Have a Slice of American Pie

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“American Pie” is a song by American singer and songwriter Don McLean. It was recorded and released in 1971 and is on the album by the same name. The single rose to number one on the Billboard charts. The song is at number five on the RIAA project Songs of the Century. The repeated phrase “the day the music died” refers to the plane crash in 1959 that killed early rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. The rest of the lyrics allude to jarring events and social changes of that particular time. Before McLean penned this song, the term American Pie didn’t even exist. McLean stated that he saw the implication of America going bye-bye by 1971. It seemed to be a very divided country with lots of anger directed at the government over the Vietnam War. He has never told all the secrets of this song because his theory is that as long as those listening to the song keep guessing, his legend will live on forever. For those interested, you can get more information in the 2022 documentary The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s American Pie. It was released on Paramount +. My only thought is, if McLean felt America was going in the wrong direction already by 1971, I wonder what he thinks of it now and what kind of a song he would write about today’s events?