Simviation Forum - If you ever wondered..

Feb 26^th, 2005 at 11:51am

flyboy 28 Offline
Colonel
Jacksonville, FL

Posts: 13323

..what the song "American Pie" is about by Don McLean, this is the site to go to. It's so amazingly great cause you can find meanings to almost every song out there.. Roll Eyes

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.lasso?id=1193

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Reply #1 - Feb 26^th, 2005 at 12:40pm

Woodlouse2002 Offline
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I like jam.
Cornwall, England

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I don't like websites like this. They try and place meaning on a song that means nothing. And if the song does have meaning to it, then usually what the site say's is completely wrong. Tongue

Woodlouse2002 PITA and BAR!!!!!!!!&&&&Our Sovereign Lord the King chargeth and commandeth all persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habitations, or to their lawful business, upon the pains contained in the Act made in the first year of King George the First for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies. God Save the King.&&&&Viva la revolution!

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Reply #2 - Feb 26^th, 2005 at 1:47pm

Hagar Offline
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My Spitfire Girl
Costa Geriatrica

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In this case what it says on that site is basically the same as I understood when the song was first released. Don McLean has never confirmed whether it's all true but the song is definitely about the death of Buddy Holly. You can't possibly appreciate the significance of his death unless you were around at the time. I can still remember my shock when I read about it in the paper the next morning. I was just 16 & it really seemed to be the day the music I had grown to love died. Buddy Holly & the Crickets had far more influence on the British 60s groups like the Beatles than Elvis Presley or any other artist.
Quote:

McLean admits this is about Buddy Holly, but has never said what the lyrics are about, preferring to let listeners interpret them on their own.

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Reply #3 - Feb 26^th, 2005 at 2:05pm

Fozzer Offline
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An elderly FS 2004 addict!
Hereford. England. EGBS.

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Hi Doug... Wink

...!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The section with the line "The flames climbed high into the night" is probably about the Altamont Speedway concert in 1969. While the Rolling Stones were playing, a fan was stabbed to death by a member of The Hell's Angels who was hired for security.
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As a fellow Flight Unlimited II enthusiast, do you remember one of the default flights to the Rolling Stones Concert in Altamont, (North of Livermore, CA)...?

You were greeted with the Rolling Stones music playing as you approached the stadium... Grin

...!

Paul.

Looking Glass Studios... 8)...!

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Reply #4 - Feb 26^th, 2005 at 2:25pm

Hagar Offline
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My Spitfire Girl
Costa Geriatrica

Posts: 33159

Quote:

Hi Doug... Wink

...!

As a fellow Flight Unlimited II enthusiast, do you remember one of the default flights to the Rolling Stones Concert in Altamont, (North of Livermore, CA)...?

You were greeted with the Rolling Stones music playing as you approached the stadium... Grin

...!

Paul.

Looking Glass Studios... 8)...!

Hi Paul. I can't say I remember that offhand. It's been a long time since I last tried Flight Unlimited.

I always understood that the line "And moss grows fat on a rolling stone," refers to a real person named Moss - one of the Rolling Stones management team or their music publisher - obviously growing fat on their success. I can't find anything from a quick search to confirm the name. There's a lot of clever word play in that song & it's easy to put your own interpretation to it.

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Reply #5 - Feb 26^th, 2005 at 2:34pm

Dan Offline
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Meet Bogart! Thanks CRAIG!
Carmarthenshire, Wales, Uk!

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I like to think a song over for myself... As an aside, Looking Glass Studios seem to make some great games. The Thief ** series springs to mind.
Dan Wink

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Reply #6 - Feb 26^th, 2005 at 3:11pm

Hagar Offline
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Quote:

I like to think a song over for myself...

This is fine Dan providing you appreciate the situation at the time a song was written. American Pie was released in 1971 & was a comment on the music situation since Buddy Holly died up to that point, basically the 1960s. It also has possible political undertones but that is not clear. So many people put interpretations on songs that the composer could never have known about at the time they were written.

PS. I think that American Pie is a simple comment on the music scene with no hidden political or religious messages.

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Reply #7 - Feb 26^th, 2005 at 4:04pm

Sock Offline
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Satan is cool.
Hudson, NY USA

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The way I look at all music, all art, and almost all forms of expression in this sort, is that it's not the creator that defines it, nor some high up pencil pushing type but, its the people that take it in. No one person, not even the person that creates it, can define art for everyone. People make their own interpretations, and the only wrong interpretations are the ones that are set down as fact for everyone to believe. Because thats how that one person sees it, and its only the right answer to them.

This goes exspecially for books. I hate being told in English class that the way I view a scene or story is wrong or that the message I got from the book is wrong, and then being told how to look at it. Because, I'm the one thats suppose to take something away from reading it! And I can't take what someone else thought I should take away. That just kills it for me.

But getting back to it...

I have always liked "American Pie." Definetly a classic. I knew that the first verse was about him as a boy finding out that Buddy Holly had died, but never figured out the rest. Couldn't even put my own interpretation on it. I still can't really. I only ever understood the first verse, and though I never really understood it, the second verse has always been special to me. Something to do with a lady friend if you catch my drift. Wink

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Reply #8 - Feb 26^th, 2005 at 4:32pm

Hagar Offline
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My Spitfire Girl
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Posts: 33159

Quote:

The way I look at all music, all art, and almost all forms of expression in this sort, is that it's not the creator that defines it, nor some high up pencil pushing type but, its the people that take it in. No one person, not even the person that creates it, can define art for everyone. People make their own interpretations, and the only wrong interpretations are the ones that are set down as fact for everyone to believe. Because thats how that one person sees it, and its only the right answer to them.

I would normally agree Sock. This is why I would rather read the book than see the film. This way I can make up my own mind & not see another person's interpretation of it which might be quite different. The same goes for art in general. I don't care what the critics think. After all, that's only the way they see it. It's a kind of snobbery. If I like a picture it's because of what I see in it.

Quote:

I have always liked "American Pie." Definetly a classic. I knew that the first verse was about him as a boy finding out that Buddy Holly had died, but never figured out the rest. Couldn't even put my own interpretation on it. I still can't really. I only ever understood the first verse, and though I never really understood it, the second verse has always been special to me. Something to do with a lady friend if you catch my drift. Wink

American Pie is different because there's a real story behind it. Don McLean was very clever not to reveal the full meaning but having lived through that time most of it's quite plain to me. This might look quite different from your perspective.

Here's the lyric if you're interested. http://www.rareexception.com/Garden/AmLyrics.php

PS. Quote:

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,

The Jester is apparently Bob Dylan but I never figured out who the king & queen were. The king would obviously appear to be Elvis Presley but it doesn't seem to fit.

PPS. I think American Pie means Apple Pie. (As American as Apple Pie) Until Buddy Holly died Rock 'n Roll was an all-American thing. The song is a comment on the domination of the American charts by the British invasion during the 1960s.

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Reply #9 - Feb 26^th, 2005 at 5:01pm

Sock Offline
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Satan is cool.
Hudson, NY USA

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OK, I figured it out. "American Pie" is like one of those questions you can't answer. Like, "Why are we here?" Something you lie around thinking about on rainy days... Thats what "American Pie" is to me, it's a mystery. Something I can't answer or figure out. I like that.

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