“American Pie”
Single by Don McLean from the album American Pie
B-side	Empty Chairs (first release) American Pie part 2 (second release)
Released	October 1971 (first release) November 1971 (second release)
Format	vinyl record
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. The song is an abstract story of his life that starts with the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper) in a plane crash in 1959, and ends in 1970; in the song he called the plane crash "the day the music died". 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 performed by Don McLean as the number five song of the twentieth century. It's also the longest #1 Billboard Hot 100 hit of all time at more than eight and a half minutes, though some Top 40 stations initially played only side 1 of the single, but the song's popularity eventually forced stations to play the entire song.

The song's lyrics are the subject of much curiosity. Although McLean dedicated the American Pie album to Buddy Holly, none of the singers in the plane crash are 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, 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 4th, 1959 (referenced in the song with the line "with every paper I deliver"). Despite this, many fans of McLean, amongst others, have attempted an interpretation; most agree that many lines make reference to The Beatles (John Lennon particularly), The Rolling Stones (also, possibly, Mick Jagger in particular), The Byrds, Bob Dylan and Janis Joplin. At the time of the song's original release in late 1971, many American AM & FM rock radio stations devoted entire shows discussing and debating the song's lyrics, resulting in both controversy and intense listener interest in the song.

"Killing Me Softly" inspiration

Singer Lori Lieberman attended a McLean concert and in describing the experience to songwriters Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, she said he'd "killed her softly." Gimbel and Fox wrote "Killing Me Softly" about Lieberman's experience. The song then became a huge hit for Roberta Flack (and many years later for the Fugees).

This created a unique Grammy coincidence: in 1973 Flack won Record of the Year, beating out American Pie; in 1974, she won the same award for a song about McLean. Flack and McLean have performed "Killing Me Softly" together in concert at least once.

1980s Music Video

During the rise of their popularity, an after-the-fact Music Video was created for American Pie using the original song as the soundtrack featuring a montage of scenes corresponding to the song's lyrics.

Covers

Madonna version

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“American Pie”
Single by Madonna from the album The Next Best Thing (OST) and Music (Not U.S.)
Released	February 2000
Format	CD single Cassette single 7" single 12" maxi single
Recorded	2000
Genre	Folk rock, soft rock
Length	4:32
Label	Maverick, Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Don McLean
Producer	Madonna William Orbit
Certification	Australia (Gold) Austria (Gold) France (Silver) Germany (Gold) Sweden (Platinum) Switzerland (Gold) United Kingdom (Gold)
Madonna singles chronology
"Beautiful Stranger" (1999) "American Pie" (2000) "Music" (2000)

Madonna released her cover of the song as a single for the soundtrack to the 2000 film The Next Best Thing. Madonna's cover however is noted for being much shorter in length (it contains only the beginning of the first verse and all of the second and sixth verses) and for being recorded as a pop-dance song. The music video was shot with the lip-synched audio in 2x speed and was later slowed down to fit the song's wording and to give it that slow-motion effect. The same goes for many videos from her "Ray of Light" album.

Soundtrack use

In a scene for The Next Best Thing, the main character Abbey and her friends attend the funeral of a friend who has died of AIDS. At the funeral they all start singing "American Pie". After shooting this scene Rupert Everett convinced Madonna to record her own version of the song and include it in the soundtrack to the film. The song was then recorded as a dance-pop genre instead of its original pop-rock format. The song was produced by William Orbit and Madonna and it was released as a single in February 2000.

The song was not included in the North American release of the Music album, however, it was added as a bonus track on the international releases. In an interview with BBC's Jo Whiley in late 2001, Madonna admitted to regretting that decision saying "a certain record company exec twisted her arm into doing it", because the decision to include "American Pie" in the album Music was not self willingly, Madonna decided not to include the song in her second compilation, GHV2. "American Pie" was the first single released by Madonna during the 2000s, her third decade as a solo artist.

Other straight covers

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. Several disco versions have appeared over the years, and American pop singer Madonna released a cover of the song in 2000.

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.^[3]

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.

Parodies and revisions

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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.

"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.^[4]

Since their tour together, McLean and comedy writer Andy Breckman have feuded openly.^[5] Breckman tells this story on his 1990 comedy-folk album Don't Get Killed:

On That '70s Show, the character Michael Kelso uses the music of "American Pie" to create a song dedicated to Jackie Burkhart, and later claims that the "American Pie guy" stole the music from him.^{citation needed}

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". 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 whole 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 rumour. McLean stated he was very pleased with the parody. He even admits to almost singing Yankovic's lyrics at live shows, due to the fact that his children played the song so often.^{citation needed}

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 an episode 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."^[6]

Following the news of the retirement of Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre in early March 2008, Annette Summersett, a singer/songwriter and ardent Packer fan from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, composed a parody called, "The Day That Football Died," which has had more than 315,000 views on YouTube.

Chart performance

Madonna version

"American Pie" was a number-one hit in several countries, including Canada, Australia (her first #1 since "Vogue" in 1990), Germany (her first # 1 since "La Isla Bonita" in 1987), Italy, Spain, and Finland. The single was not released commercially in the United States, but it reached number twenty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 due to strong radio airplay. The song also reached number-one in the United World Chart staying at the top for 8 consecutive weeks and becoming her first song to top the world chart since its debut in 1999.

Chart positions

References

External links

Official site

• 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.. Archived from the original on 1999-10-09. Retrieved on 2007-09-20. 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"". 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."
• Fann, Jim. "Understanding American Pie". 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"". Retrieved on 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". 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. Retrieved on 2007-09-19.