THE Story in THE Song DON Mclean American PIE 1971
by Few commentators agree as to what this song really means. Here are my interpretations.
“This’ll be the day that I die” inverts the title of Holly’s biggest hit, ‘That’ll Be The Day (that I die)’. Somehow, the newspaper boy knows that life will never be the same as good again.
Mclean moves through other shattering events of the post war era, including the Kennedy assassination and the disastrous December 1969 Altamont concert, a one-day only Woodstock style show that ended in riots and fire. The Rolling Stones were on when the violence got too bad for the event to be allowed to continue. Four people died at the show. Many of the bands appearing had also performed the peaceful Woodstock event just four months previously.
Many have speculated on who various other figures in the song happen to be and all I can do is add my own interpretations.
Miss American Pie – possibly Holly’s widow, or a general reference to the sense of American childhood innocence, and the death of the dream. It could be a reference to the girl McLean lost to another boy that day he heard of Holly’s death.
The Jester – Probably Elvis Presley who became the new ‘king of rock and roll’ – a title Buddy Holly may well have carried had he lived into the 1960’s.
The King and Queen – JFK and Jackie Onassis.
James Dean – The Jester is seen borrowing Dean’s image, so this could be Elvis. It could also be a reference to Bob Dylan, who had performed before the British monarch in a James Dean Jacket, though the UK has / had no king in this period. (The 1960’s).
Jack Flash – Mick Jagger, whose Rolling Stone’s group performed a song called Jumping Jack Flash? The reference to the candlestick may be a mocking sense of Jagger leaping about as if he has just burnt his backside. It may be a serious criticism of the band continuing to play at Altamont after the first violent incidents and when other musicians had already pulled out for safety reasons. More violence followed until the show had to be stopped and the band was unable to complete their set.
The Father, son & the Holy Ghost, described as catching ‘the last train for the coast’ may be Holly, Richy Vallance and the Big Bopper, who died in the same plane crash, or a reference to the rise of religious cultism around California and San Francisco, and the decline of mainstream religion and genuine faith in the US. It could also be an expression of atheism – the God has effectively departed. It may also be JFK, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, who were all assassinated in the 1960‘s.
Satan – Virtually anyone who spoilt the Dream, from Lee Harvey Oswald to Charles Manson.
The flames may refer to the violence and riots that erupted in Vietnam protests or the Altamont concert.
The Girl Who sang the blues – Janice Joplin, whose death was another nail in the coffin of the Woodstock generation.
The McLean version of the song is long, often presented in two parts on single releases; with DJ’s sometimes presenting only part one to save airtime. A dreadful cover version was performed by Madonna in 2000 in which randomly skips many of the verses in the song. She reduces the song to a few verses and a cheery disco beat chorus and makes no effort to understand or interpret the lyrics. Her version sounds simply vacuous, soul-less and cynical.
An enigmatic, haunting song (the original) that will forever keeps us guessing and yet which at least in itself keeps the music from ever truly dying.
The lyrics – http://www.lyrics007.com/Don%20McLean%20Lyrics/American%20Pie%20Lyrics.html
Arthur Chappell
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