"American Pie" and Don McLean

[Phoenix98]

Don McLean was once asked what the lyrics of American Pie meant. His answer- " They mean that I never have to work again".

Good Lord, an honest man at last

*LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL* .... yes, there are still a few of us around *LOL*

Maybe his wife put him up to it.

[Puppydato]

Yes I read the entire web page and heard the Dinah Shore song. I believe that Don McLean's "levee" symbolised good times which had changed, dried-up "singing this will be the day that I die", quite the opposite of what Dinah sang cheerfully in her the song about the U.S.A.. When Don drove his Chevy to the levee it was empty like the hole that had been left in music after the passing of Holly and the changes that ensued in music industry.

(chasing her tail)

Fine song by Dinah Shore and it does explain the Chevy and the levy but it doesn't explain what Don McLean might have meant by the "levy was dry". I wonder if the dry levy was a metaphor for something else.

So Glad you could join us puppydato *Wink*

Did you have a chance to read the entire webpage? I think the author gave an explanation for the question you asked regarding the levee being dry. Not sure, but I thought I did come across that when I read it.

[Phoenix98]

Yes I read the entire web page and heard the Dinah Shore song. I believe that Don McLean's "levee" symbolised good times which had changed, dried-up "singing this will be the day that I die", quite the opposite of what Dinah sang cheerfully in her the song about the U.S.A.. When Don drove his Chevy to the levee it was empty like the hole that had been left in music after the passing of Holly and the changes that ensued in music industry.

(chasing her tail)

Fine song by Dinah Shore and it does explain the Chevy and the levy but it doesn't explain what Don McLean might have meant by the "levy was dry". I wonder if the dry levy was a metaphor for something else.

So Glad you could join us puppydato *Wink*

Did you have a chance to read the entire webpage? I think the author gave an explanation for the question you asked regarding the levee being dry. Not sure, but I thought I did come across that when I read it.

I think that's it. McLean believed it was the medium of popular music that was helping transition the American Dream from its captivity to hardcore moralisms/faith in a singular higher power/conservative bondage to an enlightened, carefree, "God is dead" paradigm.

I would have to research this further, but I understand he was/is Jewish by faith. In that light, his references to the Bible and to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are mere images of this transition. His great hope was that the social evolution would move his country and culture into the grand, relaxed frame of "power to the people" and "make love, not war". All these prescriptions were shared by millions of youth in the countercultural melee of the sixties.

When Altamont occurred, the dream was crushed, in his opinion. As the Hells Angels provided the "security" and lives were taken near the stage, "Satan laughed with delight."

After that, it was as if the movement wandered aimlessly, searching for some "happy news," only to be met with a smile and shaking of the head.

[clintessential]

I've never thought of McLean or his song as an explanation or a metaphor for anything. Like he said "it means I
don't have to work anymore." I'll take him at his word. When the song came out, the airwaves were inundated with
it. For whatever reason, AM RADIO was sure that enough simply wasn't enough of "Pie". It reminded me of the adulation
Robert Preston had created in "The Music Man". Unlike Preston's character, who sold temperance and snake oil with
equal enthusiasm, and who operated on several dimensions, McLean and his epiphany were/became a cliche. He
had, as O.J. Simpson once pointed out to Howard Cosell, "a firm grasp of the obvious."
I'm going to stop now, before my constructive criticism becomes an evisceration. I have to be honest. My suitability
as a Movie/Cultural/Musical critic is often debatable. For instance, I consider Tamirlane and The Grinch Who Stole
Christmas to be Spiritual Allies. So, you could argue "Pie" never had a chance.

[hartmanr1]

GREAT poetry found in a great song

[manonymousrose]

This is a song that had my mom and I dancing all over the place. When either one of us would put it on, reading time was on pause and we would swing and dance to the poem song that is "American Pie".
What was clear to me, even as a child, was that there was something being done and the people in the song needed to beware. Where did all the lovers go? What a bittersweet expression this song is able to use to connect with listeners. What a tragic song.

[Phoenix98]

This is a song that had my mom and I dancing all over the place. When either one of us would put it on, reading time was on pause and we would swing and dance to the poem song that is "American Pie".
What was clear to me, even as a child, was that there was something being done and the people in the song needed to beware. Where did all the lovers go? What a bittersweet expression this song is able to use to connect with listeners. What a tragic song.

Bittersweet it is and yes, a great dance tune.

-- 16 Dec 2012, 20:39 --

I recently watched the documentary "Gimme Shelter." Great footage of Jagger, Richards and crew in their prime.

Seeing the actual violence on stage, gun in the air, arguments, tears and rage, however, was compelling. Recordings from the Stones' lawyer's negotiations seemed to lay the groundwork for the colossal failure that the concert became.

[lady_charlie]

ok, I am suddenly not old
you all are making me feel very young
Thanks for the history lesson.

Altamont.

Hmmm.

Well, I am old, just sheltered, I think.
We were probably all a little too excited about the new Frigidaire and The Wizard of Oz being on TV in color!
I am one of those people, I guess.

[Phoenix98]

ok, I am suddenly not old
you all are making me feel very young
Thanks for the history lesson.

Altamont.

Hmmm.

Well, I am old, just sheltered, I think.
We were probably all a little too excited about the new Frigidaire and The Wizard of Oz being on TV in color!
I am one of those people, I guess.

Weren't those great days? I never missed the annual showing of The Wizard of Oz back then. Of course, "I'm an old Kansas man myself." And that Frigidaire...oval corners, tiny freezer compartment, beige...but they lasted forever.

[sauerteig]

I think it is. I can see the "research man's" arm, but don't clearly remember.

Sounds good....

[DATo]

ok, I am suddenly not old
you all are making me feel very young
Thanks for the history lesson.

Altamont.

Hmmm.

Well, I am old, just sheltered, I think.
We were probably all a little too excited about the new Frigidaire and The Wizard of Oz being on TV in color!
I am one of those people, I guess.

:) :)
Weren't those great days? I never missed the annual showing of The Wizard of Oz back then. Of course, "I'm an old Kansas man myself." And that Frigidaire...oval corners, tiny freezer compartment, beige...but they lasted forever. :D

lady_charlie - We are not "old". Borrowing from the current lexicon, we are VINTAGE. I prefer "vintage" actually. It makes me feel that I am an expensive bordeaux - a finer product of the vine than Welch's Grape Juice. *LOL*

Phoenix98 - When I was a kid we only had a black and white TV. I can remember how excited I would become as the Wizard Of Oz theme began to play just before the movie began. Years later, the first time I saw it it color - when she opens the door and first looks into Oz - I think it brought tears to my eyes. As an adult I now have the means to experience art as it was meant to be displayed but somehow I can no longer find the magic I once knew as a kid. The CGI which is so commonplace in films today, I feel, has dampened the wonder which was once found in the processing of our imaginations, or maybe we just grew up. It isn't the long lost limber limbs, or the quicker cognitive responses of youth that I miss ...it's The Magic - that's what I miss most.

[lady_charlie]

I heard Don McLean say in an interview that he just remembered being shattered when he heard about the plane wreck - maybe that was the day the magic died for him.

My sister makes fun of me for trying to create the magic of childhood for my daughter.

I say, yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus!

[noahadams]

I always thought that We Didn't Start the Fire, by Billy Joel, did this too.

[Ibanezakame]

yes, I enjoy this song a lot. if you listen hard, you think of elveis and I believe this song will long be unforgotten.