the fact that he ripped off McLean, claims that the "American Pie guy" stole the music from him.

In 1983, Lauren Weinstein crafted "The Day Bell System Died" about the breakup of AT&T. The song was very popular on the Usenet.^[28]

In 1984, Ken Kaufman offered up "Network Pie" ^[29], a song about Usenet groups.

At the 1984 Yale Law Revue, a satirical show performed by Yale Law Students, a parody entitled "The Year Yale Law School Died" featured entirely reworked lyrics, such as a reference to "The three men I admire least – Jay Katz, Klevorick and George Priest."

A version of American Pie was adapted in 1997 to the first retirement of NHL legend, Mario Lemieux, entitled "Bye Bye, French-Canadian Guy". The song was written by two brothers from Pittsburgh, Michael Murphy and Bill Murphy. It was originally aired on Pittsburgh-based radio station, WDVE. Often, it is wrongfully credited to a Canadian parody band, The Arrogant Worms.

In 1998, the Christian parody band ApologetiX released a parody of the song, entitled "Parable Guy", about Jesus' ministries through the use of storytelling.

In 1999, "Weird Al" Yankovic did a Star Wars inspired lyrical adaptation of "American Pie". Entitled "The Saga Begins", the song recounts the plot of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace through the eyes of Obi-Wan Kenobi. While McLean gave permission for the parody, he did not make a cameo appearance in its video, despite popular rumor. McLean stated he was very pleased with the parody. He even admits to almost singing Yankovic's lyrics at live shows, because his children played the song so often.^[30][31]

The Jewish Summer Camp Song book, used at various Jewish summer camps in the Northeast USA, includes the song but changes the allusion to the trinity to "the three men I admire most, Abraham, Isaac, and Yaakov". It also changes the line "the church bells all were broken" to "those wacky synagogue bells were broken".

The Center for Talented Youth has been using this song at their summer camps, every dance at every site, for a long time. It has a great meaning to all the tens-hundreds of thousands of people who have been there.

In a season two episode of Roswell, Colin Hanks and Nick Wechsler - trapped in an underground cave filled with parasitic alien crystals and running out of oxygen - sing the song while Max, Liz, Isabelle, and Tess try to prevent them from being buried alive. The episode, entitled "How the Other Half Lives", aired on February 19, 2001, and was the fourteenth of the season.

In the Futurama episode "The Why of Fry", upon finding themselves trapped in a parallel universe for all eternity a race of alien 'brains' are at a loss for what to do. One brain suggested that they could sing "American Pie" to which a depressed Fry replied, "Go on, I deserve it."

On season 4 on NBC's The Office on the episode "The Chair Model" Michael and Dwight sing American Pie at the cemetery mourning the death of the chair model with whom Michael was infatuated.

The final episode of series 11 of Bremner, Bird and Fortune features a dream sequence sung supposedly by Tony Blair with lyrics referring to New Labour:^{[citation needed]}

In "24 Hour Propane People" of King Of The Hill, Hank remarks that "You never realize how 'American Pie' is seven minutes long until your boss makes you sing it for karaoke."

Seattle radio disc jockey Bob Rivers produced a parody entitled "American Pie Eulogy" in which a singer impersonating Don McLean's voice laments, "Why did Madonna kill "American Pie"? / Well, it’s tragic, but this classic has been hung out to dry / She might as well have poked a sharp stick in my eye / She’s making all the neighbor dogs cry."^[32]

The Don McLean recording was used in the films The Next Best Thing (2000) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989).

The song was parodied on the AFL Footy Show in early 2009, with Garry Lyon playing the part of McLean, and changing the lyrics to become a lament of the pending introduction of a new team to the Australian Football League.

References

External links

Official

• The Official Website of Don McLean and American Pie provides the songwriter's own biography, lyrics and clues to the song's meaning.

Interpretations

• Adams, Cecil (1993-05-15). "What is Don McLean's song "American Pie" all about?". The Straight Dope. Chicago Reader, Inc.. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/908/what-is-don-mcleans-song-american-pie-all-about. Retrieved 2009-06-08.  An interpretation of the lyrics based on a supposed interview of McLean by DJ Casey Kasem. McLean later confirmed the Buddy Holly reference in a letter to Adams but denied ever speaking to Kasem.
• Dearborn, Bob (2002-08-10). "Bob Dearborn's Original Analysis of Don McLean's 1971 Classic "American Pie"". http://user.pa.net/~ejjeff/pie.html.  This article correlates McLean's biography with the historic events in the song. McLean pointed to a Chicago, Illinois radio disc jockey Bob Dearborn as the partial basis for most mainstream interpretations of "American Pie."
• Bob Dearborn's American Pie Analysis original broadcast February 28, 1972
• Fann, Jim. "Understanding American Pie". http://understandingamericanpie.com.  Historically-oriented interpretation of "American Pie". The interpretation was specifically noted on in an archived version of McLean's website page on "American Pie". The material, dated November 2002, includes a recording of Dinah Shore singing "See The USA In Your Chevrolet", and a photograph of Mick Jagger in costume at the Altamont Free Concert with a Hells Angel member in the background.
  • Full "See the USA in Your Chevrolet" lyrics for Dinah Shore on the "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" (1956 - 1961).
• Kulawiec, Rich (2001-08-26). "FAQ: The Annotated "American Pie"". http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/american-pie. Retrieved 2007-09-19.  FAQ maintained by Rich Kulawiec, started in 1992 and essentially completed in 1997.
  • "American Pie — A Rock Epic" A multi-media presentation of Rich Kulawiec's The Annotated "American Pie".
• Levitt, Saul. "The Ultimate American Pie Website". http://www.missamericanpie.co.uk.  Site specifically noted on in an archived version of McLean's website page on "American Pie". The material appears to have been completed in 2003.
• O'Brien, P. (1999-03-03). "Understanding the lyrics of American Pie". The Octopus's Garden. Archived from the original on 2002-10-12. http://web.archive.org/web/20021012230502/http://www.rareexception.com/Garden/Pie.php. Retrieved 2007-09-19. 

• Bob Dylan references

Transcriptions

• "American Pie" - Lead sheet at wikifonia.org