In a new documentary it reveals American musician Don McLean (76) finally what the famous song “American Pie” from 1971 really is about.
The immortal hitmaker has been carefully analyzed and dissected by knowledgeable music critics as well as regular fans, while the main character throughout the years has remained silent about the true meaning of the song – apart from saying that it is dedicated to 1950s icon Buddy Holly, who passed away in a brutal plane crash in 1959.
According to the British tabloid The Guardian the more than 50-year-old song lyrics in the upcoming documentary are broken down and analyzed – line by line – in what will be among the most detailed analyzes of the song ever.
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The documentary has been titled “The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s American Pie” and is available to stream on Paramount+. American Spencer Proffer (73) is a producer.
– I said to Don: “It’s time for you to reveal what the journalists have wanted to know for 50 years. This film was a concerted effort to lift the veil,” says Proffer to The Guardian.
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Fatal plane crash
The documentary just starts with the day McLean believes music died. On February 3, 1959, rock and roll pioneer Buddy Holly was on his way home from a concert in a small plane with Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson when the plane crashed in a cornfield in Iowa shortly after takeoff.
All three died, in addition to the pilot.
– Means I never have to work again.
The plane crash sent shock waves through the pop world and became a formative event in the then 13-year-old Don McLean’s life, inspiring him to later write the song “American Pie” as a tribute to his great idol, Buddy Holly.
OPENS UP: Don McLean finally talks about the famous song from 1971. Photo: Charles Sykes / AP / NTB
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– I was in shock. I actually think I cried, recalls the artist, according to the news agency AP. McLean used the grief of Holly and his father, who also died when he was young, to write an “obituary of the American dream”.
When McLean worked on his second album in 1971, the United States was rocked by assassinations, anti-war protests and civil rights marches. He thought the country needed “a great song about America”.
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– I wanted to write a song about America, but I didn’t want to write a song similar to what someone had written before, says the artist in the documentary.
In addition to interviews, the ninety-minute documentary also contains news footage from the 1970s and reconstructions of events, recorded with actors. The camera crew also followed Don McLean to the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, where Buddy Holly and the other musicians played their last concert before the plane crashed.
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Call out details
“American Pie” is a song full of references to music, society and culture. In the documentary, McLean goes to great lengths to comment on some of the most common speculations about the song.
The 76-year-old reveals, among other things, that “marching band” refers to the defense industry, and that “sweet perfume” is tear gas. He also says that the references to the king and court jester have nothing to do with Elvis Presley or Bob Dylan. And Janis Joplin wasn’t “the girl who sang the blues” either.
– Makes up for us to suck
The text line “This’ll be the day that I die” comes from John Wayne’s film “The Searchers”. “Bye bye” is a riff on “Bye Bye, My Roseanna” – a song by McLean’s friend Pete Seeger. Originally, the 76-year-old also wanted to write “Miss American Apple Pie”, but later he dropped the fruit.
– He has been happy to open up, he and the manager think it was time to do it, and this was the right platform to do it on, says producer Spencer Proffer, according to AP.
The eight-minute-long song is still popular, and is constantly gaining new fans among younger generations.
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