“American Pie” Lyrics & Meaning (Don McLean)
Some call American Pie the “Song of the Century.”
There are a few reasons for that, which we will get into below.
Suffice it to say for now, that Don McLean’s most famous song is one of the most recognizable every written.
It is also a long song. The longest song to ever make it onto the Billboard Top 100, in fact.
That means it packs a lot of words into its runtime.
And the meaning of those words is rarely straightforward.
As a result, the American Pie lyrics meaning has been heavily debated ever since the song came out.
But we will clear it all up as best we can below. Keep reading.
American Pie Lyrics And Meaning
When was the “day the music died”?
Who are the king, queen, and minstrel?
What is the sweet aroma that perfumes the air where the sergeants play to the beat of a march?
Why does Satan laugh with pleasure?
Who does the chorus say goodbye to when he sings “Bye-bye, Miss American Pie”?
Those are just a few of the mysteries in the cryptic lyrics of Don McLean’s classic song American Pie, which rock and pop lovers have been trying to interpret for more than four decades.
Let’s take a look at the complete lyrics to American Pie first, before getting into the meaning.
American Pie Lyrics
Intro
A long, long time ago
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
Chorus
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die”
“This’ll be the day that I die”
Verse 1
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock ‘n’ roll
Can music save your mortal soul
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you’re in love with him
‘Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
Chorus
I started singin’, “Bye-bye, Miss American Pie”
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ‘n rye
And singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die”
“This’ll be the day that I die”
Verse 2
Now, for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone
But that’s not how it used to be
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
No verdict was returned
And while Lennon read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
Chorus
We were singin’, “Bye-bye, Miss American Pie”
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ‘n rye
And singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die”
“This’ll be the day that I die”
Verse 3
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and fallin’ fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now, the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
‘Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
Chorus
We started singin’, “Bye-bye, Miss American Pie”
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ‘n rye
And singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die”
“This’ll be the day that I die”
Verse 4
Oh, and there we were, all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
‘Cause fire is the devil’s only friend
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
Could break that Satan’s spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
Chorus
He was singin’, “Bye-bye Miss American Pie”
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ‘n rye
And singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die”
“This’ll be the day that I die…”
Break Down
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play
And in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
Deleted Verse
And there I stood alone and afraid
I dropped to my knees and there I prayed
And I promised Him everything I could give
If only He would make the music live
And He promised it would live once more
But this time one would equal four
And in five years four had come to mourn
And the music was reborn
Chorus
And they were singin’, “Bye-bye Miss American Pie”
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die”
“This’ll be the day that I die”
Outro
They were singin’, “Bye-bye Miss American Pie”
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die…”
American Pie Meaning
According to some, the song describes the history of rock during its most inspired and turbulent period.
And this could be confirmed (or debunked) after the original 1971 manuscript was auctioned in New York. It includes 16 pages in McLean’s own handwriting, with alternative verses and annotations.
The manuscript was forgotten and hidden in a box in the author’s house for 43 years. And it sold for $1,205,000.
Beyond the value of the document itself, for American Pie fans there is a more valuable treasure. The raw drafts reveal the creative process behind the song from start to finish, according to the house’s Tom Lecky from Christie’s auctions.
What The Manuscript Revealed
American Pie is the longest song to hit the Billboard Top 100, at eight minutes and 36 seconds.
Its six verses, with the catchy chorus interspersed, run for more than eight minutes. According to many experts, they describe the history of rock and roll from its origins in the innocent 1950s, its splendid development during the turbulent 1960s, and its decline in the 70s.
McLean combines this chronology with his own experience, dealing with world events and transforming musical trends that become the soundtrack to an optimistic adolescence, then a rebellious youth, and finally a disillusioned middle age.
Nothing is more “American” than apple pie, a Chevrolet (Chevy) car, and the feeling of freedom and adventure it gave you to go where you wanted.
McLean, singing in the first person, is saying goodbye to all of this because, as he says in the song’s somber opening, it was “The day the music died.”
This is a specific reference to February 3, 1959, when three popular music stars were killed in a small plane crash: rock pioneer Buddy Holly, the DJ known as the Big Bopper, and Richie Valens, one of the world’s first Latino rockstars and author of “La Bamba”.
News of the tragedy not only transformed music and its performers, but it also transformed McLean’s world and the values he grew up with. He is no longer the energetic colt driving confidently in his truck with a carnation in his lapel and he has lost his girlfriend, whom he sees dancing with someone else at the school dance.
With the loss of innocence, the icons of his adolescence also falter. Elvis the “king of rock” is usurped by a “minstrel” dressed in “a jacket borrowed from James Dean.”
“And when the King was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown…” says the song. And the minstrel is none other than Bob Dylan, the “new voice of the ’60s generation” who in many songs refers to the buffoonish character and who, on the cover of his breakthrough album, is dressed in a leather jacket.
Then the “quartet playing in the park” enter the scene, in reference to the Beatles, whom he also identifies as the “sergeants” in reference to the famous album “Sergeant Pepper”.
This period is framed by the so-called “Summer of Love” in 1967, which permeated the air with marijuana, the “sweet perfume” as McLean mentions.
American Pie is loaded with religious symbology, but that’s what rock is to a degree. His lyrics are a kind of bible, a mantra of the younger generations: “Did you write the Book of Love? Can music save your mortal soul?”.
They are love and salvation preached by new deities like John, Paul, George, Ringo, and others, in response to institutionalized warfare by governments in power, police brutality, and politicized violence.
But where there are gods, there are also demons and agents of hell. Mick Jagger was accused of not doing enough to control the violence during the Altamont concert near San Francisco.
And with that comes the curtain on Jack Flash–none other than Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones who, at the time, had hits called “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Sympathy for the Devil.”
In December 1969, the Rolling Stones gave the infamous free concert near San Francisco, for the “lost generation in space.” That concert turned violent.
The group had hired the motorcycle group Hell’s Angels to maintain public order. One of them ended up stabbing a spectator to death while Mick Jagger sang on stage wrapped in a devilish red cape.
“No angel born in hell could break that Satan’s spell,” McLean sang. For many observers, that event put an end to the idealism of the 1960s. Idealism, so vividly expressed in music, was dead.
The music died, though not literally. Rock music, like all art, has cycles that also reflect the ups and downs of history. It regenerates, develops, reaches its peak, and then declines
But it really doesn’t go away. That is why, perhaps, generation after generation reunites with American Pie and makes it their own. New artists record their own versions. One of the most prominent artists to do that was Madonna.
American Pie Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts
American Pie is a very long song full of veiled and indirect references to historical people and events. This is why it has been so hard to decipher exactly what Don McLean was singing about in every verse and every line.
But from various sources, most notably the McLean’s own manuscript, we have been able to piece together the overall meaning of the song and also the meaning of most of those references.
The truth is, like all great music, it is not even necessary to understand every line. The music itself touches you, even if you don’t understand any of it. And that has certainly been true of this incredible song.
For another massive hit that defined an era and whose lyrics have been endlessly debated despite the songwriter explaining them himself, check out our article on the lyrics and meaning of The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel.
As mentioned, Madonna released her own version of this song. We have an article analyzing the lyrics and meaning of Like A Prayer, one of her biggest hits.
Finally, we took a look at a song by that quartet in the park McLean mentions in our deep-dive into the lyrics and meaning of Blackbird.
