The Day The Music Died

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Don McLean's song "American Pie," which reached #1 on the charts in 1972, refers to an actual day. It was forty-seven years ago today.

On February 3, 1959, a plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper (J. P. Richardson) from a concert at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, crashed soon after takeoff. There were no survivors.

Buddy Holly Killed in Air Crash

Wikipedia, The Day The Music Died

The Annotated "American Pie"

[DanCa]

1. I got the song" Rock and Roll Heaven "stuck in my head now..

Well, the melody at least. I am blanking on the lyrics.

[bigscott]

2. If there is a rock and roll heaven

you know they got a helluva band

I heard American pie on the way in this morning - i always sing along to that -

[sendero]

3. An interesting song...

.... too bad the basic sentiment of that of a fundie nutcake.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. McLean is a fundie nutcake?

That fits - this is the worst song of all times, IMO.

[ET Awful]

10. Actually, I've never heard that he was a fundie nutcake.

The religious references in the song are merely for imagery. Most folks are of the opinion that lines like "nd as I watched him on the stage/ my hands were clenched in fists of rage/ No angel born in hell/ Could break that Satan's spell" refer to the Stones at Altamont (i.e. singing 'Sympathy for the Devil', etc. while people are being beaten by Hell's Angels in the audience).

It's really not that bad a song if you break it down into what he's actually talking about (which he refuses to confirm or deny). The song is full of thinly veiled references to Dylan, Janis Joplin, the Stones, the Byrds, Elvis, etc.

An interesting theory (with input from many sources) on the meaning of the various verses can be found at http://www.rareexception.com/Garden/Pie.php

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. The lyrics don't bother me

It's the melody I find annoying.

The lyrics actually tell a pretty interesting story. They are also (as you pointed out) full of hidden meanings.

[sendero]

15. No, I didn't mean that...

... I mean I reject the entire premise of his song, which is highly religious in nature and says that Buddy Holly was pure rock and roll and that when he died it was taken over by the "devil" (Jagger) and the "joker" (Dylan) and so forth.

In Buddy Holly's world, nothing McLean ever recorded would get airplay. And r'n'r was always about rebellion, others just took it farther and in different directions than Holly. Or who knows really what he would have done had he lived. The Beatles started out doing Holly-style songs.

[ET Awful]

18. The "devil" was a reference to "Sympathy for the Devil" and Altamont

Many pundits at the time tried to link "Sympathy for the Devil" with the events at Altamont. The "devil" was Jagger only because Jagger sang as the devil in the song.

The word "joker" doesn't appear in the song, perhaps you mean "jester." The jester played for the king and queen in a coat he borrowed from James Dean (just look at Dean in Rebel without a Cause and Dylan on the cover of Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and you'll understand the reference).

[sendero]

19. Thanks for the...

.. "jester" correction. However, I stand by my interpretation of the song as being a religiously-based ode to the loss of innocence as evidenced by rock and roll's "decline" into the political, rebellion, and things not "peggy sue".

McLean has steadfastly refused to comment on the meaning of his lyrics.

[ET Awful]

20. Lots of people refuse to comment on the meaning of their songs, folks

like say Dylan for instance.

Refusing to comment on the meaning of lyrics isn't something that only McLean does.

[sendero]

24. I never said...

... there was anything "wrong" with McLean refusing to comment.

My point is that in the absence of any comment from him, I'll take the song at face value. And at face value, with it's religious overtones and misplaced lament, I'll draw my own conclusions :)

[ET Awful]

26. LOL . . . ooooookay. Taking anything at "face value" is the path to

eternal ignorance.

If you actually believe that the song had anything whatsoever to with religion in any way other than a metaphorical sense, then you are just willfully ignoring what's actually being said.

[sendero]

27. ok mr bright boy..

... tell me what it said.

[ET Awful]

30. What we have here is a failure to communicate

Perhaps if you READ what was posted above you'd have your answer.

[sendero]

35. I've read...

.. and it really doesn't change my point or my opinion. Sorry.

[ET Awful]

36. Well, since you had no point to begin with, that's hardly a loss.

As to your opinion . . . well you know what they say about opinions.

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ET Awful]

38. Awww, isn't that cute, someone who can't tell the difference between

using metaphor and being, how did you put it? Oh yeah, a "fundie nutjob" is calling ME stupid?

Cute. Is that how you always behave when proven wrong?

Bye bye.

[Leopolds Ghost]

28. The Stones is shite, and Dylan, for all his talent,

has an emotional block as many people have pointed out.

[Leopolds Ghost]

33. That said, Dylan is cool.

But not a genuine folk/bluesman. He and his idol, Woody Guthrie, both very manneristic performers. Very stylized. Dylan transcends that sometimes. British "blues" are even worse (except for Beatles IMHO.)

[ET Awful]

39. Not folk? I would have to completely disagree with you there.

Especially when it comes to Guthrie. Both defined folk generation for their generation in a completely new way.

[Leopolds Ghost]

29. In other words, anything that contains elements "religious in nature" is

the product of a "fundie nutcase mind."

Nice anti-religious-people sentiment, that.

Moreover, you're arguing any cultural product that uses religious imagery, even to recall a style of R&B or an era, is verboten in your world, even if its not intended to be taken literally. That's rather insecure position to take. No wonder conservatives accuse all liberals of being "unable to identify" with religious people or even religious imagery as a cultural artifact. For some people it's true.

I would prefer to leave Jacobinism to the neocons/neolibs with their vision of a global secular elite.

[ET Awful]

31. Bingo.

Well said.

[Leopolds Ghost]

32. That said, the melody's extremely annoying after one or two listens

I think you have to be drunk to get into this song. Then it becomes a sad song.

Sort of like the Star Spangled Banner which originated as another highly annoying drinking song. (Why oh why didn't they make "America the Beautiful" the National Anthem? Much less jingoistic than that "God Bless America" crap.)

[sendero]

34. No...

... anyone that compares things they don't like or don't understand to "the devil", well I tune out at that point.

When a song lyric says "if the bible tells you so", well I know what that means.

I've already retracted the "fundie" label which was ill-spoken. But not my opinion of the basic sentiment of the song, which I find disturbing. That is my opinion, and I come to it after a lot of thought. Whether Mr. McLean intended it the way I interpret it is moot.

[BlueEyedSon]

4. It's the reason many Americans know what a "levee" is..... nt

[vptpt]

5. Led Zepplin taught me what a levee is

I'm not sure why, but American Pie always bugged me. Especially when Madonna covered it.

[BlueEyedSon]

6. Ok. you got me!

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. The most incredibly annoying song ever

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. I hate that song with a passion

but I will remember Buddy Holly and Richie Valens and The Big Bopper today by listening to their music, which doesn't create an annoying ear worm at all :)

[ET Awful]

11. We understand that you dislike the song, does it take 3 posts saying

essentially the same thing in the same thread to get that across?

[natrat]

13. I heard Jerry cover this Richie Valens tune-love it-no idea what it means

La Bamba - Valens Richie
Para bailar la bamba
Para bailar la bamba
Se necesita una poca de gracia
a Una poca de gracia para mi para ti
ya Arriba y arriba
ay arriba y arriba por ti sere
Por ti sere
Yo no soy marinero
Yo no soy marinero
Soy capitan
Soy capitan
Soy capitan
Bamba la bamba
Bamba la bamba
Bamba la bamba
Para bailar la bamba
Para bailar la bamba
Se necesito una poca de gracia
a Una poca de gracia para mi para ti
ya Arriba y arriba

Para bailar la bamba
Para bailar la bamba
Se necesito una poca de gracia
a Una poca de gracia para mi para ti
ya Arriba y arriba
ay arriba y arriba por ti sere
Por ti sere
Bamba la bamba
Bamba la bamba
Bamba la bamba------>good lovin--->la bamba

[ET Awful]

17. Just a traditional Mexican folk tune - La Bamba is a dance

In english (roughly translated):

For to dance the Bamba
For to dance the Bamba
One needs a little bit of grace
A little bit of grace for me for you
And faster and faster
And faster and faster
For you I'll be
For you I'll be
For you I'll be
I am no sailor
I am no sailor
I am captain
I am captain
I am captain

If Jerry covered it, he was most likely playing with David Hidalgo of Los Lobos.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Tell my earworm to go away

PLEASE

[Bridget Burke]

12. Buddy Holly still had a lot of great music left in him....

It's a damn shame he died so young. Well, it's a damn shame when anyone dies so young--but I'm speaking as a music fan.

Any of you who find "American Pie" annoying might prefer to pull out your Buddy Holly anthology. Surely you've got one! Mine's on vinyl.

I don't mind listening to "American Pie"--but I've never heard the Madonna version. Damn!

[DanCa]

21. You know I would like to see this on the big screen.

Considering that Walk the Line was a such a mega-hit I really would like to see a big budget movie based on this tradgedy.

[thebigidea]

22. nothing would top the Kids in the Hall version

Scene: an airport runway during a thunderstorm. Mark is loading some bags on to a 4 person, single engine propeller plane

Kevin: Hey!

Mark: Hey!

Kevin: (drinking from a gin bottle) Get out of my way, you fucking peasant. You fucking piece of shit! Now that you've carried my luggage for me, why don't you FUCK OFF, and get in the bus with the other worms. That's right. You're riding on the BUS, dirt boy. You know why? You deserve the bus. Where as I will be riding in style on the airplane. (Coming at Mark, Mark is cowering away) Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?

Mark: yeah..

Kevin: huh? I'm fuckin' Buddy Holly! That's who I am! Right now I'm on top of the fuckin' world. I'm 22, I've got my whole life a head of me. Who knows what great pop songs I'll write. Who knows what hard working rock bands in towns like... I don't know... Liverpool, England, are being influenced by me right now! Heh? On the bus, Loser. Let's get fuckin' flyin'!

Paul: I'm afraid, Buddy. I don't like to fly.

(...)

Kevin: Get in there and lose some weight. (stumbling on the runway) Hey, wait a second. Everything I touch turns to gold. Hey, I got an idea. (Throws the bottle) I'm gonna let my friend, Rocky, fly this plane.

(He opens a suitcase and pulls out Rocky the monkey)

Kevin: Hi Rocky. You wanna fly the plane? Sure you do. Sure you do, you don't need any lessons. Come on. (they climb into the plane) Let's fly this plane. Oh, there's the Big Bopper, the diarrhea king himself!

Dave: Hey, Buddy, what's that drunk monkey doing flying this Plaaaaannnnee?

Kevin: Shut up, you One-hit Wonders, and sing my song.

(plane starts moving)

All: That'll be the day, when you make me cry / That'll be the day, when you say goodbye...

(scene fades to black)

[sendero]

25. There was one..

.. starring Gary Busey, who played a credible Holly.

[ProfessorGAC]

23. Well, Thanks For Bumming Me Out!

Just kidding. However, to this day, i still refer to those small planes as "Buddy Holly planes". I avoid them like the plague.
The Professor