Don MacLean's History of Rock n' Roll
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- Опубліковано 22 тра 2024
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00:00 Intro
00:44 Title Card
00:51 The Day the Music Died
01:49 Chorus
02:32 Nostalgia
03:19 Tensions
04:07 Bob Dylan
05:14 Rest of the Scene
05:49 Late 1960s
07:52 Altamont Speedway Free Festival
09:27 Fallout
10:34 Final Chorus
11:03 Conclusion
Interviewer asked Don McLean: "What does it mean?"
McLean said: "It means I don't have to work again for the rest of my life."
True story.
I know McLean came to hate this song, because it's the only song that anyone remembers him for and because it's all anyone ever asks him about.
Among other things, he's the only one who's said anything nice about Madonna's truly awful cover of this song.
McLean wrote four or five much better songs, but most recording artists are not remembered for their best work.
This one ended up pandering to an egocentric generation that was being intensely pandered to by Madison Avenue, so PR and record people pushed it hard. Same with some Beetles singles, Stones singles and Credence. They became montage cliches.
Such a non artist response
Unfortunately that's where .....Materialism and the hunger for money comes into play.....Still.....it is a good song.
In a documentary he was asked the same question , his answer was much more historical on politics, racisim, sexism , the Automic bomb, Vienman war , changes from middle class America values to a new awakining that was for new massess.
The power of American Pie is that it makes you nostalgic for a time even if you weren't even born.
Kind of like how "Take Me Home (Country Road)" makes me homesick for West Virginia, when I'm bred, born and raised in Melbourne, Australia
Or if you are my age, for a time I remember so well. The three men were Kennedy, King, and Kennedy. The only thing I was too young to remember was the plane crash. He left out mentioning that the reference to the Byrds, who had a hit with "Eight Miles High."
@@richorichards4655 I've seen it. It really was beautiful. I used to live next door in Virginia, but we made day trips to visit Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. The hills were very different than the desert I moved to. I miss John Denver too.
@@richorichards4655 You'd probably like Rocky Mountain High too.
It’s like how the American Anthem makes non American people feel patriotic to America
For you younger viewers, "You both kicked off your shoes" refers to a sock hop, a 50's and 60's dance held in a gym. Dancers removed their shoes so as to not damage the wooden basketball floor. Seriously. The simple joys of dancing to the music theme repeats later when Don sings "We both got up to dance, but we never got the chance," referring to Sgt. Peppers which decidedly ain't for dancin'.
I always thought but we never got the chance was because of the start of the Vietnam war
@@eddiedean9886 The Vietnam War did not put a stop to dancing because that was the time when the first discos started opening. Unfortunately, they soon began playing a cheap imitation of Rock and Roll with a mechanically produce beat.
Fantastic 🙂💜
The line before, "I know that you're in love with him, I saw you dancing in the gym" is a reference to West Side Story
@@cryptiecreep It doesn't fit. The next line goes, "You both kicked off your shoes, and I dig those rhythm and Blues." The dancers in West Side Story kept their shoes on, and the music wasn't rhythm and blues. Couples at sock hops were often in love, or at least going steady.
Not an overly complex song to play on the guitar but remembering all the words..... *MAN!*
Oddly enough I can remember every single word of Weird Al's version.
just gotta listen to it a thousand times and the words just start coming out of your mouth without you thinking about it. fantastic song
@@jessetutalo233
Learnt a few songs like that! I think it's called "osmosis."
REM's "End of the World" would be a challenge though!
Tell me about it
I know the whole song by heart. I have a million stuck in my head
Radio DJ's loved this song because it was such a long track. When a DJ needed to take a shit, they'd play either American Pie or Hotel California.
Or stairway to heaven lol
I think I would reach for the non-radio edits of "I'd Do Anything for Love," "Inna Gada Da Vida," or anything from the And Justice for All... album from Metallica. haha
I would put some dream theater and there you go, half an hour free
I'd play the unabridged version of Thick as a Brick.
When I was a DJ in the 70s, we didn't have a lot of choice if we wanted a long track. "American Pie" - if all you had was the 45, you had to flip it in the middle (or if you had 2 copies, cross-fade). "Stairway to Heaven" - the station usually wanted the radio cut, which was about 4 minutes IIRC. "Hotel California" - if you could play the live version, you were golden. "Inna Gadda Da Vida" - you could only get away with late at night. "Riders on the Storm" was also a good one.
Bonus fact: Don McLean was the singer described in "Killing Me Softly."
Jenn W I just found that out last week! Never knew that!
@@judithshorey2137 I remember hearing it as a young child on the kitchen radio and it being one of the first songs that ever stopped me in my tracks. When I found out who it was about I was a little surprised!!!
Jenn W FYI Killing Me Softly With His Song was about James Taylor, whom Carly Simon had just broken up with
Not many people know this though
@@davidfusco6600 You are thinking about "Your so Vein" by Carly Simon.
"If you find yourself around a campfire this summer"
Nope. I won't.
Maybe by yourself
Just do it the corona can’t hurt you if you’re singing American Pie
It’d start another wildfire here in Ca
It’s gotta to suck to be so conspiratorial. Covid isn’t that dangerous and neither is climate change.
Jesse Collins
It’s the pigeons we should be looking out for.
I always thought the reference 'And as the flames climbed high into the night, to light the sacrificial rite' referred to Buddy Holly's plane crash. Planes usually leak oil or hot gas and ignite a blaze when they crash. I thought that was what Don was referring to. But your explanation makes sense as well. The beautiful thing about music is that each person can interpret it in his/her own way.
I was thinking the same man he was way off on that one
I dont know why but I always thought it to be about the first man on the moon. How the flames of the rocket would go into the air, and how it was a pivotal moment for the world. Plus how space exploration was satans way of laughing dus to how space and god were closely related before scientific evidence about it came out. Like you said I love how for each person his words mean something different, and that’s what I love about this song!
For the longest time I thought the same thing because I missheard the lyric as "as the planes climbed high into the night"
I was thinking it was a reference to the start up of heavy metal and what a big departure that style of music was from the previous twp decades, but I guess 1971 was just a bit too early for anyone to think it was going to stick around and become a major genre in the music industry. The associations society made to the music with Hell and the devil came a little later in the mid 1970s. The plane crash interpretation works much better, especially when considering the lyrics "... to light the sacrificial rite".
I always interpreted it as the shifting of generations and cultural norms, as the true 'american dream' has finally died as people open up to the many prblems in the world
you missed in the heater skelter line, he mentions the birds flying to a fallout shelter, it’s referencing the band “byrd’s” going to rehab, and their song “8 miles high” referencing drug experimentation
Gwen S thanks, didnt know that, this song is full of amazing references ,how the hell did someone so young write it!
I was surprised that he didn't mention that. That was an amazing song with a guitar solo that was jazz inspired. The only one of its kind for The Byrds.
Oh yeah, and the "fallout shelter" doesn't at all fit with "Jack Flash (nuclear detonation ?) sat on a candlestick (old term for - intercontinental ballistic missile), because fire is the devil's only friend". And yes, I am snarking here too.
I thought the Byrds and the fallout shelter referred to their cover of "We'll Meet Again", the song that closed "Dr. Strangelove" as multiple nuclear explosions were shown.
This is a great watch for a visual explanation of the song
ua-cam.com/video/VhX3b1h7GQw/v-deo.html
This was impressive. You gave some interpretations I wasn't even aware of. I've singing along with this for decades and you've managed to give it new meaning for me. Thanks, and keep up the excellent work
yeah, this was very well presented and thought-out.
Great to see you also follows this great channel😃👍🏻
The Cynical Historian is there going to be a battlefield v video
I was really sad for a moment when i realized that "the girl who sang the blues" could be Joplin, because then it made sense to me, the change of tone and how nostalgicly he sings about her, such a tragic figure. I didn't ever think about the methafores in that part until now, I was more familiar with the first part of the songs, and new about the refrences of Elvis and Dylan
Well pleased with this reply.
I'm not American and I heard this song in high school and researched it's history finding different messages. I really appreciate this one, very well-done. I never knew Bob Dylan was an inspiration, he wrote some of my favorite songs. You Americans should be proud and cherish the culture and history you inherit, it's wonderful!
Hello 👋 Angel
how are you doing?
Thanks for your love and support, I really appreciate you as my super fan! ❤️
@@donmclean8793 ok totally the real don mclean im glad you have time for comments with 16 likes
The amount of information McLean put into this song with such words and melody is just incredible
The quartet practiced in the park is also a reference to the Beatles
Yep, I think the Shea Stadium concert. Also "moss grows fat on a rolling stone" is about greed and big money in the music business, I think. It's ironic because a rolling stone wouldn't grow moss (it'd get knocked off).
Same thoughts here . Greetings from belgium
See I was always confused by this because it says, "WHILE Lennon read a book on Marx, the quartet practiced in the park." If he was reading the book, then the whole quartet isn't practicing right?
@@compass412 Lenin not Lennon
@@sdgml3878 the official lyrics say Lennon
Nobody paints with words quite like Don McLean, just listen to Vincent.
buaboy Don’t get me wrong Don McLean is a brilliant musician and writer however you can’t deny Bob Dylan is the master in the realm of songwriting given he’s extended career and influence
Master Mango Dylan’s a master, no doubt. But McLean isn’t far behind.
Its almost too heartwrenching to listen to, honestly........
Vincent is a song that needs it own part in this channel.
Oh ya, "Starry starry night, Paint your colors blue and gray". So love that song (and Van Gogh).
I grew up in the fifties and let me tell you that the "Happy Days" image of the fifties was an illusion created twenty years later. The decade started with the Korean conflict, which was quickly followed by the McCarthy witch hunts. The whole decade passed under the shadow of nuclear war. That the war didn't come was no relief to a child being taught how to "duck and cover" under his school desk and dive into the nearest ditch when the siren went off. And there was a siren in every town. The carefree sound of rock and roll was condemned by every adult as The Devil's music. That scene you showed of a young couple dancing would have banned as "sexually explicit" and never broadcast on TV. When Elvis appeared on Ed Sullivan, singing a relatively innocent song, the camera was kept glued to his face because his body movements were considered obscene. Those were not happy days. Those were days of fear glossed over with a façade of prosperity.
We supposed to believe an 80+ year old wrote this? LUL
@@Clear706 Actually I am 75. believe whatever you want.
I spent much of the 1980s in the middle of displaced nostalgia for the '50. This was based on reality. People were always telling me "What about Jim Crow..." They failed to appreciate the gauzy evocativeness, best seen in Stand by Me, the movie. I was vaguely aware of the '80s as '50s II. But just kept on liking the '50s idea, as seen in paintings in car ads &c. I inherited a bunch of 78s from 1905-45 and my music tastes got more out of control, to the present You Tube, where I indulge them all. Glossing over is what pop culture is all about. Barbie Girl...
@@tomfrazier1103 There were a lot of good things about the fifties and sixties, but American Pie reminds us that there was a lot of tragedy as well.
@@emmitstewart1921 I am innocent of "American Pie", and indeed much produced entertainment of the past twenty years. Through personal events I have "Fallen off the World", but am happier & more at peace than I have been before. I nonetheless appreciate some of contemporary life. Trend surfing is ultimately unsustainable, and I feel in no way "Less of a person" for my eccentricities.
Never again will there be music like the 60's and 70's. And here, 50 years later, that is still all we listen to. McLean summed it up beautifully!
Most of today’s music is disposable, we live in a disposable society. Cell phones, movies, clothes….music. Sad.
@@Carlos-fh8wk amen and no doubt about it
I’ve always assumed the “good old boy drinking whisky and rye” was reference to Waylon Jennings who supposedly lost a bet for his seat on the plane.
if it was in the time frame, then that is correct.
i heard that rumor also, from my late step dad.
I heard the theory that he is really saying "Whiskey in Rye" with Rye being a small town not far from where he grew up. The Levy being a tavern that was closed (that is "dry") and so they drove across the river the Rye where there was a tavern open. If you listen to his singing, it sounds like "in" rather than "and" although one could argue that he is singing 'n as an abbreviation for "and". Yes, I have heard about the sale of the original paper that he wrote the song on (and on the paper he writes "Whiskey and Rye" but who knows, maybe the sale of the original paper is a scam. For me, I think he is singing "Whiskey in Rye." Listen to the last verse where he is singing the song slowly.
The Levee was not open to sell booze, and them good ol boys were drinking whisky IN Rye, in another county which wasn't "dry" on Sundays.
But it is boys not boy
Dallas Brubaker my thoughts exactly.
Song writing at its very best.
Scott Hopkins what does not having other popular songs have to do with the amazing, deep writing of this song?
Relevant Relevancy he didn't mention any of that. How is this a libtard view
vincent was also a wonderfully written song, but I don't see how quantity has any bearing on good songwriting
Relevant Relevancy I disagree that that's a theme in the song
EverythingExpert Its just people who look too hard into details and proclaim everything they disagree with is liberal.
The Quartet practiced in the Park refers to the Beatles concert at Shea Stadium in 1965. We sang Dirges in the Dark in the dark is the NYC Blackout of the same year. The Birds are the band The BYRDS song 8 miles high which caused them to be banned on AM radio in 1966,
Also a reference, along with the 'fallout shelter' line, to anti-nuclear-weapons protests, since the radioactive fallout would go up to 8 miles high, then come crashing down, so you had to get to a fallout shelter in time
But who was the Queen to Elvis' King?
@@colleenross8752 Little Richard
@@colleenross8752
When I was ten in 72 my fifth grade teacher taught us the meaning of this song. She gave us lyric sheets and played it over and over on the phonograph explaining every line in great elaboration. She must have been super hip to the music scene as it was quite an education. Thank you this video brought that back.
We did that too. But it was in my soph. year of H.S.
In the first line of the fifth verse, McLean pronounce the word "generation" stuttering, it's a clear refrence to The Who, and they stuttering song "My Generation".
Who.
The Who.
The Who does the song.
@@swinde Who?
Absorb19 Who? What does it matter? i don't know.
"Helter skelter in a summer swelter" The summer swelter probably refers to MLKs dream-speech in which he says "This sweltering summer of the negro's legitimate discontent." Which is a reference to shakespeare. Nerdwriter made a good video on the speech.
välfärd AKA BÖRK BÖRK ! I think the summer swelter refers to that the Manson murders took place in the summer
Or to the Beatles song Helter skelter
Manson murders, a crazy dude killed people after thinking the beatles song was speaking to him
The Beatles song "Helter Skelter" came out in late summer 1968 then the words "healter skelter" [SIC] were written in blood on a refrigerator at one of the Charles Manson murder sites in the summer of 1969.
@Justice Boofer What's wrong dude?
www.thebeatles.com/song/helter-skelter
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helter_Skelter_(scenario)
Possibly one of the best American songs ever written, not only is it a great song but it's filled with musical history.
I am German. As a kid I heard this song on the radio with my parents and I always took it as this „prototype“ American acoustic song. Nothing more. I got a record player for my birthday a week ago and my grandfather had a first issue of the LP and said I could have it. Remembering the song I was turned off but since my grandfather was so nice and I have just a few records I took it home. I speak fluent English now and I am married to an American woman. Now I understand this song. From the first moment I heard this 50 year old record crackle I cried through the whole LP.
And the Jedi I admire most, met up with Darth Maul now he’s toast. 😢
A new mondegreen that will become a classic
Not a mondegreen... a parody - Weird Al Yankovik
And caught the last x-wing for the coast... the day Luke Skywalker died.
I'm still here and he's a ghost
@@cumaproto9466 I guess, i'll train...This boy
As a kid, I had the single version of the song. The song was so long, that you had to flip the 45 over halfway through!
Yep! I had that 45 too! In fact, to this day when I hear the song, I know exactly where I had to turn it over to hear the rest of the song!
Shawna t I’m 66 and got that on 45 also. I know the exact place when you had to turn it over too. I transferred it to a cassette tape and I didn’t make that great a job at the turn but it was still better than turning a disc.
That reminds me of eight track cassettes that I had in my car in the day. Some songs were interrupted by a track change.
I had that 45 too. As I remember, the ending of side 1 had a few extra notes that weren't in the full, unbroken song. I wondered how they did that.
I forgot if you mentioned it in this video but the lyric "They were singing, 'This'll be the day that I die'" Was about the Buddy Holly song 'That'll be the day'
I never appreciated before the symmetry in the song beginning with the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper and ending with a clear reference to Janis Joplin. Listeners in 1970 would naturally also think of the deaths of Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix, as well, just a year before the song came out. So the day the music died refers at the end to the deaths in 1970 as well as those in 1959. Fantastic song. I’m going to play it again right now.
Jim Morrison didn't die until after this song came out, so there can't be any references to JM
Completely wrong. The beatles, Bob Dylan, Don Mclean was there to look at Buddy's performance.
@@komergrowl7963 I think he means that people read in extra meaning because the time it was released in. Like, the thing about art is that once you release it to the public, it takes on extra meaning than what you may have originally meant.
@@andrejg4136 But a listener in 1970 as Tim Gaul says....could NOT "naturally think of the deaths of Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix...." Hendrix yes, but Jim didn't die until 1971...that is all i'm saying is that Tim Gaul is incorrect on that point
I think he just keeps mentioning tragic incidents and saying that that was "the day the music died", his repetition gives the phrase less meaning to show that music will never die
Buddy Holly's Death didnt just reveal the darkness beneath. You skipped a crucial line. The players tried to take the field, the marching band refused to yield = Kent State.
Cal Stanford?
@@scotta6823 Nope... that happened in 1982.
11 years after the song.
lol i know, it was a joke
That's what I thought too. That HAD to be in the song as it was a big turning point in history at that time...or any time.
The protesters got violent but the beatles called for peace
If you had done this about 9 months ago, my senior capston project would've been soo different
hannah kiernan I had one too what’d you do yours on?😂
Same
This is what is missing from most of today's music, the story.
If you think that the worst, manufactured music of today constitutes 'most of it', then you aren't looking anywhere near hard enough.
@@Mr_Bunk thank you. Older people are really ignorant, rose-tinted glasses + the fact that culture evolves they think surface-level pop is the music of 'today'
YES
Isn't there a story in "shake dat ass" lyrics?
It's still there, you just have to know where to look for it.
My mom has often reminisced about listening to this song on the radio with her siblings in the 70s and trying to decode all the lyrics and their meaning. Her oldest brother was particularly enamored with this song and it was one of his favorites throughout his life. Today marks the exact day of his tragic death 15 years ago, and for this video to pop up in my recommend feels like a comforting sign from him
I always thought he said "Lenin" not "Lennon" lol.
VintageLJ it's probably a play on words, what with the other references to communism included in the verse.
@LᗩᑎDO LᗩᑎD Lenin was dead but he did leave quite a legacy.
Same.
Its about the song imagine which lennon wrote in regrds to communism aka Marxism during the vietnam war as a protest
Wordplay at its finest.
There are so many differing opinions about this song, some ranging from the end of the world to US politics, to even a religious song. This wide range of beliefs make this song the best I have heard, I get different messages every time I listen to it. Not to mention it’s catchy as hell.
It could be just a song lol
In Jr High we had a history lesson on this song and it was the coolest class I ever had. American Pie is probably the greatest song ever written and always gives me chills so I try to listen to it sparingly to keep the magic but I forgot a lot of the "lore" so this is awesome!
Oh my gosh!!! It’s my favorite song ever written too, and gives me chills every time (which doesn’t happen to me often with music). The only other song that comes close to having such a soul-deep impact on me is Mrs. Robinson by Simon and Garfunkel 💙
BTW, Altamont wasn't 2 years after Woodstock. It was just a few months later.
"with a Pink Carnation and a pick-up truck" such a 50s Americana line,, always stuck with me
That line is from a sad and lovely song about a guy whose girl promised to go to the prom with him, but went with someone else. So, he’s all dressed up in boss white sport coat with a pink carnation, but he has no place to go. 😢
Nobody mentioned the “good ole boys singin this’ll be the day that I day” is a reference to Holly’s most famous song, That’ll be the Day
"That'll be the day ay ay
That I die."
But if the levee was a "spontaneous uprising to meet an advancing enemy", the other parts, like being dry (scared), getting drunk, and proclaiming to die make a lot better of a fit. Don't you think ?
Holly borrowed the phrase from a John Wayne line in John Ford's "The Searchers" [later the name of a British band].
and the "good old boys", southern rednecks who hated rock n roll believing it was "black music" and bad for the white teeny boppers.
"And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye. Singin' 'This'll be the day that I die. This'll be the day that I die.' " might also be a reference to Waylon Jennings, who was playing bass for Buddy & gave up his seat on the plane (to Richie, IIRC), and had pretty bad survivors guilt about it
Read my comment on that
it also references the song 'That'll be the Day'.
I didn't know that. That's a bummer
All these years I thought he sang "lenin read a book on marx" and maybe he was aware of and pleases with having that layer too. Lennon, however, makes more sense in context. Thanks for this detail. I learned to sing the song but never quite understood it, except for the plane crash part.
I think there is a pun intended. There used to be an advert on British TV in the '80s where a rich young woman discovers an intruder in her house. He's a communist and tells her 'property is theft,' They end up raising a glass of the deink being advertised. (I think it was a spirit - really can't remember.) He says : "Here's to Lenin!" She adds, 'and McCartney.'
It was a play on words.
The actual lyrc is 'Lenin', but it is a clear pun meant to reference Lennon as well.
Poetry beyond words. Still moves me to tears listening to the rich symbolism and raw meaning behind every single word of that song.
Why am I nostalgic for 50s Americana now I’m a 19 y/o girl from England
I'm 37 and live in the States....and I love it too!✌
Funny, I'm an American enamored by Elizabethan England. Despite all the horrors contained in past eras, we humans do like to paint a pretty picture.
Same reason anyone would have nostalgia for a past decade... Because they weren't really there and don't know how much it actually sucked.
Bee Whistler so basically anyone born in the next decade
Because everything is all screwed up now. There is nothing at all simple about the time we live in. There is no innocence. Each idea is out to destroy us. To eat us whole and rape whatever is left. The world went from being a place that people filled and created to a place where people are devoured.
There are literally hundreds of sites on the web trying to interpret the plethora of allegations in this iconic song. This video raps it all up with historic audio and video and a very informative narration. This spans my youth and I‘m not ashamed to admit that I had a mist in my eyes! Thank you for this way down memory lane!
Such a deep feeling this song evokes.
I've had the thought that the 60's were Amrica's puberty.
Learning about this songs meaning and the history of Rock n' Roll makes me appreciate this song that much more.
You missed what 'The Levy' was. One line that always confused the heck out of me. The Levy was a name of a bar. It is amazing that McLean penned these lyrics along with the poetic 'Vincent' when he was like, what, 21??
Levy’s are what keep a river from overflowing, so it being Dry is bad
There was never a record of a bar or pub named the Levy ever existing, but a Levee is where most teenagers and young adults took their cars to hang out or racing
Or it was actually a metaphore meaning I took it to the limit and couldn`t stop. Probably what they actually meant.
guibox3 the levee is a bar in new Rochelle In New York now called beachmont tavern. McLean attended Iona college and this was the bar across the street they would all hang out at and blow off steam
@@TheDillon1409 Nice.... the drinking age was still 18 in NY back then.... so yeah, sounds good.
Woodstock was not PLANNED as a free concert, and Altamont was in December of the same year, Woodstock being in August. NOT two years later. Both events occurred in the same year - 1969. You may be confusing Woodstock with the Monterey Pop Festival which was held in 1967.
I also believe that the phrase "and then we were all in one place, a generation lost in space" is referencing Woodstock before it goes on to talk about the rolling stones show in Altamont
Robyn Locksley Woodstock was not a free concert at as you correctly said. So many people just crashed the scene there was no way to control it.
David Kyle what made the altamont concert such a disaster then? It’s so disappointing though because those were the most memorable concerts of possibly all time in the 60s. It just all came crashing down
@@ProMrLecoq01 There were many reasons Altamont was a disaster but the primary reasons were unruly crowds, lots of stoned and drunk people, and the use of the Hells Angels as security (it is debated whether the Angels were actually hired as security). What is not debated is that someone in the crowd had a beef with someone and drew a gun and was killed right in front of the stage. That was the end of any chance of a peaceful event. Watch the Stones documentary "Gimme Shelter" and you can get a sense of foreboding that they had going into that concert and the murder is well documented on film. Also, the events were quite different in nature too, Woodstock was planned as 3 days of Peace and Music, 30+ bands which drew half a million people AND it was the first mega concert. Altmont was a bit of a copy cat show. It drew 200K fewer people and was only one day with a few bands. All in all, I think that this vid does a good job trying to unravel American Pie, but in the end, we will only know what it means when Don McLean tells us what he meant line by line.
@@davidkyle5017 Thanks for your excellent comment. You got it right. Here's what I remember: Altamont was very disorganized. The concert was moved there at the last moment so to speak. It had been planned for Golden Gate Park when I first heard about it. But there was a San Francisco 49ers football game scheduled to be played there at Kezar Stadium. Then it was supposed to be at Sears Point Raceway. There was a dispute about money, so then it was changed to Altamont. My bride and I had planned to go. But I changed my mind when I heard on the radio how disorganized the planning had been. My best friend went. He had a cold and was freezing his ass off after it got dark so he left early. Another acquaintance of mine went too. He told me he didn't enjoy the experience because he felt the crowd around him was too close for comfort. The stage at Altamont was too low and easily accessible to the crowd. To me it felt like Altamont was one of the events that brought the 60's to a screeching halt, at least in California. Another was the Tate and LaBianca murders by members of the Manson Family. And still another was the Zodiac murders. Bye-Bye American Pie.
I saw Don McClean play this on New Year's Eve 1999, the last day and night of 20th century and the millennium. I was 17, at the Half Shell in Boston with my mom. It was an amazing night that I'll never forget.
No, the new millennium started on Jan. 1, 2001. There was never a year 0.
@@richardrose2606 🤓
MacLean
Freddy Mercury admittedly loved this song.
I'm 60 years old now. American Pie is my favorite song. The poetry and delivery still gives me chill bumps. A loss of innocence where there wasn't really innocence to start with.
It’s perhaps the most significant commentary on American culture. Deep, thoughtful and compelling a true classic .
Well, there's also we didn't start the fire, but yes.
And yet this guys interpretation completely missed the mark despite having most of it correct.
My music teacher in high school gave a guest lecture at the rock and roll hall of fame on this song. Probably one of the most memorable high school classes I've ever had. I got this lecture 14 years ago and I still remember this like it was yesterday. Phenomenal job
If you are a certain age, you know all the words to this song. In 1972, it was played on most radio stations several times per day. The things is, you never seemed to get tired of hearing it..,even 50+ years later.
In "Rebel without a Cause", James Dean's character had several causes.
Calpsotoma.. Just rewatched that movie last week on TCM CHANNEL. Yeah, now that you mention it, whose bright idea was it to give the movie that title? Because you are absolutely right about Dean's character. Maybe Nick Ray came up with the name and it probably sounded great in 1955.
I will admit it’s been awhile since I’ve seen it so I may be wrong, but isn’t it more about how he comes to have those causes, and implying that they themselves are not the cause of his rebellion, but rather just what he picks up along the way to satisfy his rebellious nature? I agree, he did have causes, but that’s the way I interpreted that film. But it’s been a good six years since I’ve seen it so I may be wrong.
That 70’s Show reference?
He also lends his coat to Sal Minnio's character near the end....
@@thegoose0m1
That's right! Never thought of that. It ties in to the song.
Love the analysis! I think Don was a bit more nostalgic for the 50’s than you give him credit for. I think he loved the social progress, but from the messaging of this song, likely thought the price paid was extraordinarily high. The chorus’ connotation says it all. And the fact that he ends with it like he does, in a slowed chorus, further reinforces this bitter point.
I once read an interview with Don and he said he was a John Wayne movie fan, am i nuts?
In case anyone is interested, here is my Covid-19 parody of "American Pie":
“Bye, Bye, the American Dream”
[Intro]
A short, short time ago
I can still remember how that POTUS used to make me frown.
And I knew if I screamed the most,
That I could drive him from his post,
And stop him dragging everybody down.
But February brought pandemic,
Which pretty soon became systemic.
Bad news is the norm now,
Seems like there’s nothing more now.
I know my anger wildly leapt
When I read how thousands more now slept
Because this White House is inept.
A helpless nation wept.
[Chorus:]
So bye, bye, the American dream.
Now the shades of golden decades disappear like a meme.
These tragic days are just as black as they seem,
Donald Trump has killed America’s dream!
Trump has killed America’s dream.
[Verse 1]
Do you worship Donald Trump?
Because if you do, you are a chump!
Every presser tells us so!
Now do you believe Trump is the Man?
Do you think he’ll save us if he can?
‘Cause if you do, that just shows what you know!
Well, it seems like you're in love with Trump
'Cause you hop each time he says to jump!
When you’ve licked off his shoes
It’s America that will lose!
I was a simple human, happy wife,
With a fam’ly and contented life,
But now the epidemic’s rife.
A helpless nation wept.
[Chorus:]
I started singing bye, bye, the American dream.
Now the shades of golden decades disappear like a meme.
These tragic days are just as black as they seem,
Donald Trump has killed America’s dream!
Trump has killed America’s dream.
[Verse 2]
Now for two months we've been on our own
While Donald flails from his rotting throne,
But that's not how it ought to be.
He could take control, find the brains to lead,
Heed the experts, maybe learn to READ!
Hear the voice that comes from you and me!
Oh, but as he mocks and whines and lies
We stand helpless while our nation dies!
His sycophants won’t care -
‘Cause the one percent’s still there!
And while Moscow Mitch read a book by Rand
And denied the poor a helping hand,
The GOP preserved its brand
A helpless nation wept.
[Chorus:]
We were singing bye, bye, the American dream.
Now the shades of golden decades disappear like a meme.
These tragic days are just as black as they seem,
Donald Trump has killed America’s dream!
Trump has killed America’s dream.
[Verse 3]
Helter skelter in a springtime swelter
Trump does nothing to give us shelter,
Fifty thousand deaths and climbing fast!
We’re landing dead upon the grass,
The governors try a Hail Mary pass,
With Trump there on the sidelines talking sass.
Now the dying find the breathing rough,
‘Cause the ventilators - there aren’t enough.
And no wants to dance,
Even if we had the chance!
When the experts tried to take the field,
The Fool-in-Chief refused to yield
His hate-filled soul has been revealed
A helpless nation wept.
[Chorus:]
We started singing bye, bye, the American dream.
Now the shades of golden decades disappear like a meme.
These tragic days are just as black as they seem,
Donald Trump has killed America’s dream!
Trump has killed America’s dream.
[Verse 4]
And here we shelter in our place
Not meeting loved ones face-to-face,
With no time now to say goodbye.
So come on, Pence, invoke the 25th
Replace this clown with someone fit,
Even you would be a much more able guy!
Although as I watch you on the stage
My hands are clenched in fists of rage
You toady, born in hell,
You’ve drunk that madman's spell!
And as the flames climb high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I see Donald laughing with delight
A helpless nation wept.
[Chorus:]
He was singing bye, bye, the American dream.
Now the shades of golden decades disappear like a meme.
These tragic days are just as black as they seem,
Donald Trump has killed America’s dream!
Trump has killed America’s dream.
[Outro]
I am the girl who sings the blues,
So don’t ask me for some happy news;
For I’ll just weep and turn away.
We can’t go to the sacred store
Where we’ve heard the music years before,
For the stores, they all are silent night and day.
And in the streets, no children scream,
No lovers cry and no poets dream.
No, not a word is spoken,
The church bells all are broken.
And the folks that I admire best,
Obama, Warren and the rest,
I know they could have stood the test.
Instead, the nation wept.
[Chorus:]
And we’re left singing bye, bye, the American dream.
Now the shades of golden decades disappear like a meme.
These tragic days are just as black as they seem,
Donald Trump has killed America’s dream!
Trump has killed America’s dream.
[Chorus:]
We’re left singing bye, bye, the American dream.
Now the shades of golden decades disappear like a meme.
These tragic days are just as black as they seem,
Donald Trump has killed America’s dream!
@@Anjuli50 Take heart. The election is coming. We can even get the Senate so they say. We can't bring back the dead from tRump's inaction, but America and the world will get past this eventually.
@@Anjuli50
Don't quit your day job
@@Anjuli50 Oh my God, get a life.
So the chorus is like a farewell to the past, a signal that times are changing.
That is so thoughtful.
I didn't really get this song before seeing this video. I felt like there was a deeper meaning to it but I didn't understand until now.
American Pie is going to hit me different from now on.
Some nice work, here, and I'm grateful for it, especially for the info that The Levy was a bar. Having lived through all the times mentioned in the song, and having some input from other commentators, I wish to make a few comments. First, importantly, there is nothing at all in the song about the 1950's having a dark side or being superficial; they are an idealized, deeply loved and badly missed time for McLean. Part of what he was lamenting was the death of music you could DANCE TO. When the Beatles became big, lots of the music they played, and that other groups played, was great music but it wasn't dance music. That theme is in more than one verse, but especially "we all got up to dance, but we never got the chance." Why didn't we get the chance to dance? Because "as the players (of real music, the music that died with Buddy Holly and everyone of that era) tried to take the field, the marching band (a really nasty description of the Beatles rooted in Sergeant Pepper, that I find very clever) refused to yield." What was revealed the day the music died was that dance-able songs, love songs, innocent songs, happy songs were not going to be the music we got (at least not so much) any more. Another withering description of the Beatles is "the Quartet" that practiced in the park while Lennon read a book on Marx--again, not American pie. Then, there is no question at all that the Jester is Dylan or that the King was Presly. I'm confident that McLean never intended any reference to the Mansons--he's referring to the Birds' song--nor to the massacre of students at Kent State, nor the Viet Nam war. All of these seemingly reasonable ideas are being read back into a much simpler message about the death of a simpler time of rock n roll. "Moss grows FAT on a rolling stone" is, duh, the Rolling Stones, very popular, but not many dance songs--and the moss had been growing during the entire ten years between the death of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper and the release of McLean's epic eulogy. Jack be nimble, Jack be quick" is a reference to the Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and as McKean watched Mick Jagger singing on the stage, his hands were clinched in fists of rage--rage that there was no dance music, about the British "invasion" of music, and sweet rock n roll being killed off. Janice Joplin is, of course, the girl who sang the blues--there is no other meaning to that piece of the song--but, again, no more happy, sweet rock.The "sacred store" must surely be a record store or a radio station, but the old rock n roll wouldn't play anymore. The trinity of men he admired most are quite certainly Holly, the Big Bopper and Valens--there is not a single political reference in American Pie. And the title, "American Pie" is surely a reference to the very widely known and used phrase "It's as American as apple pie." The new music wasn't like the good old boys' music, and the key influencers of music were now mostly from England (with the Jester being a key exception), so, Bye bye American Pie.
James Mead I have heard others mention the same concept, Music style as the bases for the lyrics. And when you keep in mind that most of the political interpretations seem to be ........stretched.
Motown?
Remember the first song that the kids couldn’t seem to dance to on A Erica Bandstand? It was the theme song to Mission Impossible (the TV show). We really did live through some amazing times. Much love. 💕🐝
I always thought the line "Moss grows fat on a Rolling Stone" to be a reference to the death of Brian Jones,
As the video shows, "Jack Flash sat on a candle stick because, fire is the devil's only friend, & hands were clenched in fist of rage" is a direct reference to the Rolling Stones "free" concert in Altamont California 4 months, not 2 years, after Woodstock.. "no angle born in hell, could break that Satins spell" ...Hells Angles...."and as the flames climbed high into the night, to light the sacrificial rite, I saw Satin laughing with delight, the day the music died. The Hells Angles were "Hired" as crowd control....well you may already know this, but, a man with a gun was stabbed to death by a Hells Angle, the "sacrifice". It might have been the writer was lamenting the death of danceable music, but it sure sounds like it was the death of the hippie way: peace and love. that inspired those lyrics. Remember, sometimes song writers like words that just rhyme. Did you dance to Joplin's happy sweet song Ball and Chain?
No one:
McLean: Well, the 50’s were fun but now I’m paying for it
you make so many great videos but this one was even more extraordinary
I was born in 1955 and I remember everything the song is telling us. It’s very nostalgic. I feel we need a new American Pie because things are still happening here in America and beyond.
Funny, I know every word to this song and I'm just now understanding what he was singing about. Then again, I'm born in 95 so I wasn't around for any of this...
They really don't write music like this anymore
I always thought that "the father, son and the holy ghost" was meant in a more literal way, as in "god has left us"
Mareike Nienhaus
I don't think He leaves us...we leave Him. We took prayer from public schools 1962/1963.
@@frankiebutler2894 stfu
That's what I always thought too
Sounds right to me
@pyropulse hes saying that the tragedy that took place in 1959 was so bad that no god would let that happen, in reality tho it's all subjective who's to say who's right it's all a bunch of words
🎶Oh, my, my, this here Anakin guy
May be Vader some day later, now he’s just a small fry🎶
Uriah Siner I used to listen to that so much when I was young haha.
Uriah Siner love weird Al
He left his home, he kissed his mommy goodbye saying "soon I'm going to be a Jedi."
I used to watch a Lego stop motion of that
That's literally all I was thinking this entire video lmao
Being in HS when American Pie first came out, we instinctively knew exactly what Don Adams was saying. Thank you for putting this video up for all to understand the Zeitgeist of my generation.
This is one of your best essays.. I knew a lot of McLean's references but you shined a lot of new ones. Great work.
oh man, i love this channel
wow it's you
This may well be one of the best researched videos I've seen in many a year.
This is the cross over episode of my dreams
never thought I would find you here but love ya VLSkate
You missed the eight miles high and Byrds pun.
And That'll Be the Day
I was thinking that lyric might have been referencing that song as well.
It was a pre-tribute to Eminem.
@@jimbo-fk4dq I've never thought it could be a reference to anything other than that song.
it is about substance abuse and '' supposedly . . . rioting '' .
You always take me straight "back" to the decades you are talking about. I love your work and your capability in teaching me music history.
Don McLean’s American Pie is a Living
Legend in the History of Music.The Sixties
was a Decade of the Explosion of Music.
The Groups and Artists were the Fore Runners of what we see today.I remember
the 50’s 60’s,70’s and 80’s very well indeed.
They will live evermore in the Legends of
Music.The Music did die on the 6th December,1969 at the Altomont SpeedWay.
Totally glossed over The Byrds Eight Miles High reference.
I thought so too, maybe a reference to the drug culture?
@@paulspears715 Eight Miles High is another drug reference song that isn't about drugs..... just like Horse with no Name.
I don't think anyone gave a shit about the Byrds first trip to London..... but "eight miles high" (as a drug reference) is certainly something my generation could relate to.... ha hah ;-)
The Byrds said in interview that they flew to London and “Eight Miles High” referred to the height of the aeroplane (although it is a is bit higher than reality. )
"And that, I think, was the handle-that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting-on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark-that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.” - Hunter S Thompson
The Modern Martial Artist one of the best passages from Fear and Loathing... Bravo, fellow internet person!
Ye gods but I do love that bit.
Bravo, The Modern Martial Artist!
Probably the most beautiful passage from Fear and Loathing
Every time I read that passage, all the hair on my body stands on end. Like a memory of lightning that struck so many years ago, nostalgia for a moment I wasn't even alive for.
I love his answer to someone who asked him once what this song means he said "It means, I never have to work again."
This was hands down the best, most clearly defined interpretation of the song. It shed light on parts I always wondered about but makes perfect sense now. 👌
I would have thought the Jester was John Lennon and the reference to stealing his thorny crown was directed to the '' Were bigger than Jesus '' statement which caused the big uproar and destruction of Beatles memorabilia in the USA
@pikricky I like that interpretation. Always thought the jester referred to Oswald...who is said to be the patsy in JFKs murder. I love hearing all the different takes. In 2015 Don sold the lyrics for $1.2 mil...then actually gave a somewhat vague description of the lyrics essentially boiling it down to societal change..and that indeed, he left the lyrics very open to interpretation. Thats some massive talent.
Johns voice isn’t the voice of the people though
Also when you write a story about a jester. You keep his identity mysterious, Lennon is directly referenced in the lyrics. Then the jester is referenced later, showing that the author is almost make sure we don’t confuse the two
How is Lennon "on the sideline in a cast", though?
Jester is Dylan...
half time air with sweet perfume could be a reference to the smell marijuana that appeared a lot in the 1960's
That was a fantastic breakdown of this song. Well done! I really learned a lot. Thank you.
Wow this was the first time I've seen your work... REALLY enjoyed the break down of this timeless song. Enthusiastically subscribed!
Will we ever have another era like this? Music was so revolutionary, now it’s been driven into the ground and turned into a machine pumping out nothing but soulless repetition
Unknown Listener there’s still plenty of original music. It’s just not as mainstream as it was then, unfortunately.
I think the mediums changed. music was all there was back then, but now there are so many accessible ways for people to express their voices
lightningstar1231 true, but then that’s point. It’s like about the dark ages. It didn’t affect the whole world, but it did affect what we perceive as OUR world. The same is true for music. Great artists and their works are still out there, but does it matter if no one is exposed to it?
The Great Hambino honestly, it doesn’t matter to me. People can enjoy what they enjoy. I’ve found my good music, they’ve found theirs.
Don’t be so pessimistic! Music now is incredible. So many underground artists that otherwise would never get the chance to explode have reached a new fan base. This age doesn’t have to be so bad-there’s still plenty of amazing music. We just have to wait 10 years to see what it is.
I have no idea why but, the song meant something to me at 6 years old.
Besides happy birthday and a couple Christmas carols, this is the first song I remember.
mech5 fab I know exactly what you mean
Even though I was born in the 2000s this and a few bob Dylan songs are the earliest things I can remember
You are blessed to remember the first song. For me it was Evil Ways by Santana. I was 6yrs old at Woodstock and he was the first person that I watched and said WOW!
Same here-enough that I used to have the sheet music for this song. Used to play on classic rock radio (in the 1980's) and my biggest pet peeve was when they station would play the radio edit (which fades out after...I think it's verse 3) instead of the full version. I always thought the title was "The Day the Music Died."
Not sure why it stuck with me: I didn't know what it was referencing at all (I think my mom eventually explained what the day the music died was-but that happened before SHE was born, too).
Mech5, it was Satan cooing at you.
You did a great job on explaining and analyzing American Pie! I am saving this clip. Thanks for making and posting it!
Our women and young girls were raped in the most brutal ways in Bosnia plus the Srebrenica genocide and same rapes of Muslims happen in Iraq. This does tickle me so much. I was told how ugly i am,even Bosniak girls would tell me,and it tickles me,because it is not my fault,and now when i need a girl..........im so desperate,all i really do is think of Serbian and American girls,and you know what else. Right? BTW- (Kosovo Is NOT Serbia) We need our revenge.Ok.......
Absolutely perfectly done..amazing breakdown to one of music's most memorable pieces/masterpieces ever written/created
Not gonna lie, you made me realize how much deeper this song was. I actually thought it was solely about a moment in the 50s when Don McLean learned the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, like a time capsule of what it was like then.
Though when will people figure out it's pronounced "VAL-ens", not "VAIL-ens"...? Either way, a very deep song that has that nostalgia running through the music as well as the lyrics.
Eight Miles High from the Birds refrence !
sieb ten haaf
You mean Byrds, of course
Oh yeah! I always forget that. Thanks !
What is it a reference to?
jared moss Their hit song Eight Miles High
@@jaredmoss1290
Drug use. That was what the Byrds were referring to as well.
Very nicely done. Such a poignant song. Makes you smile and cry.😀😢
This video is beautifully made, great job 👍
A friend of mine was once a telephone installer for GTE (now Verizon) in Irving, Texas. One day in 1983 she did an install at a home of a woman who lived alone in the more affluent section of town and noticed all these gold records on the walls of the home. They were all by Buddy Holly. The name on the work order was "Maria Elena Salinas." During the install they made small talk. Maria mentioned that she had met her husband in New York City, but she had been a widow since 1959 when her husband was killed. Not yet putting two and two together, my friend, a native Texan, said, "Oh, I don't think I could ever live in New York." Then it hit her that Maria was Buddy Holly's widow. She said nothing more about it until she got back to the telephone truck and just said simply, "WOW!"
Oh by the way, there's a coda to this story. Thirty-six years later my friend is now Senior Vice President of Engineering for Fox News Channel -- AND LIVES IN NEW YORK!!
Nice story !
I live in dallas where did this lady live ?? I wanna see if she’s still round
@@ipodtouchfreak100 I believe she still lives in Irving, but I don't know anymore than that. Probably has an unlisted phone number for obvious reasons.
Dave Mitchell makes sense , that’s crazy though that she lives so close to me when she could live anywhere else in the world. Would love to chat with her and hear the stories she has to tell.
Did a dance solo to this song when I was 13... the full 8 minutes. My favorite piece I ever did. Great song
Color me impressed! Stamina! 💕🐝
The Stones were playing Under My Thumb when Hunter was killed.
Not Sympathy
They actually stopped and started the song again as the violence kept escalating.
Amazing Analysis of a Great Iconic Song that represents a slice of Time in American History that was a special time, then a changing whirlwind hard time. Well done
Arguably the greatest Americana song ever written.
I was reading a novel called King of Thorns recently, and there's a scene where they reference American Pie. It's just a passing reference, but basically, they hint that in the world of the story America itself has been long forgotten, and the only thing left that people remember is the song American Pie. In the month or so since I read that I've just been listening to this song CONSTANTLY and while I caught a few references, I never knew it had such a deep meaning. Now I understand why Mark Lawrence (the author) chose this song specifically.
"We all got up to dance, but we never got the chance." Sargent Pepper was the album that kicked off experimental music to a degree. It was the first Beatles album that was probably difficult to dance to relative to music before it.
Now that you know the references that inspired this song, you can go to the next chapter, namely, that this song inspired another classic, "Killling Me Softly with His Song".
I don't know if I could love this more than I already do. I've always loved this song, but love the backstory just as much. You nailed this.
Chad Caron No he didn’t. He got most of it right, but completely omitted the ending which in turn misses the entire point. Probably on purpose because he didn’t like what it meant.
The Father, Son , and the Holy Ghost can also be just a reference to The Holy Trinity, with Don saying that even God abandoned them at Altamont.
This is an incredible analysis that just makes me appreciate this song even more. Well done.
this is my favorite song because i sang this with my dad in the car with my whole family for the first time in 3 years- my sister was in rehab and we were visiting her, and the time was very hard for me. this song means so much to me now and this song means so much to our history too 🥺
This was the first song I ever memorized because my mother would always sing it. I never really cared for it to be understood; rather I just think it's a beautiful song
My Mom dug this song too along with Vicent ... Miss you Mom
I think the line about 'the father , son , and holy ghost' is more of a reference to
a loss of innocence or faith .
It is, but of course many people don’t want to hear that.
... and I've often wondered if "they caught the last train for the coast" was a reference to the Jesus people movement that seemed to start in California.
Loss of both innocence and faith is a good thing. Innocence is ignorance and faith is pure gullibility.
@@nikolatesla5553 Agreed.
@@nikolatesla5553 You have no evidence to support your claim except your pride which cannot lower itself down to admit the faulty logic you display. In the proper context not stained by t.v. programming or the result of outright brainwashing Innocence is purity while faith is trust. I suggest you do your homework.
This one of the best channels, and boy… I have been all over UA-cam. Such a great storyteller!
This song has always been so special and powerful to me. On the first acid trip I ever took it started playing while I was staring at the textures of my ceiling that pulsed slowly like some ancient secret being revealed to me. All those 60's references in the song just felt like the entirety of that era's psychedelic experiences were being condensed into the slow pulsing of my ceiling--a history coming full circle and becoming whole like an Enso. "...a generation lost in space...Do you believe in rock'n'roll and can music save your mortal soul?"