In 2022, because we have these ridiculous, politically correct ideas of equality of outcome for everybody - everybody has to get a prize - and we are dead last at everything, including literacy. “Back in 1963, when Kennedy was assassinated, we had about 160 million people, and in every single way that you could measure, America was No. He said those lyrics are still relevant today. He has said the song is about a country that has lost its innocence and is “moving in the wrong direction” (“Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry”). Some of it’s nonsense, some of it’s serious. “I go over every single lyric in the song, talk about how I wrote it, where it came from. “I will discuss intimately and in detail how the song was written,” he said. McLean said all will be revealed in a documentary about the song, “The Day the Music Died,” scheduled for release on July 1. The lyrical references obviously include Buddy Holly and The Beatles, but there are other references - such as Elvis and Bob Dylan (“While the king was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown”) Janis Joplin (“I met a girl who sang the blues”) and Mick Jagger (“Jack Flash sat on a candlestick”) - that are more subtle. So much has been written about “American Pie” and McLean’s intentions with that song. “If you could understand his politics and you got to know him, he really was some kind of modern day saint.” “Hardly a day goes by when I don’t think of Pete and how generous and supportive he was,” McLean said of Seeger. The late folk music legend often visited Brattleboro, where his great-grandparents once lived, and performed a benefit concert at the Latchis in 2008. McLean also has an indirect connection to Brattleboro through his friend and early mentor, Pete Seeger.
It’s what makes a folk song, that folks pass them on.” McLean said his songs have “gained momentum” over the years and credits part of that success to the “quality of the lyrics, the quality of the music and the fact that people value these songs and hand them down to their children. I have at least 25 that I’ve written most of the songs on, and then I do songs by other people, like ‘Crying’ (Roy Orbison) and ‘Since I Don’t Have You’ (The Skyliners, also covered by Guns N’ Roses) and ‘Mountains o’ Mourne’ (an old Irish folk song).”
“Fortunately for me, I have something like 40 albums out there. “I write a lot of different kinds of songs, with a great diversity of musical styles,” he said. His other fan favorites include “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night),” “And I Love You So,” “Crossroads” and “Castles in the Air.” His songs range in style from country to pop to folk to straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll. McLean is a Grammy award honoree and prolific songwriter. But you can always present things in new ways, and it’s also surrounded by other songs that give it a whole fresh approach.” “So it becomes a matter of using these songs as tools, really, to entertain people. Sinatra has to sing ‘My Way’ or ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin.’ They want to hear it, and you can’t disappoint people when they’ve waited for so long, and they care so much. We have to play the songs that people love. “I mean, can you imagine The Rolling Stones not playing ‘Satisfaction’? People would be very unhappy if they didn’t hear that song. Fortunately, he never tires of performing it. McLean knows that his audience expects to hear “American Pie” at every concert. It has been recognized as one of the top five songs of the 20th century by the Recording Industry Association of America - behind only “Over the Rainbow,” “White Christmas,” “This Land is Your Land” and “Respect” (“I love all of those songs,” McLean said with a laugh).
Richardson (The Big Bopper) in a plane crash in 1959 - tells the story of rock ‘n’ roll and a nation undergoing a major social and cultural shift. McLean’s eight and a half-minute magnum opus - inspired partly by the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. The song is fun, and it gives people so much pleasure. “Fortunately, I have a lot of other things so my life does not become ‘Groundhog Day.’ But it’s wonderful, it really is. I’m proud of it on many, many levels,” McLean said of “American Pie” in a phone interview with Vermont News & Media this week.
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