Compose--American Pie

American Pie by Don McLean
at Songhits.Com under Oldies

"Recently, many people have inquired as to why I just don't ask Don McLean what he meant. Well...I probably could do that. I'll bet that he's online *somewhere*.

But I think that it's much more fun for all of us to speculate and debate and discuss what we think it means. In many ways, it tells us more about ourselves, and about what our music and culture mean to us.

Besides, he gave us this song, which is one of the classics of our time; I don't feel that we can rightfully ask any more of him. "
--Rich Kulawiec

American Pie--A Rock Epic

The entire song is a tribute to Buddy Holly and a commentary on how rock and roll changed in the years since his death. McLean seems to be lamenting the lack of "danceable" music in rock and roll and (in part) attributing that lack to the absence of Buddy Holly et. al.

Verse 1
A long, long time ago...

"American Pie" reached #1 in the US in 1972, but the album containing it was released in 1971. Buddy Holly et.al. died in 1959.
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.

One of early rock and roll's functions was to provide dance music for various social events. McLean recalls his desire to become a musician playing that sort of music.

La Bamba by Richie Valens
linked with permission
Lost in the Fifties Jukebox

Chantilly Lace by the Big Bopper
at Songhits.Com under Oldies

....February 3, 1959 became known as "The Day The Music Died"

But February made me shiver,

Buddy Holly died on the night of February 2, 1959 in a plane crash in Iowa during a snowstorm. The news came to most of the world on the morning of February 3, which is why it's known as The Day The Music Died.
With every paper I'd deliver,

Don McLean's only job besides being a full-time singer-songwriter was being a paperboy.
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

Holly's recent bride was pregnant when the crash took place; she had a miscarriage shortly afterward.
But something touched me deep inside,
The day the music died.

The same plane crash that killed Buddy Holly also took the lives of Richie Valens ("La Bamba") and The Big Bopper ("Chantilly Lace"). Since all three were so prominent at the time, February 3, 1959 became known as "The Day The Music Died".

That'll Be the Day by Buddy Holly
at Songhits.Com under Oldies

So...
(Refrain)
Bye bye Miss American Pie,

Miss American Pie *is* rock and roll music. Don McLean dated a Miss America candidate during the pageant. (unconfirmed)
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singing "This'll be the day that I die,
This'll be the day that I die."

One of Holly's hits was "That'll be the Day"; the chorus contains the line "That'll be the day that I die".