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“A long, long time ago
I can still remember
how that music used to make me smile
and I knew if I had my chance
that I could make those people dance
and, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.
But february made me shiver
with every paper I’d deliver
bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step.
I can’t remember if I cried
when I read about his widowed bride
but something touched me deep inside
the day the music died.
So bye-bye, miss American Pie
drove my Chevy to the levee
but the levee was dry
and them good old boys
were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
singin’, – this’ll be the day that I die
this’ll be the day that I die -.
Did you write the book of love
and do you have faith in God above
if the Bible tells you so?
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
you both kicked off your shoes
man, I dig those rhythm and blues.
I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
with a pink carnation and a pickup truck
but I knew I was out of luck
the day the music died.
I started singin’
– bye-bye, miss American Pie –
drove my Chevy to the levee
but the levee was dry
them good old boys
were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
and singin’, – this’ll be the day that I die
this’ll be the day that I die -.
Now for ten years we’ve been on our own
and moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone
but that’s not how it used to be
when the Jester sang for the King and Queen
in a coat he borrowed from James Dean
and a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while the King was looking down
the Jester stole his thorny crown
the courtroom was adjourned
no verdict was returned
and while Lennon read a book of Marx
the quartet practiced in the park
and we sang dirges in the dark
the day the music died.
We were singing
– bye-bye, miss american pie –
drove my Chevy to the levee
but the levee was dry
them good old boys
were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
and singin’, – this’ll be the day that I die
this’ll be the day that I die -.
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
the birds flew off with a fallout shelter
eight miles high and falling fast
it landed foul on the grass
the players tried for a forward pass
with the jester on the sidelines in a cast.
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
while the sergeants played a marching tune
we all got up to dance
oh, but we never got the chance
‘cause the players tried to take the field
the marching band refused to yield
do you recall what was revealed
the day the music died?
We were singing
– bye-bye, miss American Pie –
drove my Chevy to the levee
but the levee was dry
them good old boys
were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
and singin’, – this’ll be the day that I die
this’ll be the day that I die -.
Oh, and there we were all in one place
a generation lost in space
with no time left to start again
so come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
cause fire is the devil’s only friend.
Oh, and 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
and as the flames climbed high into the night
to light the sacrificial rite
I saw satan laughing with delight
the day the music died
We were singing
– bye-bye, miss American Pie –
drove my Chevy to the levee
but the levee was dry
them good old boys
were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
and singin’, – this’ll be the day that I die
this’ll be the day that I die -.
I met a girl who sang the blues
and I asked her for some happy news
but she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
where I’d heard the music years before
but the man there said the music wouldn’t play.
And in the streets: the children screamed
the lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
but not a word was spoken
the church bells all were broken
and the three men I admire most
the father, son, and the holy ghost
they caught the last train for the coast
the day the music died.
We were singing
– bye-bye, miss American Pie –
drove my Chevy to the levee
but the levee was dry
them good old boys
were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
and singin’, – this’ll be the day that I die
this’ll be the day that I die -.
They were singing
– bye-bye, miss American Pie –
drove my Chevy to the levee
but the levee was dry
them good old boys
were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
singin’, – this’ll be the day that I die -“.
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Translation.
“I remember, a long time ago
how that music made me smile
and I knew that if I had my chance
I would have made those people dance
and maybe she would be happy for a while
But February creeped me out
every newspaper I delivered
bad news at the door
I couldn't go on like this
I can't remember if I cried
when I read of his widowed bride
but something touched me deeply
the day the music died
Goodbye, Miss American Pie
I drove my Chevy up to the levee
but the bank was dry
and they, good old friends
they were drinking rye whiskey
singing - this is the day I will die
this is the day I will die -.
You wrote the Book of Love
and do you believe in God above?
If the Bible says so
Do you believe in rock and roll now?
And can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to really slow dance?
I know you are in love with him
because I saw you dance in the gym
you both kicked off your shoes
I enjoyed those rhythm and blues
I was just a lonely kid with no money
with a pink carnation and a pick up
but I knew the day that music was dead
I would have been unlucky
I started singing
Goodbye, Miss American Pie
I drove my Chevy up to the levee
but the bank was dry
and they, good old friends
they were drinking rye whiskey
singing - this is the day I will die
this is the day I will die -.
For ten years we have been on our own
and moss has grown thick on a rolling stone
but this is not how it should be
when the jester sang for King and Queen
in a coat borrowed from James Dean
and a voice that came from you and me
And while the King was looking down
the jester stole his crown of thorns
the trial was postponed
no verdict was issued
and while Lennon was reading a book by Marx
the quartet practiced in the park
and we sang dirges in the dark
that day the music died
We were singing
Goodbye, Miss American Pie
I drove my Chevy up to the levee
but the bank was dry
and they, good old friends
they were drinking rye whiskey
singing - this is the day I will die
this is the day I will die -.
Helter Skelter in a sweltering summer
the Byrds flew off with a fallout shelter
eight miles up and then swooping down
landed hard on the ground
players try to step forward
with the jester in the sidelines towards the goal
The air during the first half was sweetly scented
while the Sergents played in a marching tone
we all got up to dance
but we didn't have the time to do it
because the players tried to conquer the field
The Marching Band refused to budge
do you remember what happened
that day the music died
We started singing
Goodbye, Miss American Pie
I drove my Chevy up to the levee
but the bank was dry
and they, good old friends
they were drinking rye whiskey
singing - this is the day I will die
this is the day I will die -.
And there we were all in one place
a generation lost in space
no time to start over
come on Jack, come, be nimble, be quick
Jack Flash sat on a chandelier
because fire is the only friend of the Devil
I was watching it on stage
my hands clenched in a fist of rage
no angel is born in hell
I could break the spell of Satan
and as the flames rose high into the night
to illuminate the rite of sacrifice
I have seen Satan fall in delight
that day the music died
He was singing
Goodbye, Miss American Pie
I drove my Chevy up to the levee
but the bank was dry
and they, good old friends
they were drinking rye whiskey
singing - this is the day I will die
this is the day I will die -.
I met a girl who sang the blues
and asked her to give me some good news
but she just smiled and walked away
then I headed to this sacred shop
where years before I listened to music
but there the man told me the music would not play
And at that moment the children screamed in the streets
lovers wept and poets dreamed
but not a word was said
all the church bells broke
and the three men I loved the most
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
them, the day the music died
they took the last train to the coast
They were singing
Goodbye, Miss American Pie
I drove my Chevy up to the levee
but the bank was dry
and they, good old friends
they were drinking rye whiskey
singing - this is the day I will die
this is the day I will die -.
They were singing
Goodbye, Miss American Pie
I drove my Chevy up to the levee
but the bank was dry
and they, good old friends
they were drinking rye whiskey
singing – this is the day I will die -“.
(Translation byFrancesco Komd)
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Don McLean,American pie– 8:33
(Don McLean)
Album:American Pie(1971)
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Quotations.
“American Pieis a famous rock song by the American singer-songwriterDon McLean. The piece often refers to “the day the music died”, in English “The Day the Music Died": the conventional term used to remember the plane crash that occurred in Clear Lake, Iowa (United States) on February 3, 1959, in which they lost their livesBuddy Holly,Ritchie ValenseJ.P. Richardson, on their way to Fargo for a concert. Starting from this event, the text seems to develop a sort of history of rock and roll, made up of allusions that are not easy to interpret. The text is extremely obscure and there have been many attempts to give interpretations of a social, political, religious, musicological and so on nature.McLeanhe never agreed to clarify its exact meaning. HoweverDon McLeanfinally offered to provide more explanations and shed more light on the aura of mystery that had always enveloped his song, especially in February 2015 when he declared that he would reveal the fundamental meaning of the song on the occasion of the auction at which it would be placed the original manuscript of the piece, which was held on April 7, 2015 in New York City and the manuscript was later sold for $1.2 million. The sales catalog of the autograph document reported the declaration of the American singer-songwriter regarding the text of his work: "Basically in American Pie things are heading in the wrong direction. … It [life] is becoming less idyllic. I don’t know whether you consider that wrong or right but it is a morality song in a sense“. ("Basically, in "American Pie”Things are going in the wrong direction… Life is becoming less idyllic. I don't know if you think it's right or wrong but in a way it's a moral song, about morality". In addition to the intent to commemorate the tragedy of the Clear Lake plane crash, whichMcLeanhimself stated that it allowed him to externalize, finally express his deep mourning and pain that had always accompanied him in particular forBuddy Holly, to which he dedicated the album from which the piece is taken, it seems that the text, seen as a whole, wants to suggest, as a common thread, a general loss of innocence, genuineness and light-heartedness in the history of rock and roll, probably precisely after the tragedy.
At the beginning of the song,McLeantells of how his initial childhood dream of becoming a real singer, entertainer who could make people dance and have fun ("A long, long time ago… And maybe they’d be happy for a while") suddenly began to dissolve when, on February 4, 1959, at the age of 13, he learned, leafing through some newspapers, of the death of the three music "stars" in the plane crash ("But February made me shiver…The day the music died“); at this point, the historical refrain of the song arrives, whose first sentence, from which the title comes, "So Bye-bye, Miss American Pie", underlines how the figure of this "sweet American", indicated as a woman, a "miss", in fact, is now gone, that there is no longer anything "sweet" or tender, joyful (in American music) after the tragedy. And this mysterious woman could just represent the child's dream, now lost. And perhaps in the music following the incident what has been lost are precisely those values such as love, religious faith and light-heartedness that had always characterized rock and roll dancing, a music previously felt, fully experienced in the depths of himself, to such an extent that he can truly purify his own soul (“Can music save your mortal soul"), a music that the author admits to appreciate seriously, especially at the time when he was a boy, a pure and innocent "lonely teenage broncin’ buck with a pink carnation and a pickup truck“, but who now admits to being completely “out of luck” after learning about the day music died.
Then follows our musical history, filled with countless quotes from artists, groups and even magazines on the subject of music (“the moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone") which arose between the period between the day when the tragedy occurred and 1971, the year in which, after having drafted it several times, adding new verses from time to time,McLeanfinished and released the single: for example, one can recognize the reference to the legend of the time, the rising myth ofBob Dylan(“the jester"), which was in fact rising to such a popularity, as to have come to "steal the crown from the king" assuming power, without even being legally punished, with a trial ("Oh, and while the king was looking down… no verdict was returned“), in fact the popularity of the “king”, identified withElvis Presleyin that period it was in progressive decline; doubts are still present about the "queen", identified by some asLittle Richard. We then continue withJohn Lennon, depicted while intent on reading a book on Karl Marx (remember that we are actually in the era of development and affirmation of great mass ideologies, among which howeverLennonhe still shows interest and adheres to Marxian communism: "And while Lennon read a book on Marx) and its historical and legendaryBeatles, the four Liverpool boys who meanwhile are remembered about to rehearse in the park (“A quartet practiced in the park“) and in fact it is precisely the immortal Fab Four that the song is rememberedHeroes Skelter, belonging toWhite Albumfrom 1968.
The references to these legends of music therefore continue with the memory of the musical group formed in the early sixties of theByrds, whose 1966 albumFifth Dimension, which not surprisingly contributed considerably to the birth of psychedelic rock, was particularly and harshly criticized for the various references in its lyrics to drug use and its effects, for example in the songEight Miles High(“Helter skelter… and falling fast“), almost creating a play on words between the song by the “quartet” and the story that accompanied and characterized the band's album, actually published in July 1966 while the song, equally particularly psychedelic and deliberately “hard, dirty ", of theBeatlesit began to be registered on the same day July 18 two years later. The four boys from Liverpool are later remembered in the costumes of their famous albumSgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Bandfrom 1967 (“while sergeants played a marching tune“), the “marching band” that seems to have refused to back down even when the “players” tried to take its place and probably these “players” were just theByrds(“‘Cause players tried to… refused to yield"). In the next stanza we all find ourselves in the same single point (“Oh, and there we were all in one place"), in which many recognize in the famous Woodstock Festival of 1969, a "lost in space" generation, a probable reference to the landing of the first man on the Moon which took place in July of the same year, then proceeding with the reference to the well-known songs ofRolling Stones Jumpin’ Jack Flashand maybe,Sympathy for the Devil(“So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick… the Devil’s only friend“), to then continue with the shy and innocent “girl who sang the blues“, which can only be the mythicalJanis Joplin, as well as among the main protagonists of the Woodstock stage and a further underlining of the great and almost inexplicable nostalgia felt by the author for the now total loss, despite the undeniable improvement, progress made by music in the following years, of that climate of inimitable cheerfulness and light-heartedness, absence of problems and worries that had characterized the era that elapsed before “the music died”.
The song, lasting 8 and a half minutes, was therefore recorded in 1971 and published the same year on the album of the same name byMcLean. In the United States it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for four weeks in 1972 and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks. In Australia she arrived first for five weeks.American Pieit is considered a milestone of American pop music. Several associations have listed it as one of the five most important pieces of music of the 20th century”.
(wikipedia, youAmerican Pie (single))
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