American Pie (not the disgusting movie) the song by Don McLean (1 Viewer)

[gorgo31]

great song.

While it was dedicated by McLean to Holly, its a song about American life in the late 60s/ early 70s. You can find references to religion, political assasinations, the vietnam war, as well as mentions of significant musical figures (Holly, the rolling stones, the beatles, Dylan, etc etc)

i.e few mentions of the beatles

And while Lennon read a book on Marx / The quartet practiced in the park
"Helter skelter in a summer swelter" (Helter Skelter is a song by the beatles)

I always thought it was Lenin reading a book on Marx. To me it made more sense as a political reference rather than a musical one.

But yeah, the song is awesome. I loved the catchiness of the edited version as a kid, but when I downloaded the full version a year or two ago, I appreciated it on a totally different level. I interpreted it as commentary on the degradation of American social idealism. Didn't know about the Buddy Holly stuff.

Interestingly, I heard that Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly" was written in response to seeing Don McLean perform the song. Wonder if anyone can confirm / deny?

 

[bubz :D]

lol jem me too! my parents had all these golden oldies and i'd always listen to them... i used to know all the words to american pie my dad made a video of me singing to it, karaoke style :|

ahem... then a couple of years ago, my friend sent me this asian singer covering it at her concert... god it was awful! madonna's wasn't much better, either.

 

[Ellie_Belly]

lol jem me too! my parents had all these golden oldies and i'd always listen to them... i used to know all the words to american pie my dad made a video of me singing to it, karaoke style :|

ahem... then a couple of years ago, my friend sent me this asian singer covering it at her concert... god it was awful! madonna's wasn't much better, either.

Yes, Madonna's version is an abomination

 

[Keen]

Maybe that's the song the heathen above is referring to and is unaware of the brilliant original.
I used to love this song too. Getting the guitar out and everyone singing along, brilliant.


Keen

 

[spiny norman]

Maybe that's the song the heathen above is referring to and is unaware of the brilliant original.

Probably. The original is incredibly obscure.

 

[Lundy]

Yes, Madonna's version is an abomination

I didn't mind Madonna's version :/

 

[bazookajoe]

It's not just about Buddy Holly. It's also about the Big Bopper and some other guy

 

[Ellie_Belly]

Maybe that's the song the heathen above is referring to and is unaware of the brilliant original.

Maybe!

 

[The_highwayman]

I always thought it was Lenin reading a book on Marx. To me it made more sense as a political reference rather than a musical one.

As did i. Karl Marx wrote "the communist manifesto" and Lenin was a key figure in communist russia so i assumed it was "lenin" and not "lennon"

 

[spiny norman]

As did i. Karl Marx wrote "the communist manifesto" and Lenin was a key figure in communist russia so i assumed it was "lenin" and not "lennon"

Someone's educated.

 

[Rafy]

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/american-pie/
^ Great annotated lyrics, which explains the meaning, line by line.

As for the lennon/Marx line it offers the following insight:

"And while Lennon read a book on Marx"

Literally, John Lennon reading about Karl Marx; figuratively, the
introduction of radical politics into the music of the Beatles.
(Of course, he could be referring to Groucho Marx, but that doesn't
seem quite consistent with McLean's overall tone. On the other hand,
some of the wordplay in Lennon's lyrics and books is reminiscint
of Groucho.) The "Marx-Lennon" wordplay has also been used by others,
most notably the Firesign Theatre on the cover of their album
"How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All?".
Also, a famous French witticism was "Je suis Marxiste, tendance
Groucho."; "I'm a Marxist of the Groucho variety".

It's also a pun on "Lenin".

 

[withoutaface]

As did i. Karl Marx wrote "the communist manifesto" and Lenin was a key figure in communist russia so i assumed it was "lenin" and not "lennon"

You forget that Lennon was also a filthy communist, and Vladamir didn't perform in a quartet.

 

[Lundy]

Karl Marx wrote "the communist manifesto" and Lenin was a key figure in communist russia

 

[Keen]

How about the Weird Al version 'The Saga Begins' love this one:

A long, long time ago
In a galaxy far away
Naboo was under an attack
And I thought me and Qui-Gon Jinn
Could talk the federation in
To maybe cutting them a little slack
But their response, it didn't thrill us
They locked the doors and tried to kill us
We escaped from that gas
Then met Jar Jar and Boss Nass
We took a bongo from the scene
And we went to Theed to see the Queen
We all wound up on Tatooine
That's where... we found... this boy

[Chorus]
Oh,
My my this here Anakin guy
May be Vader someday later - now he's just a small fry
He left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye
Sayin' "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi, Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"

Did you know this junkyard slave
Isn't even old enough to shave
But he can use the Force, they say

Ahh, do you see him hitting on the queen
Though he's just nine and she's fourteen
Yeah, he's probably gonna marry her someday

Well, I know he built C-3PO
And I've heard how fast his pod can go
And we were broke, it's true
So we made a wager or two
He was a prepubescent flyin' ace
And the minute Jabba started off that race
Well, I knew who would win first place
Oh yes, it was our boy

[Chorus]

Now we finally got to Coruscant
The Jedi Council we knew would want
To see how good the boy could be
So we took him there and we told the tale
How his midi-chlorians were off the scale
And he might fulfill that prophecy
Oh, the Council was impressed, of course
Could he bring balance, to the Force?
They interviewed the kid
All training they forbid
Because Yoda sensed in him much fear
And Qui-Gon said "Now listen here"
"Just stick it in your pointy ear"
"I still will teach this boy"

[Chorus]

We caught a ride back to Naboo
'Cause Queen Amidala wanted to
I frankly would've liked to stay
We all fought in that epic war
And it wasn't long at all before
Little Hotshot flew his plane and saved the day
And in the end some Gungens died
Some ships blew up and some pilots fried
A lot of folks were croakin'
The battle droids were broken
And the Jedi I admire most
Met up with Darth Maul and now he's toast
Well, I'm still here and he's a ghost
I guess I'll train this boy

[Chorus]

We were singin' ...
My my this here Anakin guy
May be Vader someday later - now he's just a small fry
And he left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye
Sayin' "Soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"

 

[Pierotte]

HAHAH ohh i love this song for so many reasons.

hehe i rember the first guy i ever had a MASSIVE crush on was a guy 3 years older than me who i used to go to vacation care with.
He was THE COOLEST! he used to play this song to me on guitar over and over and over..
then one day his sister told me that he had a gf at school (hahaha i was just a vacation thing?? HA!) Ohhh young love.

I cried and cried...

haha oh memories!

 

[bazookajoe]

Wierd Al sucks

 

[Ellie_Belly]

HAHAH ohh i love this song for so many reasons.

hehe i rember the first guy i ever had a MASSIVE crush on was a guy 3 years older than me who i used to go to vacation care with.
He was THE COOLEST! he used to play this song to me on guitar over and over and over..
then one day his sister told me that he had a gf at school (hahaha i was just a vacation thing?? HA!) Ohhh young love.

I cried and cried...

haha oh memories!

Awww

 

[Ellie_Belly]

And we sang dirges in the dark

Does anyone know what dirges is?

 

[Ellie_Belly]

1 entry found for dirges.

dirge ([FONT=verdana, sans-serif] P [/FONT]) Pronunciation Key (dûrj)
n.

1. Music.
   1. <LI type=a>A funeral hymn or lament.
   2. A slow, mournful musical composition.
2. A mournful or elegiac poem or other literary work.

Ah, there we go lol.

 

[spiny norman]

...you're not very smart, are you?