'American Pie'

I think the song, "American Pie" is just the greatest song ever. Or one of the greatest. It's really good no matter how you slice it.

I remember my young teenage years when I first heard it and I remember trying to figure out the lyrics, obviously some kind of ode to "The Day the Music Died" when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and everyone not Waylon Jennings died in that airplane crash.

However, it's a cryptic song. I asked my mother about it and she thought it was religious. Don McLean references "the devil's only friend," "Satan," "the father, son and Holy Ghost," "God," "Bible" and "soul."

She said that Satan was the choir leader (for lack of a better word) before he was cast down from heaven for getting all high and mighty. That would be the "day the music died."

It's flimsy. I tend to agree with the general consensus that it refers to McLean's discovery of the crash, the 1960s and the turmoil (assassinations, whatnot) that took place that killed the "innocence" (getting girls pregnant in the back of cars, smoking weed) of the era.

Some brilliant lyrics in here. Some of my favorites:

"Now for 10 years we’ve been on our own/And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone/But that’s not how it used to be."

"Do you believe in rock ’n roll/Can music save your mortal soul/And can you teach me how to dance real slow?"

"Well, I know that you’re in love with him/`Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym."

Later, Madonna would cover the song and Grand Rapids, Mich. would make a music video using the song as a way to promote their city.

As to what McLean said the song meant to him: " "It means I never have to work again."

Funny.