American Pie (song)

"American Pie" is a song by American folk rock singer-songwriter Don McLean. Recorded and released on the American Pie album in 1971, the single was a number-one US hit for four weeks in 1972. In the UK, the single reached No. 2 on its original 1972 release and a reissue in 1991 reached No. 12.

The song is a recounting of "The Day the Music Died" (a term taken from the song) — the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valensand The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr.) — and the aftermath. The song was listed as the No. 5 song on the RIAA project Songs of the Century. "American Pie" is considered Don McLean's magnum opus and his signature song.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Background  ==Background[ edit] == Don McLean wrote the song in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] [2]  The song made its debut in Philadelphia at Temple University[3]  when he was opening for Laura Nyro on March 14, 1971.[1]
 * 2 Charts
 * 3 Parodies, revisions, and uses
 * 4 Madonna version
 * 4.1 Background
 * 4.2 Reception
 * 4.3 Music video
 * 4.4 Charts and certifications
 * 4.4.1 Charts
 * 4.4.2 Year-end charts
 * 4.4.3 Certifications
 * 5 References
 * 6 Further reading
 * 7 External links

The song is well-known for its cryptic lyrics that have long been the subject of curiosity and speculation. In general, the six verses cover a span of ten years (as mentioned at the beginning of the third verse), beginning with McLean's learning of the news of "the day the music died" in the first verse. The second verse sets a faster tempo and is set in the rock and roll era of the late 1950s and very early 1960s, while the third alludes to the folk revival of the early 1960s, in which a “jester…with a voice that came from you and me” steals a king's crown. The mid-1960s are alluded to in the fourth verse, which is set mostly in a stadium setting as a marching band plays. The fifth verse describes an incident at the Altamont Free Concert in which Hells Angels attempted to subdue an enraged Meredith Hunter. The sixth verse returns to the slower tempo of the first as the perspective shifts to a more personal one, one of sadness and a general lack of music, noting that “the three men (he) admired most” were long gone. None of the musicians in the plane crash (or any others, save for indirect mentions of The Rolling Stones and The Byrds in the third and fourth verses, respectively) are identified by name in the song itself, but the lyrics make reference to a number of popular songs from the late 1950s and 1960s.

When asked what "American Pie" meant, McLean jokingly replied, "It means I don't ever have to work again if I don't want to."[4]  Later, he 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."[5]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">Except to acknowledge that he first learned about Buddy Holly's February 3, 1959 death when he was folding newspapers for his paper route on the morning of February 4, 1959 (the line "February made me shiver/with every paper I'd deliver"), McLean has generally avoided responding to direct questions about the song lyrics, such as saying, "They're beyond analysis. They're poetry."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[6]  He also stated in an editorial published in 2009 on the 50th anniversary of the crash that writing the first verse of the song exorcised his long-running grief over Holly's death and that he considers the song to be "a big song (…) that summed up the world known as America."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[7]  McLean dedicated the American Pie album to Holly. ==Charts<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Parodies, revisions, and uses<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">In 1999, "Weird Al" Yankovic did a Star Wars–inspired parody of "American Pie". Titled "The Saga Begins", the song recounts the plot of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace from Obi-Wan Kenobi's point of view. While McLean gave permission for the parody, he did not make a cameo appearance in its video, despite popular rumor. McLean himself praised the parody, even admitting to almost singing Yankovic's lyrics during his own live performances because his children played the song so often.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[8] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[9]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">The City of Grand Rapids, Michigan created a lip dub video to "American Pie" in response to a Newsweek article that stated the city was "dying".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[10]  The video was hailed by many as a fantastic performance including Roger Ebert, who said it was "the greatest music video ever made."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[11]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">On March 21, 2013, Harmonix announced that "American Pie" would be the final downloadable track made available for the Rock Band series of music video games.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[12] ==Madonna version<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Background<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">American pop singer Madonna released a cover version of the song in March 2000 to promote the soundtrack to her film The Next Best Thing (2000), with the song being serviced to radio on February 2.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[14]  Her cover is much shorter than the original (it contains only the beginning of the first verse and all of the second and sixth verses) and was recorded as a dance-pop song. It was co-produced by Madonna and William Orbit, after Rupert Everett(Madonna's co-star in The Next Best Thing) had convinced her to cover the song for the film's soundtrack.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">Due to the success of the single, it was included as a bonus track on her 2000 studio album Music, making the song the first single of the new album; however it was not available on the North American version. Madonna explained in a 2001 interview on BBC Radio 1 with Jo Whiley, the reason that the song was omitted from her 2001 greatest hits compilation GHV2: "It was something a certain record company executive twisted my arm into doing, but it didn't belong on the (Music) album so now it's being punished."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[15] ===Reception<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">Released in March 2000, the song was a worldwide hit, reaching No. 1 in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Italy, Germany (her first since "La Isla Bonita", in 1987), Switzerland, Austria, and Finland. The song was the 19th best selling of 2000 in the UK. The single was not released commercially in the United States, but it reached No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 due to strong radio airplay.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">NME gave it a negative review, saying that it was a "sub-karaoke fluff" and that "it's a blessing she didn't bother recording the whole thing."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[16]  Chuck Taylor from Billboard, on the other hand, was impressed by the recording and commented, "Applause to Madonna for not pandering to today's temporary trends and for challenging programmers to broaden their playlists. [...] In all, a fine preview of the forthcoming soundtrack to The Next Best Thing."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[17]  Don McLean himself praised the cover, saying it was "a gift from a goddess", and that her version is "mystical and sensual."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[18]  According to The Official Charts Company, the song has sold 385,000 copies in the United Kingdom and is her 16th best selling single to date in the UK.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[19] ===Music video<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === Madonna in the "American Pie" music video. In the scene Madonna, who is wearing a tiara, is standing while an American flag can be seen behind her.<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">The music video, filmed in the Southern USA and in London<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:10.9090909957886px;">[20]  and directed by Philipp Stölzl, depicts a diverse array of ordinary Americans, including scenes showing same-sex couples kissing. Throughout the music video Madonna, who is wearing a tiara on her head, dances and sings in front of a large American flag.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:20.3636360168457px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13.63636302948px;">Two official versions of the video were produced, the first of which now appears on Madonna's greatest-hits DVD compilation, Celebration, and was released as the official video worldwide. The second version was issued along with the "Humpty Remix", a more upbeat and dance-friendly version of the song. This video was aired on MTV's dance channel in the United States to promote the film The Next Best Thing, starring Madonna and Rupert Everett; it contains totally different footage and new outtakes of the original and omits the lesbian kiss. Everett, who provides backing vocals in the song, is also featured in the video. ===Charts and certifications<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ===