{"id":756,"date":"2009-02-27T21:38:03","date_gmt":"2009-02-28T02:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.songsthatsavedyourlife.com\/?p=756"},"modified":"2009-02-27T23:24:32","modified_gmt":"2009-02-28T04:24:32","slug":"don-mclean-american-pie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songsthatsavedyourlife.com\/2009\/02\/27\/don-mclean-american-pie\/","title":{"rendered":"Don McLean, “American Pie”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"don_mclean_-_american_pie_album_coverart\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They were singing,
\n“bye-bye, miss american pie.”
\nDrove my chevy to the levee,
\nBut the levee was dry.
\nThem good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
\nSingin’, “this’ll be the day that I die.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One of my fondest memories from the Summer that I was on staff at Camp Wah-Tut-Ca<\/a> is of my first Staff Night Out.\u00a0 I realize that it’s a bit strange to say that one of my favorite memories of camp is of leaving <\/em>camp, but bear with me.\u00a0 On Wednesday nights, after the areas had closed for the evening, most of the staff would head out of camp for a bit of real-world recreation.\u00a0 As I recall, this was one of my very first occasions to head off into the world with friends – without supervision, direction, concern for the content of chicken nuggets, or hesitation about turning the stereo way up.\u00a0 I remember the feel of the wind, and the bright lights of the Newbury Comics we had come to plunder.\u00a0 Mostly, though, I remember the exhilarating sensation of freedom that came from being able to go anywhere we pleased. { Note: New Hampshire has never <\/em>been this exciting since. For anyone, I bet.}\u00a0 And then there’s “American Pie…”<\/p>\n

Growing up, American Pie <\/em>was one of my mother’s favorite albums.\u00a0 I had never found myself interested beyond “American Pie” or “Vincent.” { My school choir did “Vincent.” Some things should not happen.} It wasn’t that the melodies weren’t nice, or that the songs are particularly bad, but… well, someone let me watch MTV when I was three, and “Babylon” did not match up to “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”\u00a0 { Wait, did I just own up to liking “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”\u00a0 Sigh.\u00a0 You know what, it’s probably not the first time in these pages… as long as I don’t let on about Wham! we should be fine.} That’s just the way it goes.\u00a0 Anyway, despite this being one of my mother’s favorite albums, I managed to give it a fair hearing and, like most people, I came to like “American Pie” for its energy and dynamism.\u00a0 In many ways, I still think of it as the up-tempo (second) cousin of “Desolation Row.”\u00a0 I’m sure I don’t know anyone who hasn’t, at least once, sung along with this song at the top of their lungs.\u00a0 And so it was that I found myself – new cassette of American Pie <\/em>firmly inserted in the tapedeck, warm New Hampshire wind blowing across my face, twilight fading into night – singing in a car full of boys for all I was worth.\u00a0 The smile I had on “Can music save your mortal soul?” is one that even I <\/em>could see.<\/p>\n

The trip was an eclectic one. { This was also the first time I’d ever heard Phish, and will, therefore, forever link “American Pie” and “Fee.<\/a>” I wonder if that sentence will ever be written again…} We wandered through Blind Melon, Sex Pistols, Don McLean, Phish, Don McLean, The Minutemen, and (probably) Don McLean again.\u00a0 I’ve had this experience in lots of places (band rooms, school buses, first cars, etc.), and it’s always the same.\u00a0 Many people do not remember the lyrics.\u00a0 You should not be surprised by this.\u00a0 Any song worth knowing, which is also over four minutes, is, for most, a sort of Matterhorn of Memory.\u00a0 “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” “Desolation Row,” and others like them might as well be the tax code for the lasting effect that they have on the long-term memory of most ordinary people.\u00a0 Sometimes, like the former, they help you out with a chorus.\u00a0 Other times, like the latter, they give you a line or two to hang onto.\u00a0 Life is tough.\u00a0 However, with songs like these, I think that most of us (Sure, I’ll pretend to be someone who forgets lyrics for a moment) make up for things with exceptional gusto on the choruses.<\/p>\n

Strangely, my memories of this song are all the same.\u00a0 Driving around New Hampshire with a warm wind and volume.\u00a0 Driving around the coast of Maine with my uncle, and the only girlfriend he ever had that I liked, and arriving at an actual levee<\/em>.\u00a0 { Oddly enough, despite my advanced age of eleven, no one gave me whiskey or rye.} There is always a breeze, and there is always volume.\u00a0 And for some reason, everything is always a little bit brighter.\u00a0 Now, as I get older (I can actually say things like “Oh, I did that a quarter-century ago” and have a clear recollection, now.), I wonder if this is simply the process of memory reducing abstract events to archetypes.\u00a0 Sometimes, it makes me a little nervous to think that my once-distinct memories are simply becoming abstractions.\u00a0 However, in the course of pondering this, I’ve realized something pretty remarkable.\u00a0 With respect to my relationship with these songs, it actually doesn’t matter what the specifics are.\u00a0 I know, this is a fairly shocking admission for someone whose website hinges upon musical and biographical minutiae.<\/p>\n

But when it comes to “American Pie” what really matters is the sensation of the wind, the brightness of the world, and the feeling of sliding into a moment of pure pleasure.\u00a0 I can be back in that car in New Hampshire, or laying at the foot of my father’s stereo, or driving along the seaside, or dancing with silly band girls, and none of it really matters.\u00a0 What matters is that it happened<\/em>, and that I get to paint the day with the colors I learned back then.\u00a0 Is that compromise?\u00a0 Is that getting older and settling for less?\u00a0 Yes and no, I think.<\/p>\n

Ah, but I’ve gotten away from the song a bit, haven’t I?\u00a0 Let’s go back to that New Hampshire car ride for a moment.\u00a0 I learned two valuable things on that trip, which have served me well ever since.\u00a0 The first was the danger of “one, big hit! wonders.”\u00a0 Now, the question I should have asked myself when choosing between the full album and the single (which is all I really wanted, anyway) was this: “Ever heard anything else by Don McLean that you liked?”\u00a0 This would’ve been followed up by: “Anyone you know or trust ever mention anything?”\u00a0 If the answer is no to both things, wait until you can borrow the thing!\u00a0 We were treated to a horrible demo version of “American Pie,” that nearly sucked the life out of everything, and not much else. { Incidentally, Don McLean has never once played this song live in a way that I have enjoyed.\u00a0 Nor my father.\u00a0 Not sure why that is, but it’s almost a miracle that the recording happened at all.} Ah well. Thank God for “Fee” is all I’ll say about that!<\/p>\n

The other thing I learned that night was that all we really need to be happy is music to sing along to, and a car to take us off into the night.\u00a0 For years now, this information has come to define my life and my passions.\u00a0 And sometimes, when the hills are flying by and the music is turned way up, I can still feel the thrill of being free for the first time, heading out for parts unknown, and sharing something simple and beautiful with no mind for the world beyond.<\/p>\n

And all that, it turns out, from an album of my mother’s <\/em>that I could barely stand when I was small.\u00a0 Life never ceases to amaze…<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Here’s an original version of the song that someone posted on YouTube.\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/p>\n

[youtube cHvDTUSd1Ws nolink]<\/p>\n

Want to see what I mean about the live thing?\u00a0 You’ve been warned!\u00a0 (By the way, isn’t it weird how he just starts with an extra chorus?\u00a0 Even he knows <\/em>that that’s all people really want.\u00a0 Weird.)<\/p>\n

[youtube iMlzfpwJZuc nolink]<\/p>\n

And come on, like you weren’t thinking about it<\/a>…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.” One of my fondest memories … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-songs-that-saved-your-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songsthatsavedyourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songsthatsavedyourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songsthatsavedyourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songsthatsavedyourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songsthatsavedyourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.songsthatsavedyourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songsthatsavedyourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songsthatsavedyourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songsthatsavedyourlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}