Bye bye miss american pie lyrics meaning

Don McLean is finally sharing the secrets behind his hit single in a new documentary.

Don McLean is letting everyone in on the meaning behind the lyrics of his hit song, American Pie.

McLean wrote the iconic song—that has managed to transcend generations— back in 1971.

Now, nearly five decades later, the singer-songwriter is opening up about the true meaning behind the lyrics in an interview with ET.

While promoting his documentary, The Day the Music Died: American Pie, McLean notes: "Well, first of all, I was having a lot of fun writing this." 

Noting that the critical acclaim took him by surprise, he said, "I never thought anybody would hear it, let alone would become what it became."

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In case you're not familiar with the song's success, here's a little background: the track came in at number five on the "Songs of the Century" list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The songwriter mentioned that when he sat down to pen the lyrics, there was "stuff that I just threw in, that I made up and put in there." 

Although there are many interpretations for the lyrics, McLean cleared the air about one, in particular. In the documentary, McLean notes that his lyrics, "when the jester sang for the king and queen" is not about Elvis Presley or Bob Dylan. Some fans believe that "the jester" referred to Dylan, while "the king" to Presley, but McLean assured that's not the case. 

McLean also noted that the classic lyric, "the day the music died," was referring to the plane crash involving Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Jiles P. Richardson back in 1959. McLean was just 13 years old when he learned that his idol Holly passed away.  

The new documentary will tell the story of America through the lens of the song's famed lyrics.

Here's the official synopsis for the film: "The story of America - our past and our future. More than just a song or a man, this film is about a cultural moment in America's history that has followed us from the 1970s. Featuring a new generation of artists, inspired by the same values & ideas that inspired Don McLean in writing American Pie -- one of the great musical touchstones of pop music and culture."

You can now stream the 90-minute documentary on Paramount+!

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Next, check out the real stories behind the most beloved songs from 1972.

The original version of the song has been successful in the most important charts in the world (which is unusual for a song that lasts almost nine minutes). Especially in the United States, this piece has achieved such popularity that it has been proposed as World Heritage. There are countless covers, among which the one created by Luisa Veronica Ciccone, better known as Madonna, stands out.

I’m talking about Don McLean’s American Pie.

Its lyrics are the strongest element beyond the catchy melody.

The lyrics, however, are difficult to interpret, so much so that today there is no “official” point of view, or univocal interpretation of its meaning. Asked several times for clarification, Don McLean has always refused to give explanations, saying that there are so many interpretations that there is no need to provide more.

I, on the other hand, wanted to investigate the text to provide you with my thoughts.

Don McLean - American Pie (Good quality)

Let’s start with the title, which apparently makes no sense and instead …

American pie could be intended as an American sweet. It is true that the lyrics say “Miss American pie”, which might refer to a person. Yet pie is written in lowercase. Therefore, the interpretation about an American sweet can still be valid.

But why “miss American pie?

The female figure is intended as an American symbol. In fact, the founding fathers adopted many traditions of the Indians who saw the birth of North America due to the descent of a woman from heaven. The female reference in the lyrics therefore serves to reaffirm certain roots: Don McLean thus wants to accuse the abandonment of values, of original history.

The refrain, not surprisingly, reads “bye bye American Pie”, or “goodbye American dream”. Don McLean began writing the lyrics right after a historic accident in the 1950s.

A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while

But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step

I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died

So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’ “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”

What were those years for the singer-songwriter and for many young Americans?

World War II was over, the Cold War had not yet reached the “Reganian” tension, the economy was experiencing a growth that seemed unstoppable, heroin and cocaine had yet to invade American cities, and the era of liberation was beginning for women. A simple and idyllic world, and also naive. Everyone seemed happy and carefree and even the lyrics of the songs were “idiots”, they just had to communicate happiness and will to live. This was what Buddy Holly did.

When he died on February 3, 1959, crashing with the plane, not only for many was the end of music, “the day the music die”, but for Don he represented the end of childhood dreams. A bit like when a child discovers that there is no Santa Claus. All that world, which Buddy represented as a rock icon, dissolved in an instant.

Don began to observe the world that went on anyway, with new artists and new musical phenomena that from that tragic 1959 to 1972, the year of publication of the song, began to emerge (the references in the text are many, from Janis Joplin to the Beatles up to Bod Dylan). The dream had now, however, vanished. When he discovers that Santa Claus no longer exists, even if you continue to receive gifts, you know you have lost something forever.

The whole lyrics travel through this contrast: on the one hand the joy of seeing the birth of new stars but on the other the obsessive repetition of the refrain “bye bye miss American pie”, that means, nothing will ever be the same again.

The most likely interpretation is that, through those lyrics, Don McLean expressed the sense of a world that has changed, with fragments of something beautiful that have been irretrievably lost. This obviously concerns America in its entirety, but specifically also the musical world, which for him represented the most intimate perspective.

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